Hello out there…and thank you ahead of time for any response. I have been filling ice cube trays for the past 6 months with Summer around the corner i want to fix my ice maker for pool parties etc. If i can fix it myself that would be great cause i work all the time when repairmen would normally come…anyway…
I have an Amana SBD20MW Side by Side Refrigerator/Freezer. The ice maker was working fine and dandy, until one day a few months ago it stopped working out of the blue. I made sure I had the arm lever down and when i put it down the maker starts to rotate and so the mechanism is fine it seems. I just doesn’t seem like water is flowing to it, but the water dispenser seems to be working fine as it flows from there.
I read somewhere about the valves and coils? but i don’t know where those are and any help you can offer would be a HUGE help. Thanks guys.
Ok. I switched to wires on the back. The light comes on by the water supply in the front but doesn’t give water now. and i don’t feel or see any water coming into the icemaker…where does that lead me?
You know the water dispenser switch works because you get water. With the wires swapped on the valve your should get water to the ice maker thru that valve. So the valve seems to be bad on that side. Can you hear any noise from the valve when someone try the water switch.
No i don’t hear any noise from the valve when the water is tried with the electric switched. I took the line off of the valve and disconnected it from the top in the back and was able to blow air through the line no problem. So does that mean the just the ice side of the valve is bad?
OK…[SIZE=4]Scratch that…[/SIZE]i disconnected the line from the back of the freezer and switched the electric on the back. i then hit the water on the front of the fridge and it pushed water through the ice line and water came out of the line at the top…so…no what?
I reconnected the line, and still nothing that i can see or tell inside the freezer and it doesn’t seem to make any noise down at the valve…is that because the line is frozen in the freezer? WoodChuckie your the man for helping me thus far…
And with them hooked up in reverse (the electric on the valve) water is intermittently coming out of the water dispenser on the front, is that because that is how the ice maker would call for water in different intervauls?
Ok. I filled the ice dispenser with water and it made ice. Manually. but i need to fix the water supply line inside the freezer. it is not feeding the water inside the freezer itself…but is making ice, and feeding water through the line, and calling for water…it must be blocked at the top or something? what should i do next?
The water inlet valve on the back of the unit where the water supply comes in can have a slow leak and will cause ice to buildup and block the fill tube. Disconnect the ice maker line from the valve and watch to see if it has a slow drip. It doesn’t take much to eventually block the fill tube.
The valve can leak because of sediment in the water preventing it from closing or low water pressure.
I’m talking about taking the line off at the bottom where it comes out of the water inlet valve. When you have it disconnected you’ll be able to tell within five minutes and it doesn’t take much to cause the problem.
Have you seen the fill tube to see if it’s blocked.
I don’t think that the problem is down there is it? There is no block because the valve pushes water through the tube all the way up when i disconnected the tube at the top, water would cycle and push water out the top. But when its connected…water doesnt go into the freezer?
Or do you mean a leak at the bottom would push water all the way up the top and then that little bit of water would freeze and cause a problem. this is hooked up to a reverse osmosis machine so there isn’t a great amount of pressure…however it was working it just stopped out of nowhere.
I tested the valve and it pushes water up the line to the freeze, but the water just doesn’t come out on the inside on the freezer into the ice tray. So there is no blockage in the fill tube. The water flows fine right up into where it goes into the back of the freezer.
WC- so should i now pull the ice maker out completely and check this fill tube? or can i pull it apart from the back?
and if so, how do i get the ice maker out most easily. So you think that the fill tube may be frozen and i should take out the icemaker and pull out the fill tube and see if that is frozen from a slow push from the lower water feed tube. Correct?
Yes, it’s much easier to get out from behind the ice maker.
Look for two screws on the freezer wall the ice maker is mounted on near the top of the ice maker. Just loosen them. Look for another screw near the bottom middle to the ice maker and loosed it. Now you should be able to lift the ice maker off the bracket and unplug the wiring harness and then twist and pull the fill tube out. You may be able to see if it has ice in it without taking it out.
ok. I’m about to go do that now.
What if it does have ice in it…what are my options. What do i replace or do overall?
i am gonna go do it now…
Ok. now i am really clueless…and frustrated. I cleaned out all of the ice inside the fill tube. disconnected the line going up the back of the freezer onthe outside and took another little peice of tubing and blew water from the back of the freezer on the outside into the freezer on the inside, simulating the outside line and the fill tube. I switched the wires so that the water on the door pushes water up the tube on the outside of the freezer and with the tube disconnected on the outside it works just dandy. pushes water up the tube and out the top. But every time i hook up the tube in the back of the freezer it woln’t push water out into the freezer? I am totall clueless? i mean i push the water lever on the door and pull the tube out and it starts shooting water everywhere, but as soon as i put it back in the water stops? how is that possible? makes no sense?
Everything works up until that elbow. I tdidn’t disconnect it at the bottom and blow air through to the top. I’ll try that i guess but…
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I wondering if there is some kind of blockage in the elbow connector at the top.
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i am pretty sure there is no blockage in the elbow connector because like i say…i took a half a mouth of water…and a straw…stuck the straw up the hole where the line was in the back of the freezer at the top…and was able to blow alittle water in the the freezer. And with it connected to everything but the top elbow it blows water?
thoughts? i’m at my wits end…doesn’t make sense…?
So do you think i need a new valve? i don’t wanna waste the money if i don’t have to…but i’m frankly sick of making ice cube trays…