Water on the floor

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

Yesterday I had to break up the huge ice mass in the ice maker. Got it all cleaned out and replaced the bin w/auger in the freezer section. Today there is dripping from the freezer door, frozen food is thawing and just a tray or two of ice has been produced. I turned the thermostat in the refrigerator to a colder setting, cleaned up the water on the floor, raised the operating lever up to shut off position in the ice maker bin and am hoping things will start to get better. I haven’t a clue as to where to start to analyze what’s wrong.

There has been a drip from the freezer door that originates from the ice drop in the door that seems to be associated with the amount of moisture in the ambient air. It usually stops with the air conditioning being turned on. The amount of water that has leaked from the door today is about one cup while in the past it’s been very little up to a tablespoon.

This new problem has occurred with the air conditioning on however. Upon examination I have concluded that there is no problem with the plastic feed line in the door that dispenses cold water. I only say this because I jiggled the line where it enters the door at the bottom and observed that the outlet moves in unison with the jiggling. I surmise that there are no fittings between where the hose enters at the bottom and the outlet where a glass is filled with the water.

Mainly I surmise that the water is coming from melting ice that has dripped as water from above in the ice maker and had solidified on some frozen packages in the lower part of the freezer and then starts to melt.

Any help will be appreciated very much. Thanks, Ricky-D

3

— Begin quote from Gene;114986

What is the exact temperature in the freezer? Does it get warmer?

Gene.
P.S. Turn the ice maker "off" by raising the side arm up.

— End quote

Hi Gene, thanks for the reply. To continue, I had already lifted the arm up yesterday and now this morning I find the freezer section is back to normal temperature (10 degrees F).

I think the problem lies with the ice maker system exclusively. I know there are timed events for the water fill and for the cube freezing.

I just don’t know if I should put the arm down and test to see what happens. I hate the thought of another mess on the floor.

I also am confused about the melting and losing of temperature in the freezer. Maybe the cycle of ice making includes a short warming period to allow the ice cubes to release and fall into the bin. If what I surmise is true then that might explain the warming in the freezer allowing all inside to start to thaw. It could be the ice making cycle got stuck in the warm-up mode. I don’t know!

At least I am glad to find the refrigerator is working properly regarding the compressor and thermostat.

I know the problem lies with the ice maker alone. I just don’t know what to do next and need suggestions about what I should do.

Thanks again for the reply Gene, I look forward to your helpfulness in this problem I am having. Ricky-D

4

You just hit a bulls-eye. There is a mold heater under the ice maker and very likely it was stuck in the heating cycle. If you would like the verify it then you have to turn the ice maker "on" and watch it closely. If you’ll see the ice melt - carefully check the bottom of the ice maker.

The correction is to replace the ice maker.

Gene.

5

— Begin quote from Gene;115283

You just hit a bulls-eye. There is a mold heater under the ice maker and very likely it was stuck in the heating cycle. If you would like the verify it then you have to turn the ice maker "on" and watch it closely. If you’ll see the ice melt - carefully check the bottom of the ice maker.

The correction is to replace the ice maker.

  • The ice maker [part]AP2984633[/part]

Gene.

— End quote

Thanks again for the reply Gene. I did what you suggested about checking to see if it is indeed the ice maker.

I lowered the operating arm and watched as the ice cubes were ejected and I heard the water refill in the mold. I waited a short bit of time and tried to feel underneath the mold for warmth. I was unsure whether or not it was feeling warm. I had to leave for the evening so I put the operating arm back up in the off position.

Upon returning several hours later I again found water on the floor and the inside temperature had risen to the point where freezer items were thawing. This had happened with the arm in the up position. I would estimate the time I was gone was 5 hours. I think the water is a result of the thawing conditions in the freezer and is frozen condensate inside the door that has collected over time. I cannot imagine where else it is coming from.

Well anyway, I cleaned up the mess and rotated the thermostat back and forth a couple of times (leaving it a notch colder) This morning I find the temperature in the freezer section is back down and actually colder than before, now at -10 degrees F.

The last thing I want to do is lead you down dead ends Gene. I understand the difficulty of doing this under these circumstances.

I’m not convinced it’s the ice maker at fault because this event happened again, but this time with the operating arm up. Whatever is happening however is being triggered by the ice maker. Just that little bit of time I lowered the arm, set it off. I just don’t understand the connection.

Is there a connection between the ice maker and the thermostat? I wish I had noted the temperature inside the freezer last night when I came home and found the mess. I am concerned about how quickly things started to thaw. I keep my inside air at 80 degrees and I know these new refrigerators don’t have the insulation like older models but it impressed me how fast the the thawing started happening.

Anyway, I await your suggestions and am looking forward to your reply.

Thanks again Gene for your generous help. Ricky-D

6

It’s Sunday morning now and I want to report that there has been no adverse action from the refrigerator for 24 hours since leaving the operating arm up and the icemaker off.

The refrigerator seems to be cycling properly. I guess this would mean the thermostat is working ok.

There is a gnawing feeling I have about what happened Friday night. It is this. To me, it seemed like the speed to which the freezer thawed was very fast and not what I would expect just sitting there naturally without power.

I am thinking the icemaker is more involved with the whole operation of the refrigerator than I considered.

Could it be that the moving of the operating arm somehow kicked the freezer into some kind of defrost mode? That to me, seems to be an explanation for the speed to which it warmed up Friday night.

I don’t want to burden you with any more Gene, so I’ll end here and anxiously await to hear from you. Hope your weekend is going well. Ricky-D

7

Hi Gene, I came across the sheet that came with the refrigerator.

I wonder if you have the same sheet. There’s only a number:

Service and Wiring sheet 2186936

I am not against ordering the ice maker you noted. I am just hoping that if the problem is caused by something other than the ice maker you will find it by us corresponding. I do not feel in a panic yet about fixing it since the refrigerator is working Ok as long as I don’t move the operating arm down.

Regards Ricky-D

8

Hi Ricky-D,

It’s still not clear to me what is wrong and I would not rush with the part. Watch the refrigerator for a few more days.

Gene.

9

Ok. That’s good with me, I have no problem doing what you suggest.
I feel positive under your direction this problem will be licked.

I hope there are things I can do to further the process and to help that idea along I have scanned that information sheet (mentioned in post 5) and have sent to you. They are in pdf format.

Thanks Gene, Ricky-D

10

Thank you for the tech sheet. I reviewed it. Unfortunately it does not help much in such situation.

Gene.

11

Hi Gene, Today Friday, the refrigerator messed up again. This time without touching anything, controls nor the icemaker.

I looked inside the freezer section hoping to find something warm like maybe the defrost heater but I really don’t know where to look. The surfaces in the back and the cover did not feel any warmth to the touch.

Nothing is running. There are no motors, compressor or anything else running as far as I can tell.

It has been in this state for at least three hours now. the freezer is losing cold and is now above 40 degrees.

I’m going to mess with the thermostat, turning it back and forth to see if something happens.

Can you suggest anything I should do?

Thanks Gene, Ricky-D

Now about ten minutes later.

Before I even had time to mess with the knob when I closed the freezer door I must have jarred something because the refrigerator started up on it’s own.

What on earth i going on? I am completely baffled Gene.

Thanks, Ricky-D

12

Hi Ricky-D,

Forget about the ice maker. There are two failure suspects: the defrost timer or the thermostat. It’s very hard to say exactly which part is bad in such situation. I would order both of them (to save on shipping) and replace the thermostat first.

Gene.

13

This will be my last post.

Been several days now and everything is great. The ice maker is back to where I remember it use to be years ago.

Hard to believe the thermostat has been steadily failing for that length of time.

Thanks again Gene.