Which water valve to replace to solve ice maker clog?

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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1

Hi,
I have an Amana SRD26VW side-by-side refrigerator with ice maker. The issue I have is that after a week or two, the ice maker fill tube is clogged with ice. Doing some research on the internet and looking at the service manual seems to indicate a problem with the water valve.

I’m guessing it’s because it doesn’t close all the way thereby causing a small steady trickle to happen.

Looking at the parts list, I see two water valves. Primary & secondary.

The secondary one is after the water filter. I’m assuming that is the one that needs to be replaced. Is the assumption correct?

The part number appears to be 12313404.

Is replacing the secondary water valve sufficient? Or should I be replacing both?

Thanks!

3

You HAVE to replace both primary and secondary valves. Since there are no water pumps in a refrigerator, only valves that allow the pressure coming to the fridge to flow through. If the ice maker fill tube is clogged with ice due to water trickling up into the fill tube, which is not that uncommon, there has to be a fault with both solenoids, in order for the water to trickle into the fill tube. If either the primary or the secondary were not malfunctioning, there would be no water trickle.

4

Thanks for the response. I’ll replace both valves then.

I would like to understand why they have two valves on the fridge in the first place. Is it because of the built-in water filter? Is it as an additional safeguard? Or some other reason?

5

ask the designers

6

About a month ago, I ordered and installed the two water valves for my fridge. The primary water valve is the one that has the incoming water supply attached. The old valve had a Y-shaped tube that fed into the secondary water valve.

To install the new valve, I had to cut off the Y so it was just a regular straight tube.

The secondary valve takes the water from the primary valve and then feed it to the ice maker or the front water supply.

I’m happy to report that the ice maker has been working fine without any ice blockages. The new parts were pretty easy to install.

Hope this thread helps someone else who has the same issue in the future.