Ice Maker Challenges

The ice maker stopped working. I took it out of the refrigerator and inspected it. Then I noticed that the optical sensor light was blinking twice. This meant that the board had to be replaced.

So, $22 later, I replaced the board pictured below.

Easy replacement ... right on the inside right of the door

After replacing the optical sensor board the flanges spun around, but the water did not flow to fill the tray. And the spinning was rather random.

As a last ditch effort (to avoid paying $65 for a new icemaker), I took the darn thing apart again.

When I took the ice maker apart the first time a weak electrical connection (see corrosion below) must have been severed.

Note the corrosion where the screwdriver is pointing.

 

To fix the issue, I soldered some random copper wire in the joint so contact would occur. The fix was pretty lame, so I will probably be making another repair in about 6 months.

When I re-assembled the thing water started flowing and ice got made ... and made ... and made ... and made. 

Restless Night

Repair was finished at 10pm - right before bed. Every 45 minutes the dang thing went CLUNK-CLUNK when ice fell. Then 10 seconds later SSSHHHH while more water entered. By morning the ice maker was full and I was still tired.