I went out on a Boise call today. The customer’s complaint was, ice maker not making ice. When I get a call like this I immediately think that the ice-maker is bad so I always bring a new one out with me to the job-site, expecting to replace. Nothing is all that it seems on some appliance repair calls. Upon inspection of the Maytag refrigerator’s ice-maker water spout, it appeared ice was clogging the spout. A pretty good clog to say the least I manually applied 120 vac to the valve and the water would not come out the water tube. Bingo!
The water valve was leaking water slowly into the ice maker supply tube and freezing over a period of time. First, let us obtain the valve (s). We have part numbers 12001892 and 61005626.
Ice maker not making Ice – Check Valves
Both valves will need to be replaced. Some Boise appliance repair technicians will elect to replace only one of these, but I prefer to replace both to avoid call-backs. In this case, hard water and calcium build-up was apparent. To ensure a quality repair/installation both valves were replaced.
First step in this ice maker and valve repair job is to turn off the water supply to the refrigerator. A word of advice here, if the valve hasn’t been turned on/off in a long time, it may be locked-up or leaking. In this case, I could not turn the handle. It was completely locked up solid. Using a wrench, it wouldn’t move. If excessive force us used to turn the valve, we risk flooding the house and causing floor damage. We don’t want this. A reputable Boise Plumber was called in to replace the valve.
Once the under-sink valve has been replaced and we have water shut off to the refrigerator, it’s time to get to work.
Pull the back panel off the bottom rear of refrigerator. There should be about 10 hex bolts that hold this in place.
Remove hex nut that holds the valve assemblies in place. This should be located on the right hand side of refrigerator, when looking from the back.
Gently pull the valve assembly outward. It should look like this:
The new Maytag valve will have push/seal connections. This is preferable and they seal quite well. I have yet to see one of these fittings leak, unless exposed to freezing conditions. In Boise, this will happen if the refrigerator is stored in a storage facility over winter.
Follow the instructions that are included in the box and install the water lines being sure to remember which lines go to where. What I find easiest is to remove one line at a time and install the new one immediately.
The ends of the water lines will need to be clipped if needed to fit in new valves.
Ice Maker and Valve Testing
Reinstall in reverse order. Plug power cord in and manually test valve and ice maker for proper operation. Ice Maker ice production rate will be eight cubes per three hours.
