Ice maker randomly starts and stops making ice

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Anyone know of a simple fix?

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Call a repair man.

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It'll stop for weeks at a time and then randomly start again. It made on last week, almost filled the bin, and then quit.

I don't think a frozen water line is the culprit because it wouldn't have had a chance to thaw out the last time it started up. There was some ice stuck in the teeth that I pulled out yesterday but the metal on-off bar won't go all the way down.

Anyone know of a simple fix?

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Sounds like it has a lot of pigment.

What type of fridge?

If you think it's the icemaker, pulle the white cover off of the front of the unit.

Depending on manufacturer you will have 2-3 variations.

Whirlpool based units are the most common by far. When you pull off your cover if you see a bunch of letters next to holes, it's a whirlpool unit.



If you put a jumper between H and T the icemaker will enter a complete cycle and you can watch it and see where the fault is.

If no water comes in, then likely its a bad fill solenoid, or there is a frozen clog in the line.
Both of these are the most common failures for icemakers. So the fault usually isn't the unit itself. But if it does fill but say the fingers don't reset or the heater doesn't come on, then it's best to replace the icemaker (as it's only like $5 more than the control and easier to change)



Okay, lets say you pulled off the cover of your icemaker and instead of the above you saw two gears. Then you have a Frigidaire made icemaker, and this is the second most common. Even Sub-Zero has used this model (Subzero and viking use regular icemakers in most models)



then simple insert a phillips screwdriver into the screw at the larger gear and turn to the right.
This will start the harvest cycle on the unit and is the same as touching "H" to "T" with a jumper wire.
Same thing look for it to fill. But more common in the frigidaire based units is a failure in the heating element. So if it doesn't start it's cycle look to see if it has ice in it. If it does, take the ice maker out (only two screws, just loosen halfway then pull out wire harness)
And rinse ice out in sink, then reinstall and test.
After a cycle the bottom of the ice make should be warm, if it isn't replace the ice maker.

Again if it doesn't fill, replace the solenoid.

Lastly, if you have a GE, Samsung or LG you are going to have a more complicated unit, but one that is generally easier to test.

For GE follow this Graphic



again same symptoms as before are usually the culprits. You are looking to replace the Ice Maker or the solenoid, or in some cases the wire harness.

generally a combination of button inputs turns those the harvest cycle on on the Korean brands.

One of the three above is the most common in any fridge.

Geez, thanks. Much more thorough answer than I anticipated