I am at the end of my rope with my ice maker, therefore I turn to the pros!

Unit: KitchenAid KUIC18NNTS0 (S/N EU3609086)

Problem: Water does not make it up to the evaporator plate. This began after I cleaned it with proper cleaner. I does appear that the cleaner did its job, so I believe that this was the last time it worked properly. It just cycles water into the reservoir, waits a while, then drains it only to repeat the same process.

History:

The unit was installed in February of 2008. It worked great until late August of 2008, when the exterior drain pump gave up. That was replaced under warranty and all was well up until this. The unit is cleaned every time the “clean” light comes on with ice maker cleaner and the condenser coils are also shop vac’d at that time.

Facts:

1) The unit does get cold.

2) The clean light is not flashing, nor are any other lights. Everything looks normal on the control panel.

3) My first thought was that it was the water level sensor. That has been replaced. No joy.


4) The recirculating pump was clean when I took it out to test it. It read 5.5 ohms at the x200 setting. I realize that this is lower than the “good range”, which is 8.5 ohms – 11.5 ohms at the x200 setting, according to the manual I have. Read on to see why I haven’t replaced it yet.

5) When probed, I am only getting ~ 9 VAC at the recirculating pump connection when the pump should be active. The same goes for the cutter grid… 9 VAC. This led me to believe that the transformer was bad. So I replaced it. No ice and still only 9 VAC.


Ending Thoughts:

My first instinct is to go ahead and replace the recirculating pump, but I hesitate to do so because I am still not getting 12 VAC to the connector and I don’t know how definite the “good” ohm test range is. The only other culprit I can think of is the control board or more specifically, the relay for the recirculating pump. But since I am already ~ $150 deep in parts, I am not to inclined to take any more guesses.

My second instinct is to rip this thing out from under the counter top, carry it outside and throw it off the dock into the river! The wife, however, has overruled this option. Negotiations are ongoing.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Brian


P.S. The good news is that the kegerator is working great!

Ahh, I was getting lost in thinking this was a ice maker inside a refrigerator/freezer, but yours is a stand-alone Ice Maker, Wish I could assist you, but I've never worked on Stand-alone ice makers in my life.

Hopefully another tech. or member can help you out.

I did a search of our forums here and found a member that may be able to assist you:
wobiii here lives in Mandeville, LA

You can private message him if you want.

Here's the thread he assisted another member on:
kitchen aid undercounter icemaker

Jake

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I seriously doubt it is your pump. If you take the cover off and disconnect the small plug in the middle (if I remember right) you can send it back to a time default fill like the older ones. You may be able to bypass that sensor and see if it continues operation that way. If it continues doing the same thing I've been told that it is a computer board issue. I haven't ran across many of these things and usually refer the customer back to whirlpool to beg for some warranty coverage or help from them because everything for this thing is expensive. I would tell you that changing the control board and the wiring harness would get it fixed but changing that harness would be a b**ch.

Look at the service manual if you can get a hold of one and try to bypass the sensors that are not needed for operation. Then check out the connections on the harness especially around the pump and water level sensor. They should be clean, not slimey and gunky. If they are try cleaning them off and test for operation. The sensors are, well, sensitive and that stuff could be throwing some bad readings. You may want to contact whirlpool and ask if your unit was affected by the recall while you are doing this. They had some issues with the fill valves and would leak onto your floor. While you are on the phone ask if they can give you a discounted price or help you out with a computer board. They may be feeling generous around this time of year.

I really think in the end you will end up replacing the computer board to get it working again. Good luck and sorry for the delayed response.

I went ahead and ordered a pump before wobiii posted. It arrived and it tested worse than the one I had before and obviously didn't work. Sears is sending me another one today.

As for the connections, they all seem fine. I have also been told by another technician that this transformer is only rated for ~ 9 VAC, which leads me to believe that the control board is good.

We'll see what happens once I get the new pump in!

Sent you the tech sheet, run the diag and see if that gives up any info.

Thanks! I should have the new pump in Monday and I'll install and run the diagnostics and see what I can get.

RESOLVED!

I replaced the pump. No joy.
I then took wobiii's advice and replaced the board. No joy.
I then got very, very aggravated and let it lie over Christmas and New Year's. There was joy!

This evening I decided that it had to be fixed. It turns out that it was the wire between the recirculating pump and the transformer. So, $250 in parts later, it was a wire worth pennies. The good news is that I now have replacement parts!

Brian