Amana TR25S5W ice maker low/no voltage

[scaesare]

Model Number

TR25S5W

Brand

Amana

Age

More than 10 years

I have an old (1990's?) Amana TR25S5W Freezer/Fridge (top/bottom) with ice maker.

The ice maker stopped making ice suddenly, and I suspected the water valve/solenoid (which I replaced once before 15 yrs ago). It actually turns out the ice making assembly was initially getting low votage (~30V A/C), now it's getting 0V. Checked hot, to neutral & ground.

Searching here (and elsewhere) it seems that there are lots of cases of low/no voltage feeding these style ice makers, commonly caused by:

-Optics board issues
-Frayed door wiring harness
-Blown inline fuse
-Paddle/door switch issues

However, best that I can tell, my model has none of these. It's not a model with optics (as far as I can tell), this is not a door-style ice maker, the 0 volts is at the connector on the rear freezer wall (before any inline fuse in the assembly harness itself), and it appears the door light switch is a 2-wire style (not 3 as would feed the ice maker).

I pulled the control assembly down (fridge ceiling), and see no obvious fuse/mechanism that looks suspicious. The fact that it was low (~30v) for a bit before losing voltage completely is a bit baffling.

The fridge is in a tight alcove (basement bar area), so pulling it is going to be a hassle. Am thinking of pulling the rear panel inside the freezer where the iced maker wiring harness is (it looks like there are screws affixing the panel from the inside). Any other suggestions.? It seems like this is a pretty simple appliance... can't imagine there's much in between the power cord and the ice maker...

Thanks.

-Steve

 

[Jake]

Am thinking of pulling the rear panel inside the freezer where the iced maker wiring harness is (it looks like there are screws affixing the panel from the inside).

Yes Steve, that's what I would do first, sounds like you have a frayed/broken/shorted wire to the ice maker.

 

[scaesare]

Yes Steve, that's what I would do first, sounds like you have a frayed/broken/shorted wire to the ice maker.

Ok cool... thanks for the response...

It would seem odd that a wire back there that doesn't move/bend (as would be the case in a harness routed in to the door) would spontaneously break... having dealt with wiring harnesses for years, I'm not sure I've ever seen one not subject to some kind of mechanical movement break like that... but perhaps a critter got back there or something...

I'll report back.

 

[Jake]

but perhaps a critter got back there or something...

I was thinking the same thing, so check all in the back of your refrigerator too for chewed wires as well.

 

[scaesare]

So... to close this out some time later for the sake of others facing the same issue...

I finally got around to taking the back panel off the freezer. It requires removing the shelving and top-center "tunnel" that houses the light fixture (remove clear lens and the center long screw in the reflector assembly) after which it unsnaps. After that the 2 shelf attachment rails (4hex-head screws) that attach the panel. Finally another 4 screws holding the panel in. Unclip the ice-maker electrical connector and push it through. Then lift up & out, carefully unsnapping from the bottom and pushing the ice-maker fill tube through.

I ended up with:

I measured the voltage on the connector again (this time I got 60V... weird), while moving the wire around, checking for breaks. Nothing. The wire runs through a white grommet to the back of the fridge (visible on right side just below metal brace), to who knows where.

As gaining access to the back of the fridge is a pain in my install, I just decided to cheat on this old unit and (after turning off the breaker) cut the feed wire for the ice-maker (turning off power first), and spliced it in to the always-hot feed to the light fixture, taping up the old one. Given the light is off 99% of the time that the ice-maker would be running, I wasn't concerned about current draw, as the wire for both circuits is the same gauge:

After confirming 120VAC at the connector I buttoned it all back up, reinstalled the ice maker, and jumpered the points together on the front of the ice-maker that trigger a test. Bingo, the unit rotated, and I got a water fill. A day later and I have a full ice tray. Work-around is pretty simple...

Thanks for the input.