ET18GMXHW01 Whirlpool fridge ice maker problem

[mountain1]

Model Number

ET18GMXHW01

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

6-10 years

Hi all...it is always a pleasure to address problem solving with the help of you knowledgeable and helpful folks. Anyway...I have a Whirlpool model ET18GMXHW01 fridge. The icemaker is 106626636. What is happening is this: The icemaker fills with water, freezes, but then does not become activated to start the harvest cycle. Hours go by and the harvest cycle does not activate to harvest the ice into the tray. I then jump the H and T test holes which then will start the harvest cycle and the icemaker does complete the harvest cycle, dumps the ice into the tray and then sends water to the icemaker mold. The water in the mold will freeze but again the harvest cycle does not start even after a few hours until I manually jump the icemaker to start the harvest cycle.

Do any of you have any thoughts or comments that would help me to solve this issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jake]

Hi,

If the temperature in the freezer is always below 10 degrees and the ice maker is not harvesting on its own, your ice maker is the culprit, seen this many times on my service calls.

Here's the Ice Maker assembly for your model you can order:
4317943 Whirlpool Icemaker Kit


Jake

 

[mountain1]

Thanks Jake...If I may ask...All seems to be normal except after the mold is watered and the water freezes, why does the icemaker not begin the harvest cycle on its own? Is there a part inside the module that is the culprit? If so, what is the part that is needed to avoid the purchase of an new ice maker if a defective part in the module can be replaced to correct the inability of the icemaker to start the Harvest cycle.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[Jake]

I had a feeling you were going to ask that.

Its the ice maker thermostat that is bad, but when you order the thermostat, you have to also order the aluminastic, and ordering both of those parts together is almost the same price as the complete ice maker itself.

And if the mold heater goes out then your up a creek, you'd have to order that too, and that would cost more than a new ice maker altogether.

Jake

 

[mountain1]

Thanks Jake for your comments...appreciate it. Just a note...The icemaker does harvest ice so apparently the thermostat does its job by allowing the release of the frozen ice during the harvest cycle. But it takes quite a long time for the harvest to begin and then drop the ice cubes in the tray. Any further thoughts?

Thanks again.

 

[Jake]

When you jump T and H you are by-passing the thermostat.

Jake

 

[Jake]

Wait, are you saying it does harvest on its own, but takes a long time? Are you absolutely sure the freezer is ALWAYS under 10 degrees F? If that's the case, then the thermostat is still the problem, its not reading the temperature properly.

Jake

 

[mountain1]

Hi Jake: Thanks for your comments. Please note that I do not have a thermometer to record the freezer temp. But when water enters the mold the water freezes normally. Yes the icemaker does begin a harvest cycle and in checking whether the harvest completed the cycle and produced ice, well, it did. But I did notice that after the dial begins the harvest cycle the dial stops before the cycle is complete for some reason. Eventually the dial will continue to complete the harvest and add ice to the tray.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your interest.

 

[rickgburton]

See if this helps:

 

[Jake]

Its very important that you put a thermometer in your freezer, Get the Red-Liquid or Digital style, they are about $10 and last a lifetime.

Yes, the problem is still the ice maker period.

That's why its best to get the entire ice maker assembly, because now it sounds like you have 2 problems.

Thanks Rick!

Jake