KSRS25IKBL03 KitchenAid Refrigerator stopped making ice part 2, this time the ice wont come out of the ice maker

[Cayaco]

Hi you might remember me from this thread:

FIXED KSRS25IKBL03 KitchenAid Refrigerator stopped making ice - no light on the inside of freezer by the ice on/off switch?​

in which we all replaced the optics, cleaned out the ice tube, and swapped out the inlet valve. Everything was working peachy keen until sometime this week in which it's stopped again.

Unlike last time in which I could get the harvest cycle to run and I could also pour water in and have it freeze and make water manually, the teeth of the ice maker are locked in an upward position and aren't budging. The ice maker is also filled with ice from whenever it last filled. I poked my fingers around in there and there is ice in each ice cube compartment. I tried what we did before with getting the harvest to run by unplugging for a while and plugging it back in but nothing is happening, teeth sit there straight up and aren't moving.

I thought I would get a little longer than a month out of our last fix, it was quite the adventure with cheater cables and everything, but alas, here we are again, this time with ice that wont come out of the ice maker.

 

[Jake]

This is a easy problem now, I know exactly the problem. Its a bad ice maker. I've replaced hundreds of these same ice makers for this exact same problem in the last 34 years, and all the new ice makers fixed them for all my customers.

Here's the ice maker for your model you can order:
2198597 Complete Icemaker Assembly (8 Cube)


Jake

 

[Cayaco]

Okay I will try this route now.

What made you know so quickly about this issue this time?

 

[Jake]

Because I have replaced so many of them for this same issue.

Jake

 

[Cayaco]

Everything says once it has been installed I might have to wait up to 24 hours for it to do anything?

Is there a way to test it to see if it's working correctly prior to that? Should I try jumping it like we did before somehow?

 

[Cayaco]

Can someone do a power test for me on a working unit? I have a simple pen tester I am using. When nothing is connected I am getting power from the black on coming out of the side of the freezer unit. When I hook up the harness for the ice maker the black continues to carry power. Once it is hooked up into the ice maker or even the replacement I am no longer getting power on the black. I am breaking out the cheater cords again and will be testing the solenoid later today.

 

[Jake]

Everything says once it has been installed I might have to wait up to 24 hours for it to do anything?

Correct.

Is there a way to test it to see if it's working correctly prior to that? Should I try jumping it like we did before somehow?

Yes, you can jump it to force it to start, but there is no need to, it will start on its own.

Can someone do a power test for me on a working unit? I have a simple pen tester I am using. When nothing is connected I am getting power from the black on coming out of the side of the freezer unit. When I hook up the harness for the ice maker the black continues to carry power. Once it is hooked up into the ice maker or even the replacement I am no longer getting power on the black. I am breaking out the cheater cords again and will be testing the solenoid later today.

You need a regular meter, a pen tester will not work properly. But don't worry, DON'T OVERTHINK THIS. Its easy as pie. LOL

Trust me, it will work fine, I've replace hundreds of these same ice makers and they ALL worked great.

In fact look here:

Search results for query: 2198597

www.applianceblog.com

All are that same ice maker and those are all FIXED threads when folks installed that same ice maker, over 10 pages of FIXED threads.

Jake

 

[Cayaco]

Day three now or so since it was installed. Still not moving, no ice, no movement of the ice sweeping fingers. Tested the solenoid this morning with the cheater cable, ice valve is working fine. There is no kind of off or on switch on the ice makers, is there, that I may have missed?

For fun I ordered another one off Amazon this morning, said same day delivery and returns so I want to give that a shot too. If a third one also is not working then I am assuming we have something else going wrong.

 

[Cayaco]

What should the optics be reading? I am not getting a steady light, I also dont think I have ever gotten a steady light, not one that I have noticed anyway.

 

[Jake]

You already replaced the optics in your other thread.

Are you buying all your parts including the optics on AppliancePartsPros or RepairClinic?

Its hard to help someone when they are buying parts from amazon or ebay, as I do not trust those parts.

Are you holding the door switch IN while your holding the flapper closed? If so, don't, just hold the flapper closed and see if the LED is ON steady. Let us know what you find.

Step#1: Open the freezer and view the status LED

(STATUS LED)

2 BLINKS FOLLOWED BY 1 SEC. DELAY(REPEATED)

POSSIBLE CAUSES: The flapper door on the emitter is blocking the beam or the optics are faulty.


Step#2: Press the emitter flapper to unblock the optics beam

(STATUS LED)

2 BLINKS FOLLOWED BY 1 SEC. DELAY(REPEATED)

POSSIBLE CAUSES: The optics are faulty. Replace the emitter and receiver boards.

If the LED is ON steady: The optics are working properly.

Jake

 

[Cayaco]

I reseated the optics, those are now working fine, solid red light when the door is open and the flapper is held back.

I buy some parts on here, like my original solenoid and microwave door handle, others I get on Amazon. This one I got on Amazon as the price difference was a bit massive. So right now I am sitting with three different ice makers, none of which work. One ebay, highly rated, one Amazon, highly rated, and the original one from the fridge. Even though the 3rd party ones are prone to eventually go bad I find it strange that right now none of them are working. Something seems off with that.

I put back in the original one when I got the optics working again, I thought I was golden as the water started to flow and fill the ice tray. It quickly stopped and didn't come back on for 24 hours. I have the 3rd ice maker in now, if this also does not work I think we have another issue. Probability has it that one of these should have worked at least for a month.

 

[Jake]

Lets bypass the optics and see what happens, Rick posted a diagram on how to bypass the ice maker optics:

 

[Cayaco]

I have it jumped as suggested. Power is present as indicated by the pen tester.

Power is flowing over the lines as expected.

Here is another shot of the ice maker for good measure:

Has a bar but can be removed. I added it back in because I didn't know what else to do. This is the third of three ice makers now sitting at my house.

 

[Jake]

LOL, that's the problem is the metal bar, that should not there, remove it, then turn that white notch it sits in downward.

Having that bar in that position has the ice maker completely OFF. Know wonder why it wasn't working.

See the OEM ice maker I posted in post #2, there is no metal bar.

Look at the black circle I draw showing that white notch in a downward position, do the same to yours, ONCE YOU HAVE REMOVED THAT METAL BAR.

 

[Cayaco]

I have ice again...... I feel silly.

Okay so then I just read the picture wrong on the side of the unit? It has in a big picture up is off, down is up, so I pushed it down before sticking it in the freezer.

I mean, that's what it says right there, right??

 

[Jake]

No, down is ON, UP is OFF.

But yours does not use a metal bar anyways, so it should not have come with a bar, see the OEM ICE MAKER I posted above in post #2, does not come with a bar, so by default that NOTCH would already be in the down position.

That's why I wish folks would not order parts on amazon, amazon does not sell OEM parts, they are all aftermarket! And see how much time we wasted figuring this out with that aftermarket one? LOL

Jake

 

[Cayaco]

That's what I meant, I dont even know what I was typing.

up is off, down is up

What was I trying to say there? I have no idea now that I am reading it again. Down is ON. My bar was in the down position, from the picture I flipped it back up... unless, wait, was it installed backwards? Like should that bar have been facing me the whole time and then it would have been reversed?

Oy vey.

Anyway, it's working. I know OEM parts are usually better but $170 vs $40 is a big difference for a fridge this old. I'm just trying to limp it along as best as we can until it gets replaced. I am not always ordering third party though. I just ordered a microwave door from here and the last time the solenoid replaced was also OEM. So I do support when I can!

 

[Jake]

You had the metal arm on backwards.

Anyway, it's working. I know OEM parts are usually better but $170 vs $40 is a big difference for a fridge this old. I'm just trying to limp it along as best as we can until it gets replaced. I am not always ordering third party though. I just ordered a microwave door from here and the last time the solenoid replaced was also OEM. So I do support when I can!

Ok, no worries, just letting you know.

Jake

 

[Cayaco]

Well, ya'll were right. Don't buy cheap knock offs -

Figured I owed it all to you to come back and give this PSA.

I think it's time for a new fridge. This thing is going on 20 years old, the solenoid has blown out twice, the optics twice, and now the ice maker almost burned the house down. All of this is electrical related, something has got to be going wrong with the wires in there.

 

[Jake]

Yes I see that, YIKES! that's exactly why I always advise folks never to buy aftermarket parts, your life and properly are not worth the risk my friend.

Happy Refrigerator shopping!

Jake