Kenmore Ice Maker - Electrical Questions

BobNewOrleans

My Kenmore model 106.56676500 side by side is not dropping fresh ice into the storage bin in the door. The switch is on (not covering the receiver port) and I used a q-tip with alcohol to clean the receiver lens.

When I hold up my cellphone camera to the infrared emitter, I can see it blinking on and off regularly. Girltech stated that after power to the refrigerator is cycled, if the LED is lit for 5 seconds then "the system is good". That is what I saw. Now I'm getting two blinks from the LED. Does this prove that the main controller, emitter, and receiver boards are all good or are any of these still suspect?

I took out the ice maker and found frozen water in the bottom. Removed motor cover and gear and was then able to eject ice. I see four contacts some of which get shorted together during portions of the eject cycle. Can someone provide me with a logic diagram so I can begin to understand this mechanism?

A day later after having put everything back together, the ice maker is still dry. Where do I short in order to energize the solenoid and let water fill the tray? How do I manually initiate an ice dump cycle? Where is the main control board for the ice maker? Is it part of the main refrigerator control panel (PN 2313172 Control Board Assembly)?

girltech

Here is a link on How to test your ice maker.

BobNewOrleans

Thanks for the link. That was very helpful. I measured the resistance of the motor (L & M) at 4.4K Ohms and of the heater (L & H) as 54 Ohms. Then I plugged in the ice maker and measured the line voltage (L & N) as around 70 VAC. Does this indicate a problem?

I jumpered between T & H and the motor did not run. Can you tell me the functions of the Black, White, Brown, and Green wires in the harness from the freezer to the ice maker module?

girltech

OK the measurement seem to be good for the motor.

The measurement for the heater should be around 72 ohms not 54 ohms.

70 volts at the motor is low it should be 110v to 115v.

Did you have the door switch closed when you check this?

The wires that you are asking about are as follows:

The brown is for the water valve.

The white is the common wire it is for both the water valve and the ice maker.

The black is the power line from the door switch.

And the green is a ground wire.

BobNewOrleans

I checked the voltage between black and white in the harness coming from the freezer. It's now only 8 VAC and it doesn't matter whether the spring loaded switch is open or closed.

I presume that there is a circuit board on the other end of this harness that I need to test next. Would that be the receiver board or the main control board at the top of the refrigerator, or something else?

BobNewOrleans

Please ignore my previous comment. I re-read your post and realized you might be talking about the door switch that turns on the light. So I checked the voltage again and it's reading 107. I must have made a bad connection before.

Shouldn't I be able to energize the fill solenoid by shorting the black and brown wires together? When I do that, I don't even hear a click.

girltech

You can check the voltage to the water valve between N and V.

You can also check the resistance but this is best done at the valve.

sv9779

You said "Removed motor cover and gear and was then able to eject "

Did you mean you took out the 3 screws and removed the motor module or you actually removed the gear from the front of the module???
If the big gear is loose on the shaft you need a new module and it would explain all you problems

sv9779

And yes the 2 blinks indicates the optic are functioning properley. You can also get bad solder connections on the optics board causing intermitant operation

sv9779

did you check to see if the fill tube was frozen???

justanotherguy

Hi
Just joined with the exact same problem. Jumping a wire from the black to brown down nothing, even if I hit the flap switch and door switch.
HOWEVER , I removed the cardboard cover in the back, and put the harness connector from the water valve to the ice machine water valve. Wife hit the water dispense switch , looked in side and we had a nice splash of water in our freezer.
Solenoid is ok, but something else is keeping the ice machine from calling for water.
I think I broke the large gear on the ice machine since I forced the ejector thing to rotate. It is broken but it is something I think I did rather than being there previously......

In my search for a a new one I see off-brand ones vs. name brand ones on ebay, should I drop the extra $25 on an OEM ice maker?
The little fusible link in the ice machine is good too.

So I know the solenoid is ok (I mean they are both the same voltage right????) and the water line is not frozen...
What would be the next step?
Thanks so much
Tony

Edit: Kenmore fridge, ice machine model 106 2198597

justanotherguy

Um, Bump?
Update: Since I broke the gear, i ordered a new Ice machine, however its been in there for 5 hours and hasn't done a thing, no water in the tray.
Reading up it seems to be a valve, but I thought I proved it ok.. I shall take the back apart again tomorrow to confirm.
Argh!

justanotherguy

Ok, new ice machine installed. Nothing. I checked the optics, seem to be fine. Checked the valve, it too is fine. I have 110 V at the black/white coming into the freezer.
I did a little TnH jumper. nada.No harvest.

You can check the voltage to the water valve between N and V.
I read that here, I get nothing.

At what point do I assume the new ice maker is faulty?
Tony

sparke29

I jumped the black and brown inside the freezer and checked at the valve. I have no voltage at the valve what would cause this. Please help