Ice maker leaking in back of freezer


  #1  
Old 10-12-18, 03:56 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Ice maker leaking in back of freezer

I have a Kenmore 106.59282990 refrigerator. The ice maker just started to leak. To complicate matters I live in a very small New York City apartment with a very small kitchen. When they remodeled the kitchen they installed the floor molding in such a way that the refrigerator cant be pulled out without removing the molding (which I only want to do if absolutely necessary as it will require painting etc). Also the freezer door only opens to 90' and cant fold back on itself which I would have to do to remove the ice maker and ice collection bucket.

So all that being said: It appears that when the ice maker fills up it is leaking a good amount of water (maybe 3-4 glasses of water) from the back of the ice maker where the water comes in down a ramp. It is difficult to see back there because i cant remove the ice collection bucket. I dont think anything is frozen stuck as I let the freezer thaw for a while but still have the same problem.

This is the ice maker https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDet...r=106.59282990

A bit of research suggests that ice maker leakage cold be cause by a bad solenoid (which will be difficult to get to as well). Does anyone think it would be causing the overflow as it is clearly cutting off after sometime or could it be some kind of "clog" where the water is never making it to the ice molds?

Would love to hear some advice based on experience before I dig the refrigerator out of the wall.
 
  #2  
Old 10-12-18, 04:06 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
If the water valve is not shutting off.... the tray will overfill and overflow. That doesn't usually happen in the back of the tray. The overflow of water will also drip directly into the ice bin and will usually leave a frozen trail at the fill pipe.

Are you sure it's not a plugged drip pan under the evaporator coil ?
When the coil defrosts..... water is supposed to drain down a tube into a pan in the bottom. If that drain line is plugged..... the water will run down the inside back of the fridge/freezer.
 
  #3  
Old 10-12-18, 04:21 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
It is difficult to see but it looks like it is dripping from the underside of the ice maker


it drips from the ice maker into the ice bucket and the bucket is not sealed so it then leaks on all the shelves and also out the ice chute. Big mess!
 
  #4  
Old 10-12-18, 04:25 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
There is a tube protruding from the back of the freezer and discharges the water into that chute in the right side of your red circle. Can you actually see water dripping out of that tube ?

If yes..... could be a leaking valve or it could be caused by low water pressure. The valve requires full water pressure to close properly. Sometimes saddle type valves are used and they get partially plugged.
 
  #5  
Old 10-12-18, 04:38 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I just caught it at the end of a fill and almost no water is actually making it to the ice molds.
Based on that I doubt it is the solenoid. It is definitely not the water pressure, the pressure is super high.

I cant see the tube, just the chute which does have a cut-away portion. If Im lucky I can catch it on the next fill to see if any water is actually coming down the chute
 
  #6  
Old 10-12-18, 04:49 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
The pressure in the house may be high... but maybe not to the fridge.
 
  #7  
Old 10-12-18, 05:23 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
The water dispenser pressure is so high it bounces out of the glass when you fill it.

Do you know if the chute just empties out into the square box in the right of the picture?
Could there be some clog in that area? How can I tell or get at it?
 
  #8  
Old 10-12-18, 06:01 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
Yes...... the water drops into that chute which is actually a funnel to the ice tray.
 
  #9  
Old 10-13-18, 04:41 AM
pugsl's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 8,161
Received 77 Upvotes on 70 Posts
Do you have a shut off valve? If so turn valve to shut off till the water just goes in ice maker, You may have a bad pressure regular valve to house.
 
  #10  
Old 10-13-18, 03:32 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
So I bit the bullet and removed the floor molding. Once I got the ice maker removed it was easy to see that there was a large chunk of ice in the square area where the chute empties out, blocking water from getting into the ice mold. I melted the ice and so far the first batch of cubes has not caused any problems.

Thanks for your input, hopefully the problem is solved and I just need to repair the wall.
 
  #11  
Old 10-14-18, 02:33 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Now bail is stuck

The good news is the overflow is fixed, but the bad news is that after making a cycle of cubes the bail goes up and stays up. I have to push it down to make the next round of cubes. Not sure if I somehow did this. Is there any adjustment to fix this?
 
  #12  
Old 10-14-18, 02:58 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
The bail should be spring loaded down. It does have a locking position if pushed all the way up so that it won't harvest ice. However, if the bail is down and gets stuck up during harvesting..... that's an ice maker problem. There isn't an adjustment I know off. It just rides the timer cam up and then back down. It sounds like maybe it's binding.
 
  #13  
Old 10-14-18, 03:08 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
is there actually a spring? maybe it came off. Sometimes it almost falls under its own weight but usually gets stuck up. I was thinking about adding some sort of weight to help it fall
 
  #14  
Old 10-14-18, 04:05 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
There may not be a spring. It could just be the weight of the arm.
 
  #15  
Old 10-15-18, 12:06 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 11
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Smile Working :-)

I fooled around with the bends in the bail and it is now falling much better. Have made several rounds of cubes and no leeks. Thanks for all of your help.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: