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Thread: Whirlpool in door ice maker, replace optics, can you jump out the boards to test?

  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by eem3dsp View Post
    I just duck-taped both switches down in mine during all this troubleshooting. That seemed to do the trick. In my model, with the plastic cover off, the switches were not being pressed down when the freezer door is closed.
    Same as mine, I might as well do that also.

  2. #22
    Admin/Technician Doc Ryan's Avatar
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    The doors are foamed in place from the factory and usually cannot be disassembled without destroying the door.
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  3. #23
    My ice maker now has no power to it, even with both door switches held down with tape. I have a multi meter and the black and white wires show no AC current. No wonder it's not dumping ice, it has no power.

    I've tried new optics, no change. Tried a new ice maker, no change. The ice maker used to dump if I manually filled it but no more - Not surprisingly, as there is no power to the ice maker.

    I do have 14 VDC at the receiver board but no 120 VAC at the ice maker connector, neither at the ice maker nor down at the connector at the bottom of the fridge.

    I am out of troubleshooting ideas and am very appreciative for any advice at this point.
    Last edited by Joe_G; 03-03-2016 at 02:13 PM.

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Joe_G View Post
    My ice maker now has no power to it, even with both door switches held down with tape. I have a multi meter and the black and white wires show no AC current. No wonder it's not dumping ice, it has no power.

    I've tried new optics, no change. Tried a new ice maker, no change. The ice maker used to dump if I manually filled it but no more - Not surprisingly, as there is no power to the ice maker.

    I do have 14 VDC at the receiver board but no 120 VAC at the ice maker connector, neither at the ice maker nor down at the connector at the bottom of the fridge.

    I am out of troubleshooting ideas and am very appreciative for any advice at this point.
    Check if you are getting power to the switch in the freezer that controls power to the icemaker. Based on the schematics, one of the switch controls the connection to the white wire which then runs down to the bottom of the fridge before it goes into the freezer door.

  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by eem3dsp View Post
    Check if you are getting power to the switch in the freezer that controls power to the icemaker. Based on the schematics, one of the switch controls the connection to the white wire which then runs down to the bottom of the fridge before it goes into the freezer door.
    Good idea, I'll try it.

  6. #26
    I wanted to give an update on my ice maker saga. I got tired of the my make-shift bypass wire dangling from the freezer door so I went with my hunch and looked at the electrical wire bundle that enters the freezer door. As expected, the tan wire was completely severed as well as the green/yellow ground wire. The blue wire had exposed copper as well. The opening/closing of the freezer door over time caused the wires to completely snap.

    See the attached pic. Hopefully, my attachment works.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2016-03-13 14.16.42.jpg 
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ID:	443

  7. #27
    eem3dsp thanks for the follow up. I wish my problem was the same - I checked out my wires in that area very carefully and they are all in very good shape.

    I do not have continuity from the tan wire down by the door up to the tan wire by the ice maker, but I suspect there is a switch or something in the wire in the door. Regardless, I did the jumper wire like you did on the tan wire, verifying continuity but the ice maker did not work. In fact, it used to dump and do a cycle if I filled it with water manually, but now there is no power at all to the ice maker, even when the door is shut or when I tape the switches down. I verified both switches are working.

    I suspect I have a problem somewhere in the power circuit to the ice maker as it no longer works, and I tried a known working ice maker and it didn't work either. There just is no power to the ice maker door open or closed anymore.

    I tried to verify power to the freezer switch that does nothing (one controls the light, the other seems to control nothing), but I could not verify any power, DC or AC there. I DID verify that the switch works, open when open, continuity when closed.

    To test for voltage I ran a wire to the chassis of the fridge, a bare wire to the height adjustment screw, for the negative on my multimeter then the positive on the meter to the wires on the switch. Neither wire had voltage to it, AC or DC.

    Do you have another way to test voltage to the switch or another place to investigate to see why my ice maker no has no line voltage to it?

    Thank you for spending your time trying to help me!

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Joe_G View Post
    eem3dsp thanks for the follow up. I wish my problem was the same - I checked out my wires in that area very carefully and they are all in very good shape.

    I do not have continuity from the tan wire down by the door up to the tan wire by the ice maker, but I suspect there is a switch or something in the wire in the door. Regardless, I did the jumper wire like you did on the tan wire, verifying continuity but the ice maker did not work. In fact, it used to dump and do a cycle if I filled it with water manually, but now there is no power at all to the ice maker, even when the door is shut or when I tape the switches down. I verified both switches are working.

    I suspect I have a problem somewhere in the power circuit to the ice maker as it no longer works, and I tried a known working ice maker and it didn't work either. There just is no power to the ice maker door open or closed anymore.

    I tried to verify power to the freezer switch that does nothing (one controls the light, the other seems to control nothing), but I could not verify any power, DC or AC there. I DID verify that the switch works, open when open, continuity when closed.

    To test for voltage I ran a wire to the chassis of the fridge, a bare wire to the height adjustment screw, for the negative on my multimeter then the positive on the meter to the wires on the switch. Neither wire had voltage to it, AC or DC.

    Do you have another way to test voltage to the switch or another place to investigate to see why my ice maker no has no line voltage to it?

    Thank you for spending your time trying to help me!
    The bundle of wires in the picture I posted terminate to a connector near the front left bottom corner of the fridge. Check for power between the black wire and white wire.

  9. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by eem3dsp View Post
    The bundle of wires in the picture I posted terminate to a connector near the front left bottom corner of the fridge. Check for power between the black wire and white wire.
    Down by the bundle of wires? Will do and will report back.

  10. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by eem3dsp View Post
    The bundle of wires in the picture I posted terminate to a connector near the front left bottom corner of the fridge. Check for power between the black wire and white wire.
    I checked, no power to the connector down at the bottom of the freezer door, even with the door switches taped down.

    Any idea of where to next check for power? Looks like the white and black wires go back into the fridge housing through a grommet.

  11. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by eem3dsp View Post
    I wanted to give an update on my ice maker saga. I got tired of the my make-shift bypass wire dangling from the freezer door so I went with my hunch and looked at the electrical wire bundle that enters the freezer door. As expected, the tan wire was completely severed as well as the green/yellow ground wire. The blue wire had exposed copper as well. The opening/closing of the freezer door over time caused the wires to completely snap.

    See the attached pic. Hopefully, my attachment works.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2016-03-13 14.16.42.jpg 
Views:	27 
Size:	54.8 KB 
ID:	443
    MY WIRES looked the same !! wow, they are wrapped in a sheath and then a braid, and yet 4 of 6 wires were cut ! that explains why all my tests failed, no power.
    i used butt connectors to reconnect them, but one as so short i had to put in a jumper wire between 2 butt connectors !! they wont last long , it is the hinge area !!! i think i will need to redo it later or else put in a jumper wire. terrible job routing wires !!

  12. #32
    Brand: Whirlpool Gold
    Model: GSS30C6EYY00
    Year: 2011

    Joe_G,

    Thank you for starting this thread about the in-door ice maker with the optical ice level censors. I have a similar problem with a Whirlpool refrigerator. After reading your thread and studying the wiring diagram in R-110-W10338921-Whirlpool-2010-26-SXS-Refrigerators.pdf on page 7-2, I checked the wire continuity for the 4-wire harness that plugs into the ice maker module at the top of the freezer door and the bottom of the refrigerator. I have continuity on 3 of the 4 wires. There is no continuity on the black (hot) wire but there is 120V at the molex plug under the refrigerator that the harness plugs into.

    From the wiring diagram, there does NOT appear to be any switches or other controllers on this harness between the bottom of the door and the top of the door, thus continuity should be good for all 4. It looks like it will be a PITA to fish a new line through the door for this poor design. Too bad they didn't include a wiring conduit inside the foam. All of the switches and controllers appear to control the 120V (HOT) coming in at the bottom of the freezer door and not in the door. I will try a jumper from the bottom to the top of the door to see if everything works before trying to fish any wires.

    I tested my ice maker module and it appears to be good, just not getting 120V power to the top of the door, but do have it at the bottom of the door. The resistances appear good, the motor works, the coating on the ice tray basin is in good condition, just no 120V making it to the top of the refrigerator door. My optical ice level censors also behave as you described. The red light works for only a short time after powering on and then go dark.

    I will try to post my progress.

    Thanks again for your posts.

    G29
    Last edited by G29; 01-27-2018 at 09:21 PM.

  13. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by G29 View Post
    Brand: Whirlpool Gold
    Model: GSS30C6EYY00
    Year: 2011

    Joe_G,

    Thank you for starting this thread about the in-door ice maker with the optical ice level censors. I have a similar problem with a Whirlpool refrigerator. After reading your thread and studying the wiring diagram in R-110-W10338921-Whirlpool-2010-26-SXS-Refrigerators.pdf on page 7-2, I checked the wire continuity for the 4-wire harness that plugs into the ice maker module at the top of the freezer door and the bottom of the refrigerator. I have continuity on 3 of the 4 wires. There is no continuity on the black (hot) wire but there is 120V at the molex plug under the refrigerator that the harness plugs into.

    From the wiring diagram, there does NOT appear to be any switches or other controllers on this harness between the bottom of the door and the top of the door, thus continuity should be good for all 4. It looks like it will be a PITA to fish a new line through the door for this poor design. Too bad they didn't include a wiring conduit inside the foam. All of the switches and controllers appear to control the 120V (HOT) coming in at the bottom of the freezer door and not in the door. I will try a jumper from the bottom to the top of the door to see if everything works before trying to fish any wires.

    I tested my ice maker module and it appears to be good, just not getting 120V power to the top of the door, but do have it at the bottom of the door. The resistances appear good, the motor works, the coating on the ice tray basin is in good condition, just no 120V making it to the top of the refrigerator door. My optical ice level censors also behave as you described. The red light works for only a short time after powering on and then go dark.

    I will try to post my progress.

    Thanks again for your posts.

    G29
    G29 I wish I had an answer for you; I finally gave up and later moved and left that POS fridge with the house. I think the new owner used it as a garage fridge. I bought a new LG in my new house with two ice makers. It’s icemaker broke 3 months in but it was just an adjustment of the fill tube. Then the compressor went out in month 13 which took a month and 4 service visits to fix.

    Good luck G29 and please post up what you learn. I sure wish they made fridges like they used to. I’d give up all these fancy electronics in a heartbeat to have a fridge that worked for a decade+ like they used to.

  14. #34
    Brand: Whirlpool Gold
    Model: GSS30C6EYY00
    Year: 2011

    Got the ice maker working again. There is a short in the black power line somewhere inside of the door (most likely at the bottom). Since the new doors no longer allow you to remove the inside plastic shells, it would be very difficult to fish a new line through the entire length of the door, so I ran a parallel line between the plastic inner shell and under the weather stripping on the hinge side of the freezer door. The top of the wire is connected to the icemaker's hot (black) line and the bottom of the wire is connected to the mother board controlled hot wire under the front of the fridge. Added insulated quick disconnects to both connections in case the door has to be taken off and/or the icemaker has to be replaced.

    I was surprised to see how thin a gauge wire the power line was for the icemaker and heater. The insulation is very thick, but the actual metal wire is very small.

    Running all of the wires through a hinged door (without a service conduit) is a DESIGN FLAW and such, any of the other wires going into the bottom of the door can be next to break due to normal usage of the freezer door. BAD, BAD, BAD DESIGN on the part of the manufacturer for supposedly a "GOLD PREMIUM" model !!! I think the GOLD $$$ is in the cost repair$ and replacement$, not the quality of the appliance. Shame on you Whirlpool.
    Last edited by G29; 01-29-2018 at 12:12 PM.

  15. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by G29 View Post
    Brand: Whirlpool Gold
    Model: GSS30C6EYY00
    Year: 2011

    Got the ice maker working again. There is a short in the black power line somewhere inside of the door (most likely at the bottom). Since the new doors no longer allow you to remove the inside plastic shells, it would be very difficult to fish a new line through the entire length of the door, so I ran a parallel line between the plastic inner shell and under the weather stripping on the hinge side of the freezer door. The top of the wire is connected to the icemaker's hot (black) line and the bottom of the wire is connected to the mother board controlled hot wire under the front of the fridge. Added insulated quick disconnects to both connections in case the door has to be taken off and/or the icemaker has to be replaced.

    I was surprised to see how thin a gauge wire the power line was for the icemaker and heater. The insulation is very thick, but the actual metal wire is very small.

    Running all of the wires through a hinged door (without a service conduit) is a DESIGN FLAW and such, any of the other wires going into the bottom of the door can be next to break due to normal usage of the freezer door. BAD, BAD, BAD DESIGN on the part of the manufacturer for supposedly a "GOLD PREMIUM" model !!! I think the GOLD $$$ is in the cost repair$ and replacement$, not the quality of the appliance. Shame on you Whirlpool.
    Thank you for closing the loop! I tried running a hot wire up the weather stripping like you did but I never got mine to work.

    I hope your follow through helps some other poor soul who suffers the problem we had and that your advice will get them squared away. I'd say you have some good karma coming you way for helping out.

  16. #36
    15 year old Kenmore Whirlpool 54609300. Icemaker stopped working. Replaced entire unit (includes thermostat). When I plugged fridge in, it filled and made ice once then stopped. Replaced both transmitter and receiver. When I plugged in the fridge after replacement it made ice once and then stopped. The tray is full of water and frozen. Also tested fill water valve (though it clearly works) by switching with the water tap on the door. Works fine. Any ideas? Maybe intermittent on some of the wires mentioned in earlier posts???

  17. #37

    Wires

    Quote Originally Posted by Joe_G View Post
    eem3dsp thanks for the follow up. I wish my problem was the same - I checked out my wires in that area very carefully and they are all in very good shape.

    I do not have continuity from the tan wire down by the door up to the tan wire by the ice maker, but I suspect there is a switch or something in the wire in the door. Regardless, I did the jumper wire like you did on the tan wire, verifying continuity but the ice maker did not work. In fact, it used to dump and do a cycle if I filled it with water manually, but now there is no power at all to the ice maker, even when the door is shut or when I tape the switches down. I verified both switches are working.

    I suspect I have a problem somewhere in the power circuit to the ice maker as it no longer works, and I tried a known working ice maker and it didn't work either. There just is no power to the ice maker door open or closed anymore.

    I tried to verify power to the freezer switch that does nothing (one controls the light, the other seems to control nothing), but I could not verify any power, DC or AC there. I DID verify that the switch works, open when open, continuity when closed.

    To test for voltage I ran a wire to the chassis of the fridge, a bare wire to the height adjustment screw, for the negative on my multimeter then the positive on the meter to the wires on the switch. Neither wire had voltage to it, AC or DC.

    Do you have another way to test voltage to the switch or another place to investigate to see why my ice maker no has no line voltage to it?

    Thank you for spending your time trying to help me!
    Check the wires with an meter. there are 4 wires that run from under the fridge to the ice maker. In my case the white wire and green wire were cut in the same spot as eem3dsp mentioned. you will not see the cut unless you cut open the harness.
    hope that helps.

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