# Ice on bottom of Icemaker



## RMA127 (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi have an HSM25gfta. I have noticed that the icemaker is only dispensing crushed ide. Now while it might be the solenoid, i have moved the little plastic switch into the up position at the back and it dispenses cubed for a while. I have noticed that the underside of the icemaker has frozen ice on it. Almost as if water ran down and froze on the bottom, or maybe condensation and it froze. While this freezing is happening inside the Ice bucket some of the ice is bunched up and frozen together. I suspect the CRUSHING im seeing is not the solenoid, but maybe the fact that the ice is not flowing freely and is bunched up and frozen together as it goes to the dispenser and the unit then crushes it. I thought i read somewhere that there is a cycle that causes a freezinfg of the ice and a slight melting. Is that right? Maybe it is that part that is sticking and causing more melting? I should get a technician out and probably will but was curious if this sounds familiar.

Thank you


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## woodchuck (Mar 1, 2015)

When the crush control solenoid is at rest, not working, there will be crushed ice. the switch engages the solenoid to produce whole cubes. Listen or observe to see if it's working when you depress the switch. Water will freeze in the ice bin if the input valve on the back bottom of fridge leaks between dump cycles and will build up on all the ice. It will usually be producing larger cubes when this happens.


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## Sparky617 (Mar 1, 2015)

I would start by defrosting the freezer and getting all the ice out of the ice maker.  Cleaning it and starting over.  Faster and cheaper than replacing parts and it might just work.


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## jeff1 (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi,



> I have noticed that the ice maker is only dispensing crushed ice



Ice maker just makes the cubes, the door dispenser will dispense whole cubes or crushed ones...the ice maker has nothing to do with this.

LINK> http://www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator-icemaker-dispenser.php#cubes



> I have noticed that the underside of the ice maker has frozen ice on it.



A leak is possible 



> I thought i read somewhere that there is a cycle that causes a freezinfg of the ice and a slight melting. Is that right?



Defrost cycle can do that....but normally doesn't give us crushed only with no whole cubes.

jeff.


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## RMA127 (Jul 22, 2015)

OK. I think i figured out what is going on here.

My freezer goes through a cycle where it defrosts/thaws and re-freezes. When this happens the ice gets stuck together when it freezes again, and then the auger is trying to chip away at a frozen block. so i think the problem is not my Icemaker as much as the freezer thawing and refreezing a couple times a day. It is so bad that we have removed all the freezer items and put into the old reliable GE in the garage. So is there a part that controls the freezer temperature such that several times a day it thaws and re-freezes?


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## Sparky617 (Jul 22, 2015)

RMA127 said:


> OK. I think i figured out what is going on here.
> 
> My freezer goes through a cycle where it defrosts/thaws and re-freezes. When this happens the ice gets stuck together when it freezes again, and then the auger is trying to chip away at a frozen block. so i think the problem is not my Icemaker as much as the freezer thawing and refreezing a couple times a day. It is so bad that we have removed all the freezer items and put into the old reliable GE in the garage. So is there a part that controls the freezer temperature such that several times a day it thaws and re-freezes?



I'll defer to Jeff on the fix, but I suspect the auto-defrost function is broken on this freezer.  It sounds like it is working overtime.

Have you tried a manual defrost and clean of this refrigerator/freezer?  The auto-defrost does a great job of keeping the frost down on freezers that we don't go through a manual clean on the appliances.  A jolly good clean is all a good idea.  If you have a electronic thermometer for your oven you can put the probe inside the freezer and set the alarm to say 35 degrees F, and see how often it alarms during the day for the temperature going above that point.  This would be best if it was clean and empty with the door closed.

This is the type of thermometer I'm referring to:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000CF5MT/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## RMA127 (Jul 22, 2015)

Thanks Sparky.

I had it off a couple weeks ago long enough for things to melt(more than they are now) as i was replacing a water valve. Thats what you mean by "manual defrost"(turning it off and letting the freezer section melt/warm up?).


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## woodchuck (Jul 22, 2015)

I suggest that you have a water leak into your ice bin caused by a leaking water Inlet Valve. If it continues to drip on that ice it will freeze together 
If it is a defrost problem it would be with the defrost thermostat and not the timer.


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## RMA127 (Jul 22, 2015)

the defrost thermostat, is that the part described as the "thermistor"?


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## RMA127 (Jul 22, 2015)

how would the water leak make the sides of the freezer moist/wet to touch, it actually warms up in there such that any condensation or ice melts and re-freezes.


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## RMA127 (Jul 22, 2015)

this afternoon at your suggestion i put in a thermometer. It stayed around -6 all afternoon and then suddenly it stopped cooling and went up to 58 degrees.The inside of the freezer walls are wet, the icemaker is turned off. I am monitoring to see how long before it starts to cool down again. It does this every day, sometimes twice.


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## woodchuck (Jul 22, 2015)

That info about moisture on the walls changes the water leak theory. The defrost thermostat prevents the defrost heater from overheating the freezer during the defrost cycle. It cuts the heater off at a certain temp. If its not working it will start melting ice and items in the freezer until the timer turn the heater off at the end of the cycle. It is located on the tubes behind the back panel of the freezer. You may can tell it's bad by observing weather or not the plug connectors or the thermostat is burned. The thermostat should show continuity when its cold but not when its warm.


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## RMA127 (Jul 22, 2015)

so do you think i should change the defrost thermostat?

By the way, after it warmed up, it immediately started cooling down again.


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## woodchuck (Jul 22, 2015)

Test it. Inspect it.


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## RMA127 (Aug 30, 2015)

I had changed the Defrost Thermostat and tried again. It still had cycles of complete thawing where it would go up to 60+ degrees. I then changed both Thermistors and since then it is working fine, this has been a couple weeks now.


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## Sparky617 (Aug 31, 2015)

RMA
Thanks for posting back with a status.  Congrats on fixing it yourself.  A very satisfying thing to do.


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