ice Maker Blues

[Jason Worman]

Hi all,

So I have run our icemaker straight for a couple of days and have been dumping the ice to let the system clean itself out. I have noticed today that the ice on the bottom of the ice bucket has melted and refrozen as one single block. There is loose ice on the top which is normal. I noticed water periodically dripping from ice rail mechanism. I tested the door seal and seems pretty tight all around, I used the dollar bill test and quite a bit of resistance when I tried to pull it out. The original troubleshooting guide basically said with each problem, bad door seal or take in for servicing. It is the original Dometic 1070.100 maker. Is it just worn out? I cleaned off all the coils so the airflow seams to be very good. The ice it makes is very normal tasting. Any thoughts?

Jason

[David T. Richelderfer]

Our fridge is a Norcold LRIM 1200.  A few years back it started to dribble water down the back wall... which left a glob of ice on the back wall and bottom of the fridge's freezer.  We had the ice maker module replaced under warranty, so no cost.  I think it was simply worn out from ten or so years of making ice.  The new module has worked flawlessly since.  I do not remember what the ice maker module was supposed to cost, but it didn't take the tech but a few minutes to replace it.

[Jason Worman]

David,

Thank you for the input. The maintenance records were spotty on this ol' girl  when we bought her so no telling if the ice making mechanism is original or not. I was thinking of putting in some ice cream and not making ice and see if it stays frozen.

[Bill Lampkin]

Jason, Save the ice cream; Get a refrig thermometer like this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/TRUTEMP-Fridge-Freezer-Thermometer-20-to-80F-3507/24984377?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227017695657&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40345202312&wl4=pla-78309976472&wl5=1014098&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=24984377&wl13=&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjwq-TmBRBdEiwAaO1en8G3BWsBXzys40TdYij7g1WR35n36V03-j2SAT6e7z1DU1IlltEFChoCecMQAvD_BwE&wmlspartner=8*X6Fwho90A

Your Dometic when working perfectly, and with only warm <85f outside temperature, won't keep ice cream frozen hard like your fridge at home, more like soft serve.........

[Jason Worman]

Bill,

Is it typical for the ice to stick together? I put in a thermometer and temp is 15 degrees, is that normal? Sorry for the simple questions.

Jason

[Fred Brooks]

Greetings Jason,
   Here is the sequence of operation of the ice harvester after it has been filled with water from the solenoid valve at the bottom rear of the refer. The built in thermostat inside the harvester determines it has ice inside the tray. When that happens it does the following: Turns on the tray heater and starts the harvester fingers in motion, by the time the fingers reach the top of the ice cubes, the heater should have loosened them in the tray. Just as the fingers have finished pushing the ice out of the tray, you should hear the water solenoid engage and see the water refill the tray.
   Usually water dripping down and freezing on the back wall is an issue with the solenoid valve not closing all the way and overfilling the tray.
   RV refers do not harvest like a residential refer, usually takes 6 hours between harvests under ideal conditions.
Hope this helps, Blessings, Fred

[Jason Worman]

Fred,

Thank you, now I understand how this thing works.

Jason

[Bill Lampkin]

Jason, I think 15f in the freezer is about right, the IM won't begin its cycle until a certain low temp is reached. Years ago I found the IM manual for my Dometic, it listed the temp that the freezer had to reach to start the cycle. Of course, I can't now remember that number! Just be aware that the Dometic (or any absorption type) refrig will get warmer as the outside air temp warms, to the point that, at 90+ outside, it gets iffy if the refrig will keep foods safe (<40 in the fridge). Just don't expect too much.

[William Jordan]

I have read 10deg is the number the sensor on the tray needs to operate. It heats pushes ice out refills and waits until it reads 10deg again and cycles again.