Sweet! This fixed my ice maker! Thank you for this video. A quick side note. If you power down your fridge while you're replacing the sensors once you plug it back in it took my fridge about 10 minutes before the sensors started working. Meaning when I close the flap It took about 10 minutes before that light would go solid when I closed the flap. So during that 10 minutes I was worried that it didn't work. But then after that it started producing ice. Great video thanks again!
I was able to fix my icemaker for $ 20 by replacing part. Once part is replaced, turn the refrigerator on. Open the freezer door, make sure sensor switch is in on position, Hold the flapper with your finger so the optics do not have any blockage, See that optics LED on receiver should stay on, press the freezer switch, LED goes off. Press freezer switch on and off for couple of time while holding the flapper door (on left side). This will speed up the cycle. It start making the ice and in 8 hours my ice bean was full of ice. I suggest to check optics as a first diagnostic steps before buying icemaker or water inlet valve. This video is great and saved me lot of money for parts and labor.
I usually don't like leaving comments that require logging in and sacrificing my privacy on line. But in this case, sharing a positive comments on the immensely helpful value of this video is worth the risk. Previously, the module on our Whirlpool refrigerator failed. This time when the icemaker stopped again, and I started troubleshooting, I came across this video. It allowed me quickly to diagnose the problem, verify it via using the jumper wire technique, and ultimately repair the sensor when I ordered a replacement emitter and receiver board for a combined cost of $20. The last time the icemaker failed, it cost us $300 to get a technician to the house. So this video not only addressed the frustration of the non-working icemaker, but at a huge savings. I hope this great video is as useful to you as it was to me.
I couldn't ask for a better compliment Greg and I appreciate your kind comments. This is why I make these videos, to give back to a community that I have gained so much from. I couldn't do half the stuff I accomplish around the house or on my cars without RUclips and I was inspired years ago to give back to that. I really appreciate it and more than anything, I love hearing that I saved you money and time. And headaches.
This was perfect for my situation. Thanks so much and the link to the parts was perfect. I had to replace my ice maker after 6 years and now after 11 years I thought I was going to have to replace it again. But thanks to your video I realized that it was my sensor and not the ice maker. Saved me lots!!
As a retired electrical engineer and former power company CEO i found your video well spoken, excellent technical knowledge, and very good videography. Salute ! The jumper worked and the machine ejected the ice, so i ordered my replacement boards. I recall early as a technician we would replace the components (ICs, regulators, etc) on the boards to repair the boards. However, the parts got smaller and my eyes are weak at 60 so this is a grand slam video. Thank you.
Great video. I have a whirlpool gold fridge. I took right side panel off and found model of board. Searched that on Amazon and it was 22$. Arrived in 2 days. Took 5 minutes to swap the 2 boards and ice maker started working. I set it to fast ice and within minutes it was making ice.
I was about to replace the "whole shebang" ... watched some vids on RUclips and was ready to replace the fill valve dealie, then the entire water line, then the ice maker. Then found this video. Man ... I gotta say, this was the best deal I coulda found. Ordered the electronic parts Clint recommended from Amazon (free shipping in 2 days via Prime) ... took me about 12 minutes to pull out the fridge, remove / replace the electronic boards, and put everything back. But, no light. I was bummed. Unplugged the fridge for 5 minutes, plugged it back in ... had a flashing LED. Waited ..... ICE, ICE, Baby! Clint, you are the Man !! Thanks. Cost me less than $25 and it works like a charm. I love RUclips!
Awesome Steve. I love hearing these stories and this is exactly why I make these videos. I have learned so much from YT over the years that it only made sense for me to give back. Thanks for watching and glad it helped you out.
Pure RUclips at its finest. Some dude giving a no BS clear fix to a common problem. A bunch of DIY folk looking to save money. Paperclip jump worked for me. Will fill the ice and order a fresh set of boards for 25 bucks. Thank you.
Hey Clint, My parents ice maker quit working a week ago its 13yrs old ( Kitchenaide ). I'm a pretty handy, resourceful, very mechanically inclined guy so I took on fixing it. I'd exhausted my abilities & resources to no avail. Got a new solinoid, used icemaker ( they both were in bad shape, but still functioning ) I got anew multi meter, checked oout everything, all where its supposed to be . Then I saw this video, F-ing Bingo man !!! I jumped the 2 poles & the icemaker went right to work !!! I just wanted to convey my thanks & gratitude for you doint this. It enabled me to come through for my parernts so they didnt have to call a repair man & get taken to the cleaners & enabled me to keep my reputation of ( Shade Tree Handy man/ Mr. Fixit ) in tact. Thanks again, Kind Regards
Clint Holland I have kenmore Elite model #106 877 037 03 side by side the freezer is cold but not freesig I check old the component. and replace the relay and the compressor start is cold in the freezer but not freesing and I dont know how to test the contol board for this specific model the amp was 1.4 can you help me with this problem? Do you have any video how to test the control board that you can send me at this fone number 787 316 9692 via Wassap or messenger thanks from PR.
About a month ago we discovered that our ice maker in our 11 year old Whirlpool fridge wasn't working. In the middle of summer I had become the new "ice maker". I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an old fridge, so online I went. It was suggested to change the water filter, vacuum the coils, or make sure the water line wasn't frozen etc. Of course nothing worked. Ice was in the tray, but not dropping. So, I googled why won't ice wouldn't drop and I found your video. HALLELUJAH!!! I did the test and within 5 minutes I heard the sound of ice dropping. I let the paper clip in the rest of the evening and every hour or so...ICE!!! I ordered new sensors the next day and they'll be here tomorrow! I'm so excited! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for making this video. UPDATE ~ the sensors are installed and all is well! And...I watched another video that has you remove the sensors from the plastic piece before disconnecting them. This way would make it easier to separate and reconnect the sensors.
Clint - found your video, and you nailed the solution to my problem! My Kenmore refrigerator was purchased in 2004 and looked just like the one in your video - ice maker looked the same. Watching your video, and ordering the parts from Amazon you linked to allowed me to successfully replace the sensor set and now my ice maker is once again making ice! Thank you for that great video instructional.
Thanks amigo. This is exactly what we needed. What's amazing to me is that the owners manual says absolutely nothing about this. I think this is the second time this part has broken on our KitchenAid fridge.
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. Unplugged the fridge, inserted paper-clip, plugged back in, ten minutes later I heard the ice dump! This will be our second time replacing this sensor on this 11 year old Kitchenaid. This time the red light was totally out, so I wasn't sure until I saw your comment that said that made it even more likely that it was the sensor, and then the paper-clip worked! Ordering a new sensor now! Thanks again!
Mr. Holland, this is Fantastic! I replaced my ice maker unit a few months ago, it worked fine then just stopped making ice. Thought I had a bad unit, but your TS guide proved it was the optics. THANKS! Just ordered sensor parts from amazon $20.00. You saved me $100.00 and a lot of aggravation.
Jumping in to add to the list of those you helped greatly with this video. I thought I was looking at a service call and a $200-300 bill, but thanks to your video and the link to the replacement part, I spent about $27 and maybe 10 minutes tops getting the part swapped in. So grateful for an easy-to-follow and understand video! Thanks!
Thank you! Red lights on sensor were working as advertised but after jumping the sensor it started making ice. Thank you also for the link to the part.
Thanks Clint. For me it is easy to pull out the sensor boards, but what made your video SO VALUABLE was when you bypassed the unit with a Jumper, and you showed Clearly what pins to bypass. That was fantastic. I have not done this yet but will today June 4th 2024. I originally felt that I might be able to repair the bad component but the replacements are cheap and easy to get so just get them off Amazon and move on. Thanks again for the video.
You sound just like me. I have an electronics background and could probably diagnose and replace any of the components on there but then you have diminishing returns when the part is like $30.
Thanks for the great info/video. I replaced the optic sensor about six months ago and then it failed. Bought a new one a couple of weeks ago when the ice maker quit working. The red light sequence (2 blinks and also solid when sensor door held close) showed that the sensor was working. I had checked the ice maker and valve and they checked out as good. It just seemed like the ice maker wasn't getting the signal to activate. I searched "how the bypass optic sensor" and your excellent video showed up. Vindication!! The ice maker went into action immediately. So that light sequence can show good but the sensor isn't working. Both of the optic sensors that failed were in the $20-25 range. I'm looking a little deeper for the next replacement part and hope to not spend $150-200 on an oem part but those cheapos can be and have been problematic for me. Thanks again for taking your time to share your knowledge.
I completely understand your hesitation on buying a new one. Here is what I will say. My $25 sensor from Amazon is still working 8 years later so maybe you just got a dud again.
This is a rare diy hidden info ice maker troubleshooting that is seldom mentioned by others on YT that gives helpful tips why your ice maker may not be making ice. And some of them ar suppose to be skilled techs!!!!!!! I ckd my optic sensor & sure enough when I closed the flap the sensor did not remain study. I sue hope by replace this it will solve the icemaker issue & I won't need to replace the water outlet valve. That's the only thing most of the guys on here subject. Thank you, Clint Holland!!!!!
Excellent video, thanks! My red light doesn't come on at all and the icemaker won't stop making ice even when the bin is full. If I turn off the ice maker switch it will stop making ice. Wondering if this is also an indication to replace the boards. Thanks again though, your video has pointed me in the right direction for sure.
Wow - jumping that optical sensor connection with a wire fixed the icemaker instantly, the frozen ice harvested right away, and water refilled the tray! And... I ordered the replacement part from your link in the description. $28.95 shipped. I called two repair places in Wichita, KS, this morning before I tried this method. Neither had the parts in stock, it would be a week to order, and $170 or more both places. Thank you!
Thank you Clint. I installed the jumper and then went to order the parts on Amazon. As I clicked the order now button the ice maker literally drop a load of ice. cost for the parts. $22.
FINALLY! After watching dozens of DIY videos, no one mentions the Optics sensor troubleshooting test. Had no idea what the red blinking light meant and no one mentions it. After replacing the module motor the ice-maker still did not work. Talk about frustrating. All these go through all these nice little tricks to diagnose every problem except the Optics sensor. Found your video by pure accident. THANK YOU!!!!
I have a Kenmore that's 13 years old and still in great shape. I've been searching for a video that has the same ice maker and I finally found this. I hooked the jumper about 20 minutes ago and it has already put some ice in the bin! Thanks!
Clint I just wanted to thank you for your video and knowledge. I've replaced ice makers in the past and assumed that was the problem with my current ice maker. When that didn't fix the problem, found your video and bypassed the sensor to be sure that was what needed replacing! Yep! You nailed it! I really appreciate you letting us know what to bypass and how---key information! You save us all! Thanks and keep up the awesome work!
Holy Heck !! Your jumper trick proved to me that the optics - emitter / receiver boards have failed! I jumped it, and sure enough, the fingers rotated out and pushed the ice cubes into the tray. I will be able to get new boards Monday morning ! Thanks !
This was very helpful. Thank You! My ice maker wasn't working and the sensor light was on. BUT before I replaced the ice maker I installed the jumper as in the video. Everything started working. I left the jumper in place for 1 day to refill my ice bucket and that got me through until Amazon had my replacement sensor delivered. A few minutes later everything working great!
Quick Fix my light is steady when I hold the flapper on the left side. I have I’ve in the mold, but it won’t drop. I have replaced the sensor twice. First time it worked for about two days ,second time it dumped once and then stopped. Any ideas?
Quick Fix when I jumped the wires my ice maker dumped the ice immediately. Then continued to make ice until I took out the jumpers. I then replaced the sensor,which worked for a day or two. Then it stopped dumping ice again.so I replaced the sensor again, worked for two cycles and then failed. I bought a different vendors part and it just dumped the ice and stopped. I am starting to think this is insane ,changing the part and getting the same results. But I have another one coming. When I replace these, I get the flashing light when the left sensor is blocked with the paddle and a solid light when I push it in. If I hold the light switch down the red light gos off. Getting frustrated. I wonder if I have a short somewhere? Don’t know how to test for a short. Thanks for you help. To clarify, it is making ice, just not dumping it. I have started with an empty hopper and I have cleaned the optics with a q tip just in case they were obstructed.
Ok, I am insane. I replaced it for the fourth time, this time nothing happened. I’m taking a guess it is not the sensor. It is making cubes but not dumping them, must be something in the ice maker not receiving the signal to dump. Who makes the best replacement ice maker or who to stay away from?
went thru many youtubes and experts, but this was the best info of them all. Sensors bad, and the jumper check running confirmed it. Kudos on a true solution.
Thanks so much. I replaced the ice maker unit and it still wasn’t working. I watched your video. It was the sensor. Did the override by connecting the two points. Started working like a charm. Really appreciate it.
I took old control unit to my bench to find the problem. Found one bad capacitor and bad relay. Both available from Mouser for total $7.00. Installed new parts, works great. Have new parts as spare.
Thank you for the video and the detailed and well documented explanation to troubleshooting and perform the repair . This saving me the trouble to call a repair person and have my Ice Maker working again!
Absolutely fantastic! Saved me the time and money of replacing the ice maker and the shunt told me in a matter of seconds where my problem was. Now I can also make ice until my control boards get here.
I subscribed!!! The testing by shorting the pins just saved me tons of time and buying parts that I might not need. By passing Optics board, confirmed my issue is that. Thank you very much.
Did you try the jumper? If the light isn't working and you can't see anything using your phone camera it is almost certainly this unit but I would recommend trying the jumper first.
Dear Mr Holland THANK YOU for this video, ordered from your link received the part and listen while refrigerator hummed and clunked along making ice again I live in Canada and had to order the parts to the border it was well worth the drive thank you again :)
Thank you very much. This saved boocoup bucks. OEM parts listed at $300 +, plus a service call and labor for installation. I was confused after installation by the infrared light not working continuously, sometimes when I opened the door, it would be on, other times, nothing. In a little over 24 hours, just as you mentioned, the fridge was producing ice again. I guess that period of time is needed for self testing? Thanks again.
@@ClintHolland Thank you for your generosity of sharing knowledge that saved so much money for folks that need this kindness. The ice maker works like new and I have gained great satisfaction and confidence with your guidance, in doing this repair, Again, thank you.
I want to thank Clint for the excellent tip to acquire the part from Amazon I ordered and it arrived within 1 week and installed it and the ice maker is working again Saved a lot of money Best regards
As others stated your jumper tip allowed me to finally isolate the problem after buying a $130 replacement ice maker. Argh! Wish I saw this video first!!! Thanks for putting this on here. I do wonder how the heck you figured out the jumper troubleshooting tip! I couldn't use 14/2 romex as it was too thick so I just used a paper clip and an oven mitt. Amazed they use 120 volts on these things. Geez. Gotta be careful. But it worked and I didn't get zapped.
Thank you. Wish you had seen this video first as well but glad it helped. I actually figured it out by looking at the schematics of the ice maker. However, what you don't see in this video is the hours of troubleshooting I spent to figure all this out. The beauty of video editing.
@@ClintHolland I'm sure it took a lot of work to make this vid! You saved my family from having to buy a brand new $2000 fridge!!! My children will be able to eat in March now! 🤣 So I hope it was all worth it. 🤣
Thanks so much for the tips. After confirming the issue by using the jumper wire, I pulled out my old soldering iron and touched up many of the solder joints on both boards, and I am up and running like new! (I stayed away from the joints on all the "surface-mount" components.) I didn't even have to spend the 20 bucks at Amazon or wait for delivery of new boards.
Great . Jumper trick worked for me . Ice maker is working now. I have ordered circuit board from Amazon and I am sure board is root cause . Thank you !
Thanks Clint, that was so informative. I’m still trying to figure out my problem. I have no lights on the sensors and I get no reading’s on my multimeter, it’s like I don’t have power to ice maker at all. I didn’t find any broken wires at the bottom of the door either. However your video was great and extremely informative, thank you.
This fixed my problem. When I held the the optics lever down mine would turn solid red but would only stay lit for 2 seconds then go out and wasn’t as bright as the new unit light . 5 minutes after replacing the parts it dumped ice. Before even with a new ice maker it would make a couple trays a few times a week. Thanks so much. 👍👍👍
Really helpful. Not many other video address this sensor style. I first unnecessarily replaced my timing motor (when it actually wasn't getting power) to find it was this sensor. Your jumper tip was a difference maker!
AWESOME! Jumper cable inserted and ice maker started working right away, which show the problem was with the light sensor. WOOHOO, replacement part is on its way.
Bonjour Clint! Many thanks for this video, you are an absolute life saver. Just wish I had found this earlier... I initially replaced the entire ice making unit thinking it was faulty, but it did not solve the problem. Tried your "jumper" trick to verify that it was indeed the optic sensor, and bingo! Ice maker working again. Will follow your advice and order on Amazon. Many, many thanks!
you my friend are a genius. I've spent the last year thinking of buying a new fridge freezer because my ice maker and water dispenser wasnt working but couldnt justify spending big money on a new fridge just to have filtered clean water and ice. My water dispenser is back working which needed a new tube run from the bottom and within the freezer door. It still makes a clicking noise from the rear of the unit which is a strange one because it stops clicking when i open the fridge door. Go figure.. the ice machine was still baffling me why it wasnt being fed with water nor was any of the jump tests on the ice maker itself worked. (even ended up buying a new ice maker) I did the jump test on the sensor and everything is clicking and making the right noises and now being fed with water. I'll be celebrating when the first ice cubes drop. One other small issue is the water tube i mentioned for the dispenser, i replaced this only a few days ago as i mentioned but overnight it froze up so i had to replace this again today. Any tips ? plus the clicking noise?
I would suspect it is freezing up because some insulation or a seal was removed or dislodged when you replaced the water line. Maybe check and see if you can seal where it goes into the door better. As for the clicking, I would assume that is the water valve or relay. Where does the clicking seem to be coming from?
@@ClintHolland When i removed the newest water pipe from the door again i noticed it was particularly colder about 12" in from the top of the tube. Any recommendations how to seal this if it happens again. Would some upvc tape wrapped around it help? With regards to the water valve, I did replaced this a few days back for a new one and the fridge still makes the same clicking noise. So far ive replaced that plus the ice maker and it appears i probably didn't need to do that after all after watching your video. The clicking noise seems to come from the rear of the fridge down by the water valve area but definitely not the unit itself. There's a white box attached to the fridge where lots of electrical cables run into. I cant be sure its coming from their either but its in that area. The strange thing (which i found out by accident) is that when i hear the clicking noise (when dispensing water), if i open the fridge door or even the freezer door but pressing the close latch, the clicking stops. My other thought was it could be the actual closed contact switch for the water dispenser. Everything still works but im worried the clicking noise might be a bigger problem coming in the future. I watched some other guy on youtube recently about removing the filter and reinserting it to stop the clicking. this didnt work for me. To cover this off i also replaced the old filter with a brand new one i installed yesterday. One last problem i have is that the old filter had 40% on it, now that i have installed a new one i wanted to reset it back to 99% as i have done in the past. I've held down the OK button for a long time but it doesnt seem to reset back to 99%. very annoying.
@@1975Stevo I would probably use some foam sealant to provide insulation as well as expand and seal the air from entering around it. If it's coming from that box, it is probably a relay. There are several that control those water valves. However, if that relay was going crazy, I would expect to see some other issues. Did you say that you still aren't making ice? That relay may be the one that controls water to the ice maker if so.
@@ClintHolland Hi Clint, my ice maker is working fine now that i followed your video on how to jump it. It turned out that my sensor was faulty (blinking twice) therefore i have ordered another from amazon and hopefully get this next week. I've ordered both transmitter and receiver so hopefully that fixes that for good. As for the relay, are these things easy to locate and replace if needed? Thanks
@@1975Stevo That's awesome. Yes, they are usually located at the bottom right of the refrigerator if you are looking at the back of it. Just follow the water tube from the wall and it will lead you to the valves which are connected to the relays.
One other thing I wanted to add, after I replace my ice maker that I checked the optic sensor with the flap closed & top switch closed, I had steady blinks on control indicating ice maker was in harvest mode also. Good to know that it,s communicating. Now i,m fixed. thanks for your video Clint! sincerely Adam kozlowski
changed both circuit boards open freezer and close the flapper still flashing twice with a one second delay? Once I replace both boards and plug them in should i see a light emitting to the receiver from the emitter?
Thank you, sir! I followed this very clear video exactly, including doing the jumper test. Parts were $27 from Amazon, and after 10 minutes the ice maker is fixed and I'm the family hero (we use a lot of ice). I'm sure I saved at least $250.
Thank you helping me to solve my ice maker issues. Your tip of placing a jumper wire into the main harness absolutely solved the problem. Ordered the boards from eBay but also found that amazon had them also.
You are amazing. Thank you for explaining it so simply and easily. My husband have me his man card for the repair. He wanted to go buy a new refrigerator.
Awesome and thanks for watching and the nice words. Tell your husband I am kind of sorry. Give it back to him by the weekend so he can do some other projects around the house though.
Thank you a million sir i just did what you said to fix my whirlpool ice maker after about thirty minutes it was making ice wow i just ordered the optic board on eBay thank you again keep up the good work god bless you.
I have the same optic sensor you are showing but I do not know the model number to order on Amazon. Apparently it is not the same as the refrigerator model no. I am eager to try after seeing your clear instructions! Thank you
Clint, thank you so much for this excellent, well demonstrated repair video. Your type of video is truly what makes RUclips worth visiting. You helped me save a bunch of money, and my ice maker is back to cranking out tons of ice for a whopping $27.04. Thanks so much!
Awesome video. I jumped the pins as shown and started making ice right away. I order the part from Amazon link. I installed the new boards and ice bin is full!
Thank you for posting this! I messed around with my Whirlpool ice maker for a while, including replacing the inlet valve and motor. Nothing helped and I ended up replacing parts that weren't really necessary. I used an insulated jumper as shown and had ice within about 2 hours. Nicely done video and narration too.
This is excellent. Repair people must hate you, hahaha. I can't even imagine what it costs to get a repair person to show up, yet alone figure out what is wrong and start up selling you with a new ice maker, water inlet, and the boards. My Kenmore is 20 years old, and I am not ready to give up on it or replace it yet.
Information is power right. I just like being able to fix things when they break and not having to rely on someone else's knowledge and availability. Thankfully the Internet has helped out with that drastically.
Dang! I wish I would have seen this video before purchasing my new ice maker that doesn't work. Oh well, purchasing both is still way cheaper than a new refrigerator I guess. Thanks for the fantastic video.
Thank you so much for this video, it saved me so much time and money by replacing the parts myself. My refrigerator did take about 10 minutes to reset since I had unplugged it, but went right back to making ice. Thanks again!!!
Thanks Clint. We ordered the part from the link you posted. We have a Kitchenaid purchased in 2006. The kit was a perfect match and easy to remove and install.
Thanks. Hotwired it while we waited for the part(s). Ikea Refrigerator (made by Whirlpool?). It was exactly the same.Replacement was easy. Working great now.
Hello Clint. Can you please tell me if the plastic optic sensor door is essential/necessary as I broke it? the spring that pivots is still there, and the sensor is solid when ice maker turned on and appears to be working fine, but didn't know what purpose the little door actually serves.
Great question. So the main purpose of the little door is to block the sensor when the door is open so the ice maker doesn't dump ice while the door is open. So no big deal if it is broken except you may, if your timing is perfect, get ice dumped on you while your door is open.
Just wanted to say thanks....your video helped me diagnose the problem. I've got the jumper installed and it's making ice again. Replacement parts are on the way. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video.
Make sure that you also check for the black wire on the ice maker itself, it has a temp sensor in the middle of the wire and this must be under the metal stainless clip up against the ice maker green aluminum housing to sense the housing temp, this is how it knows when the water if frozen and it can cycle. If this white sensor is not under the stainless clip the ice maker will not work no matter what.
So I changed both emitter and receiver boards still no success and I don’t see an emitter light . How to I test to see if the emitter board is getting power? The receiver board does light up but with the flapper door closed I still get a flashing light. Perhaps the emitter is not getting power? Another question does the freezer door need to be closed as well or is it ok for the door to be open to test ?
@@ClintHolland also I was able to confirm the emitter board was getting 120v ac power using a multi meter. When I tested the board light for continuity it should have read “0” but it read in the 500 range so I’m thinking the board was bad sent back to Amazon getting a replacement stay tuned
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Using your directions, we fixed our ice maker for $37, saving at least $200. Your directions were very clear, and the repair was so easy to do.
great video,The jumper test is great because in my case the optic sensor works properly but the board is not sending power to the ice maker. I jumped the main board connector and power is now sent to the ice maker. :)
Awesome video. My Kitchenaid has this exact sensor that was faulty and blinking twice. Made it easy to diagnose and confirm it was the problem with the jumper wire. Couldn't have done it otherwise. 5 stars
Thanks, this was what was wrong with mine. You can use your cell phone camera to check proper operation of the infrared emitter. If it doesn't show up on your camera it most likely needs replacement.
You are the reason I make videos like this. I have gotten so much from RUclips through the years that it only made sense for me to give back when I could. Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
Great video.. I did exactly what you said and about 3 mins later water was dispenses into ice machine. I did the jumpers as described.. Too bad I already bought the ice machine first, but it only cost 35 $.. I ordered the other parts and they will be here soon.. Thanks
Thank you! Now in 2023 - and this fix still worked great - saved me hundreds of dollars. The Amazon link to the parts is still valid. The fix took 10 minutes with a Phillips screw driver. Make sure to take note of the orientation of the plugs before you remove them so that when you go to put them back on, they are facing the right way. The nubs on either end of the connectors face toward the inside of the freezer. As stated elsewhere here - the wires are very short and can be difficult to get back on. Gently wiggling them while grasping them with channel locks works well. If you don't heed the advice and unplug the refrigerator (because power is default to get to), you will get shocked when handling the larger right side board. Wear rubber gloves to make it tolerable :-) Ten minutes and $34 and I was back to making ice again!
Mine randomly works sometimes it works sometimes not. The lights are doing what it is supposed too. Should o still do the jumper if the lights are functioning properly thanks.
Try the jumper and see if that solves the randomness of it working. If it works all the time with the jumper, its probably the optic sensor. If it still has the same issue, it's probably something else.
Where do you get a jumper cable? I tried with the paper clip but it didn't work but also I don't know if I had it pushed in correctly? Plus it had a plastic coating on it which I took off but still. The red flashing light does it's thing but then I notice if I leave it for a bit it doesn't work again. And still no ice. I ordered the part though because I feel like that's probably the issue. Thanks so much for this video. I love do it yourself stuff!
I would suggest trying a regular metal paperclip or you can make a jumper by stripping the insulation off both ends of a short piece of wire. You can actually strip it off with just a knife.
Wow. Thanks. There are so many garbage, useless, & hard to watch vids out there. Finally found one that nailed it. The jumper isolated my exact issue. And its 6 years old.
Mine stopped producing ice again this week. I checked the lights and it seemed fine (solid light test). The black rubber water inlet had frozen water in in. I took a heat gun and heated it up for ~60 seconds and the water started flowing. Possible water valve seeping and causing it to freeze up the tube just in the freezer box. EBAY sensors still working.
Sweet! This fixed my ice maker! Thank you for this video. A quick side note. If you power down your fridge while you're replacing the sensors once you plug it back in it took my fridge about 10 minutes before the sensors started working. Meaning when I close the flap It took about 10 minutes before that light would go solid when I closed the flap. So during that 10 minutes I was worried that it didn't work. But then after that it started producing ice. Great video thanks again!
Thanks and great tip. I wasn't aware of that but I will pin this comment so others can see it.
I was able to fix my icemaker for $ 20 by replacing part.
Once part is replaced, turn the refrigerator on.
Open the freezer door, make sure sensor switch is in on position,
Hold the flapper with your finger so the optics do not have any blockage,
See that optics LED on receiver should stay on, press the freezer switch, LED goes off.
Press freezer switch on and off for couple of time while holding the flapper door (on left side).
This will speed up the cycle. It start making the ice and in 8 hours my ice bean was full of ice.
I suggest to check optics as a first diagnostic steps before buying icemaker or water inlet valve.
This video is great and saved me lot of money for parts and labor.
Thank you for saving me $300!
Your advice worked great.
Easy Peezy!
I usually don't like leaving comments that require logging in and sacrificing my privacy on line. But in this case, sharing a positive comments on the immensely helpful value of this video is worth the risk. Previously, the module on our Whirlpool refrigerator failed. This time when the icemaker stopped again, and I started troubleshooting, I came across this video. It allowed me quickly to diagnose the problem, verify it via using the jumper wire technique, and ultimately repair the sensor when I ordered a replacement emitter and receiver board for a combined cost of $20. The last time the icemaker failed, it cost us $300 to get a technician to the house. So this video not only addressed the frustration of the non-working icemaker, but at a huge savings. I hope this great video is as useful to you as it was to me.
I couldn't ask for a better compliment Greg and I appreciate your kind comments. This is why I make these videos, to give back to a community that I have gained so much from. I couldn't do half the stuff I accomplish around the house or on my cars without RUclips and I was inspired years ago to give back to that. I really appreciate it and more than anything, I love hearing that I saved you money and time. And headaches.
Just like a true electrician he worked on a hot device, I'm proud of you.
This was perfect for my situation. Thanks so much and the link to the parts was perfect. I had to replace my ice maker after 6 years and now after 11 years I thought I was going to have to replace it again. But thanks to your video I realized that it was my sensor and not the ice maker.
Saved me lots!!
Awesome. Love hearing that.
As a retired electrical engineer and former power company CEO i found your video well spoken, excellent technical knowledge, and very good videography. Salute ! The jumper worked and the machine ejected the ice, so i ordered my replacement boards. I recall early as a technician we would replace the components (ICs, regulators, etc) on the boards to repair the boards. However, the parts got smaller and my eyes are weak at 60 so this is a grand slam video. Thank you.
Aww, thank you so much for the kind words.
I was almost quoted $500 to replace this part, so you can imagine how happy I was to find your video...thank you. I have that exact fridge
Awesome. Our's finally died about a month ago. We bought that fridge in 1999 so I think we got our money out of it.
Great video. I have a whirlpool gold fridge. I took right side panel off and found model of board. Searched that on Amazon and it was 22$. Arrived in 2 days. Took 5 minutes to swap the 2 boards and ice maker started working. I set it to fast ice and within minutes it was making ice.
I just used the clip and it worked. I'm buying the optics now .Thanks for your help and the video
Fantastic. Glad I could help and thanks for commenting.
I was about to replace the "whole shebang" ... watched some vids on RUclips and was ready to replace the fill valve dealie, then the entire water line, then the ice maker. Then found this video. Man ... I gotta say, this was the best deal I coulda found.
Ordered the electronic parts Clint recommended from Amazon (free shipping in 2 days via Prime) ... took me about 12 minutes to pull out the fridge, remove / replace the electronic boards, and put everything back. But, no light. I was bummed. Unplugged the fridge for 5 minutes, plugged it back in ... had a flashing LED. Waited ..... ICE, ICE, Baby!
Clint, you are the Man !! Thanks. Cost me less than $25 and it works like a charm. I love RUclips!
Awesome Steve. I love hearing these stories and this is exactly why I make these videos. I have learned so much from YT over the years that it only made sense for me to give back. Thanks for watching and glad it helped you out.
I should have watched you video before buying a new ice maker. Thanks for an excellent explanation!!
Wish I would have gotten to you sooner Frank.
Pure RUclips at its finest. Some dude giving a no BS clear fix to a common problem. A bunch of DIY folk looking to save money. Paperclip jump worked for me. Will fill the ice and order a fresh set of boards for 25 bucks. Thank you.
Love hearing that. That is why I make these videos.
Just used your paperclip jumper in the sensor....and.....IT WORKED!!
"You Are THE MAN!! Thanks VERY MUCH!!
Awesome John. Glad that worked and thanks for watching.
Hey Clint, My parents ice maker quit working a week ago its 13yrs old ( Kitchenaide ). I'm a pretty handy, resourceful, very mechanically inclined guy so I took on fixing it. I'd exhausted my abilities & resources to no avail. Got a new solinoid, used icemaker ( they both were in bad shape, but still functioning ) I got anew multi meter, checked oout everything, all where its supposed to be . Then I saw this video, F-ing Bingo man !!! I jumped the 2 poles & the icemaker went right to work !!! I just wanted to convey my thanks & gratitude for you doint this. It enabled me to come through for my parernts so they didnt have to call a repair man & get taken to the cleaners & enabled me to keep my reputation of ( Shade Tree Handy man/ Mr. Fixit ) in tact. Thanks again, Kind Regards
That is awesome. Glad the video helped. Always love to hear stories about how I helped someone.
Clint Holland I have kenmore Elite model #106 877 037 03 side by side the freezer is cold but not freesig I check old the component. and replace the relay and the compressor start is cold in the freezer but not freesing and I dont know how to test the contol board for this specific model the amp was 1.4 can you help me with this problem? Do you have any video how to test the control board that you can send me at this fone number 787 316 9692 via Wassap or messenger thanks from PR.
How cold is your freezer getting?
About a month ago we discovered that our ice maker in our 11 year old Whirlpool fridge wasn't working. In the middle of summer I had become the new "ice maker". I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an old fridge, so online I went. It was suggested to change the water filter, vacuum the coils, or make sure the water line wasn't frozen etc. Of course nothing worked. Ice was in the tray, but not dropping. So, I googled why won't ice wouldn't drop and I found your video. HALLELUJAH!!! I did the test and within 5 minutes I heard the sound of ice dropping. I let the paper clip in the rest of the evening and every hour or so...ICE!!! I ordered new sensors the next day and they'll be here tomorrow! I'm so excited! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for making this video. UPDATE ~ the sensors are installed and all is well! And...I watched another video that has you remove the sensors from the plastic piece before disconnecting them. This way would make it easier to separate and reconnect the sensors.
That is awesome. Glad the video helped you out and you get to stop being the ice maker. Thanks for stopping by.
Clint - found your video, and you nailed the solution to my problem! My Kenmore refrigerator was purchased in 2004 and looked just like the one in your video - ice maker looked the same. Watching your video, and ordering the parts from Amazon you linked to allowed me to successfully replace the sensor set and now my ice maker is once again making ice! Thank you for that great video instructional.
Love hearing these stories Jay and that's why I make them. It feels good to accomplish something like this on your own plus you saved some money.
Amazing! Thank you so much for your video. Just a moment ago jumped the wires and the icemaker immediately started working.
That is fantastic to hear and why I make these videos. Glad you got ice now.
Thanks amigo. This is exactly what we needed. What's amazing to me is that the owners manual says absolutely nothing about this. I think this is the second time this part has broken on our KitchenAid fridge.
Of course. Glad it helped. Don't think they want us knowing this knowledge.
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. Unplugged the fridge, inserted paper-clip, plugged back in, ten minutes later I heard the ice dump! This will be our second time replacing this sensor on this 11 year old Kitchenaid. This time the red light was totally out, so I wasn't sure until I saw your comment that said that made it even more likely that it was the sensor, and then the paper-clip worked! Ordering a new sensor now! Thanks again!
Exactly why I make these videos. Glad it worked for you.
Tested my icemaker control unit with jumper wire, worked! THANK YOU. Ordered control boards. You saved my butt and my wallet
Awesome. Love hearing these stories and how my video saved people time and money.
Mr. Holland, this is Fantastic! I replaced my ice maker unit a few months ago, it worked fine then just stopped making ice. Thought I had a bad unit, but your TS guide proved it was the optics. THANKS!
Just ordered sensor parts from amazon $20.00. You saved me $100.00 and a lot of aggravation.
Great to hear. Love saving people money on things they can do themselves.
Jumping in to add to the list of those you helped greatly with this video. I thought I was looking at a service call and a $200-300 bill, but thanks to your video and the link to the replacement part, I spent about $27 and maybe 10 minutes tops getting the part swapped in. So grateful for an easy-to-follow and understand video! Thanks!
That is awesome and why I make these videos.
Thank you! Red lights on sensor were working as advertised but after jumping the sensor it started making ice. Thank you also for the link to the part.
Glad I could help and thanks for watching.
Thanks Clint. For me it is easy to pull out the sensor boards, but what made your video SO VALUABLE was when you bypassed the unit with a Jumper, and you showed Clearly what pins to bypass. That was fantastic. I have not done this yet but will today June 4th 2024. I originally felt that I might be able to repair the bad component but the replacements are cheap and easy to get so just get them off Amazon and move on. Thanks again for the video.
You sound just like me. I have an electronics background and could probably diagnose and replace any of the components on there but then you have diminishing returns when the part is like $30.
@@ClintHolland part arrived from Amazon $20 and installed the new boards in about 15 minutes. Working fine now!!!
@@myradiovideos Fantastic. Love hearing that.
Thanks for the great info/video. I replaced the optic sensor about six months ago and then it failed. Bought a new one a couple of weeks ago when the ice maker quit working. The red light sequence (2 blinks and also solid when sensor door held close) showed that the sensor was working. I had checked the ice maker and valve and they checked out as good. It just seemed like the ice maker wasn't getting the signal to activate. I searched "how the bypass optic sensor" and your excellent video showed up. Vindication!! The ice maker went into action immediately. So that light sequence can show good but the sensor isn't working. Both of the optic sensors that failed were in the $20-25 range. I'm looking a little deeper for the next replacement part and hope to not spend $150-200 on an oem part but those cheapos can be and have been problematic for me. Thanks again for taking your time to share your knowledge.
I completely understand your hesitation on buying a new one. Here is what I will say. My $25 sensor from Amazon is still working 8 years later so maybe you just got a dud again.
This is a rare diy hidden info ice maker troubleshooting that is seldom mentioned by others on YT that gives helpful tips why your ice maker may not be making ice. And some of them ar suppose to be skilled techs!!!!!!! I ckd my optic sensor & sure enough when I closed the flap the sensor did not remain study. I sue hope by replace this it will solve the icemaker issue & I won't need to replace the water outlet valve. That's the only thing most of the guys on here subject. Thank you, Clint Holland!!!!!
Glad I could help. Hope you got your ice working again.
Excellent video, thanks! My red light doesn't come on at all and the icemaker won't stop making ice even when the bin is full. If I turn off the ice maker switch it will stop making ice. Wondering if this is also an indication to replace the boards. Thanks again though, your video has pointed me in the right direction for sure.
Try unplugging the sensor like you see in the video and see if it keeps making ice. If it does, then replacing this sensor won't help.
Wow - jumping that optical sensor connection with a wire fixed the icemaker instantly, the frozen ice harvested right away, and water refilled the tray! And... I ordered the replacement part from your link in the description. $28.95 shipped. I called two repair places in Wichita, KS, this morning before I tried this method. Neither had the parts in stock, it would be a week to order, and $170 or more both places. Thank you!
That's awesome Ken and exactly why I make these videos. Thanks for letting us know that it helped.
Thank you Clint. I installed the jumper and then went to order the parts on Amazon. As I clicked the order now button the ice maker literally drop a load of ice. cost for the parts. $22.
Fan freaking tastic. Love to hear that. Just make sure you remove the jumper or it will never stop making ice.
FINALLY! After watching dozens of DIY videos, no one mentions the Optics sensor troubleshooting test. Had no idea what the red blinking light meant and no one mentions it. After replacing the module motor the ice-maker still did not work. Talk about frustrating. All these go through all these nice little tricks to diagnose every problem except the Optics sensor. Found your video by pure accident. THANK YOU!!!!
That's what I am here for. Glad it worked.
I have a Kenmore that's 13 years old and still in great shape. I've been searching for a video that has the same ice maker and I finally found this. I hooked the jumper about 20 minutes ago and it has already put some ice in the bin! Thanks!
That's awesome. And it's a much cheaper fix than a new ice maker.
Clint I just wanted to thank you for your video and knowledge. I've replaced ice makers in the past and assumed that was the problem with my current ice maker. When that didn't fix the problem, found your video and bypassed the sensor to be sure that was what needed replacing! Yep! You nailed it! I really appreciate you letting us know what to bypass and how---key information! You save us all! Thanks and keep up the awesome work!
Thank you. Glad it it helped as well.
Holy Heck !! Your jumper trick proved to me that the optics - emitter / receiver boards have failed! I jumped it, and sure enough, the fingers rotated out and pushed the ice cubes into the tray. I will be able to get new boards Monday morning ! Thanks !
Awesome. Glad it helped and saved you some money.
This was very helpful. Thank You!
My ice maker wasn't working and the sensor light was on. BUT before I replaced the ice maker I installed the jumper as in the video. Everything started working. I left the jumper in place for 1 day to refill my ice bucket and that got me through until Amazon had my replacement sensor delivered. A few minutes later everything working great!
Awesome and great to hear. I love hearing that the video is saving people money.
Quick Fix my light is steady when I hold the flapper on the left side. I have I’ve in the mold, but it won’t drop. I have replaced the sensor twice. First time it worked for about two days ,second time it dumped once and then stopped. Any ideas?
@@Poorman148 Have you tried the jumper test and if so, what happened?
Quick Fix when I jumped the wires my ice maker dumped the ice immediately. Then continued to make ice until I took out the jumpers. I then replaced the sensor,which worked for a day or two. Then it stopped dumping ice again.so I replaced the sensor again, worked for two cycles and then failed. I bought a different vendors part and it just dumped the ice and stopped. I am starting to think this is insane ,changing the part and getting the same results. But I have another one coming. When I replace these, I get the flashing light when the left sensor is blocked with the paddle and a solid light when I push it in. If I hold the light switch down the red light gos off. Getting frustrated. I wonder if I have a short somewhere? Don’t know how to test for a short. Thanks for you help. To clarify, it is making ice, just not dumping it. I have started with an empty hopper and I have cleaned the optics with a q tip just in case they were obstructed.
Ok, I am insane. I replaced it for the fourth time, this time nothing happened. I’m taking a guess it is not the sensor. It is making cubes but not dumping them, must be something in the ice maker not receiving the signal to dump. Who makes the best replacement ice maker or who to stay away from?
went thru many youtubes and experts, but this was the best info of them all. Sensors bad, and the jumper check running confirmed it. Kudos on a true solution.
Thank you. Love hearing that this helped.
Finally, Someone that provides excellent diagnosis and fix. Appliance companies should hire you . Well done! Thanks
Thank you for the kind words. I only wish all parts of appliances were this easy to test and fix.
OMG!!! Thank you, Thank you! After 3 years of no ice and replacing every other part, I finally have ice. No one ever suggested the infrared light!
Fantastic. Glad I could help.
Thanks so much. I replaced the ice maker unit and it still wasn’t working. I watched your video. It was the sensor. Did the override by connecting the two points. Started working like a charm. Really appreciate it.
Awesome. Glad it helped you out.
I took old control unit to my bench to find the problem. Found one bad capacitor and bad relay. Both available from Mouser for total $7.00. Installed new parts, works great. Have new parts as spare.
Fantastic and a great idea. You should offer repair services for others and make some money while saving everyone else some money.
Thank you for the video and the detailed and well documented explanation to troubleshooting and perform the repair . This saving me the trouble to call a repair person and have my Ice Maker working again!
Fantastic. Glad it worked for you and thanks for letting us know.
Absolutely fantastic! Saved me the time and money of replacing the ice maker and the shunt told me in a matter of seconds where my problem was. Now I can also make ice until my control boards get here.
Awesome and glad it helped. Just be careful to watch it with the shunt in since it will never stop making ice.
I subscribed!!! The testing by shorting the pins just saved me tons of time and buying parts that I might not need. By passing Optics board, confirmed my issue is that. Thank you very much.
Great video and helpful my light isn’t working at all and thoughts of what that may be thanks in advance
Did you try the jumper? If the light isn't working and you can't see anything using your phone camera it is almost certainly this unit but I would recommend trying the jumper first.
Dear Mr Holland THANK YOU for this video, ordered from your link received the part and listen while refrigerator hummed and clunked along making ice again I live in Canada and had to order the parts to the border it was well worth the drive thank you again :)
That is awesome. Glad it helped and has you back making ice again.
Thank you..I watched 5 other videos that said nothing and was a waste of time until I came across yours and you hit it out of the park. Save me $$
Awesome. Glad the video helped and thanks for the kind comment.
Thank you very much. This saved boocoup bucks. OEM parts listed at $300 +, plus a service call and labor for installation. I was confused after installation by the infrared light not working continuously, sometimes when I opened the door, it would be on, other times, nothing. In a little over 24 hours, just as you mentioned, the fridge was producing ice again. I guess that period of time is needed for self testing? Thanks again.
The ice maker requires a certain temperature as well so it can take a while before it generates its first batch.
@@ClintHolland Thank you for your generosity of sharing knowledge that saved so much money for folks that need this kindness. The ice maker works like new and I have gained great satisfaction and confidence with your guidance, in doing this repair, Again, thank you.
@@samuelmegason5644 Awesome. Glad you got it working.
I want to thank Clint for the excellent tip to acquire the part from Amazon I ordered and it arrived within 1 week and installed it and the ice maker is working again Saved a lot of money Best regards
Great to hear Juan. Thanks for watching.
As others stated your jumper tip allowed me to finally isolate the problem after buying a $130 replacement ice maker. Argh! Wish I saw this video first!!! Thanks for putting this on here. I do wonder how the heck you figured out the jumper troubleshooting tip! I couldn't use 14/2 romex as it was too thick so I just used a paper clip and an oven mitt. Amazed they use 120 volts on these things. Geez. Gotta be careful. But it worked and I didn't get zapped.
Thank you. Wish you had seen this video first as well but glad it helped. I actually figured it out by looking at the schematics of the ice maker. However, what you don't see in this video is the hours of troubleshooting I spent to figure all this out. The beauty of video editing.
@@ClintHolland I'm sure it took a lot of work to make this vid! You saved my family from having to buy a brand new $2000 fridge!!! My children will be able to eat in March now! 🤣 So I hope it was all worth it. 🤣
Thanks so much for the tips. After confirming the issue by using the jumper wire, I pulled out my old soldering iron and touched up many of the solder joints on both boards, and I am up and running like new! (I stayed away from the joints on all the "surface-mount" components.) I didn't even have to spend the 20 bucks at Amazon or wait for delivery of new boards.
Great to hear. You got out even cheaper than most of us.
Great . Jumper trick worked for me . Ice maker is working now.
I have ordered circuit board from Amazon and I am sure board is root cause . Thank you !
Fantastic. Love hearing that this helps people out.
Thanks Clint, that was so informative. I’m still trying to figure out my problem. I have no lights on the sensors and I get no reading’s on my multimeter, it’s like I don’t have power to ice maker at all. I didn’t find any broken wires at the bottom of the door either. However your video was great and extremely informative, thank you.
Did the jumper help it start making ice?
This fixed my problem. When I held the the optics lever down mine would turn solid red but would only stay lit for 2 seconds then go out and wasn’t as bright as the new unit light . 5 minutes after replacing the parts it dumped ice. Before even with a new ice maker it would make a couple trays a few times a week. Thanks so much. 👍👍👍
Glad it helped Stephen. That's why I make these videos.
Really helpful. Not many other video address this sensor style. I first unnecessarily replaced my timing motor (when it actually wasn't getting power) to find it was this sensor. Your jumper tip was a difference maker!
AWESOME! Jumper cable inserted and ice maker started working right away, which show the problem was with the light sensor. WOOHOO, replacement part is on its way.
Awesome. That's why I make these videos. Glad it worked.
Great tutorial sir. Thank you. Just ran home and jumped it. Took 5 minutes. Lets see if it makes ice now
My fingers are crossed for you.
@@ClintHolland It worked! Can't thank you enough. And I was ready to replace the ice maker. Thank you again.
@@neekopeeko9054 Awesome. Glad it worked and thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Bonjour Clint! Many thanks for this video, you are an absolute life saver. Just wish I had found this earlier... I initially replaced the entire ice making unit thinking it was faulty, but it did not solve the problem. Tried your "jumper" trick to verify that it was indeed the optic sensor, and bingo! Ice maker working again. Will follow your advice and order on Amazon. Many, many thanks!
Aww man. Sorry you didn't find this sooner but glad it eventually helped.
you my friend are a genius. I've spent the last year thinking of buying a new fridge freezer because my ice maker and water dispenser wasnt working but couldnt justify spending big money on a new fridge just to have filtered clean water and ice. My water dispenser is back working which needed a new tube run from the bottom and within the freezer door. It still makes a clicking noise from the rear of the unit which is a strange one because it stops clicking when i open the fridge door. Go figure.. the ice machine was still baffling me why it wasnt being fed with water nor was any of the jump tests on the ice maker itself worked. (even ended up buying a new ice maker) I did the jump test on the sensor and everything is clicking and making the right noises and now being fed with water. I'll be celebrating when the first ice cubes drop. One other small issue is the water tube i mentioned for the dispenser, i replaced this only a few days ago as i mentioned but overnight it froze up so i had to replace this again today. Any tips ? plus the clicking noise?
I would suspect it is freezing up because some insulation or a seal was removed or dislodged when you replaced the water line. Maybe check and see if you can seal where it goes into the door better. As for the clicking, I would assume that is the water valve or relay. Where does the clicking seem to be coming from?
@@ClintHolland When i removed the newest water pipe from the door again i noticed it was particularly colder about 12" in from the top of the tube. Any recommendations how to seal this if it happens again. Would some upvc tape wrapped around it help? With regards to the water valve, I did replaced this a few days back for a new one and the fridge still makes the same clicking noise. So far ive replaced that plus the ice maker and it appears i probably didn't need to do that after all after watching your video. The clicking noise seems to come from the rear of the fridge down by the water valve area but definitely not the unit itself. There's a white box attached to the fridge where lots of electrical cables run into. I cant be sure its coming from their either but its in that area. The strange thing (which i found out by accident) is that when i hear the clicking noise (when dispensing water), if i open the fridge door or even the freezer door but pressing the close latch, the clicking stops. My other thought was it could be the actual closed contact switch for the water dispenser. Everything still works but im worried the clicking noise might be a bigger problem coming in the future. I watched some other guy on youtube recently about removing the filter and reinserting it to stop the clicking. this didnt work for me. To cover this off i also replaced the old filter with a brand new one i installed yesterday. One last problem i have is that the old filter had 40% on it, now that i have installed a new one i wanted to reset it back to 99% as i have done in the past. I've held down the OK button for a long time but it doesnt seem to reset back to 99%. very annoying.
@@1975Stevo I would probably use some foam sealant to provide insulation as well as expand and seal the air from entering around it. If it's coming from that box, it is probably a relay. There are several that control those water valves. However, if that relay was going crazy, I would expect to see some other issues. Did you say that you still aren't making ice? That relay may be the one that controls water to the ice maker if so.
@@ClintHolland Hi Clint, my ice maker is working fine now that i followed your video on how to jump it. It turned out that my sensor was faulty (blinking twice) therefore i have ordered another from amazon and hopefully get this next week. I've ordered both transmitter and receiver so hopefully that fixes that for good. As for the relay, are these things easy to locate and replace if needed? Thanks
@@1975Stevo That's awesome. Yes, they are usually located at the bottom right of the refrigerator if you are looking at the back of it. Just follow the water tube from the wall and it will lead you to the valves which are connected to the relays.
One other thing I wanted to add, after I replace my ice maker that I checked the optic sensor with the flap closed & top switch closed, I had steady blinks on control indicating ice maker was in harvest mode also. Good to know that it,s communicating. Now i,m fixed. thanks for your video Clint! sincerely Adam kozlowski
Glad it helped Adam.
Dude thank you! This was a life saver! Had to also buy the maker itself but after a total of $75, I have ice!! Thanks man!!
Glad it helped and that now you have some ice.
changed both circuit boards open freezer and close the flapper still flashing twice with a one second delay? Once I replace both boards and plug them in should i see a light emitting to the receiver from the emitter?
Did you try the jumper technique first?
Thank you, sir! I followed this very clear video exactly, including doing the jumper test. Parts were $27 from Amazon, and after 10 minutes the ice maker is fixed and I'm the family hero (we use a lot of ice). I'm sure I saved at least $250.
That's awesome and I love hearing these stories. This is why I make these videos. A picture or video is worth at least a thousand words.
GREAT video. Got the parts from Amazon for less then $26 and repaired my ice maker in 15 minutes. THANK YOU!
Awesome. Love hearing success stories and that you saved a lot of money.
Thank you helping me to solve my ice maker issues. Your tip of placing a jumper wire into the main harness absolutely solved the problem. Ordered the boards from eBay but also found that amazon had them also.
Glad it helped. I actually have the Amazon link in the description if you need it.
You are amazing. Thank you for explaining it so simply and easily. My husband have me his man card for the repair. He wanted to go buy a new refrigerator.
Awesome and thanks for watching and the nice words. Tell your husband I am kind of sorry. Give it back to him by the weekend so he can do some other projects around the house though.
Thank you a million sir i just did what you said to fix my whirlpool ice maker after about thirty minutes it was making ice wow i just ordered the optic board on eBay thank you again keep up the good work god bless you.
Glad I could help. That is why I make these videos. I love hearing these stories.
I have the same optic sensor you are showing but I do not know the model number to order on Amazon. Apparently it is not the same as the refrigerator model no. I am eager to try after seeing your clear instructions! Thank you
Did you try the jumper method to make sure it is the optics sensor first?
@@ClintHolland no I will try first thanks
Clint, thank you so much for this excellent, well demonstrated repair video. Your type of video is truly what makes RUclips worth visiting. You helped me save a bunch of money, and my ice maker is back to cranking out tons of ice for a whopping $27.04. Thanks so much!
Fantastic. That is exactly why I make these videos. My way of giving back from all the things I have learned from RUclips.
The colors were different on my wiring harness. But the layout was still the same. Jumping them worked like a charm. thank you
Glad it helped. Do you mind sharing what your colors were? If so, I will pin this comment for others to see.
Awesome video. I jumped the pins as shown and started making ice right away. I order the part from Amazon link. I installed the new boards and ice bin is full!
I love it. Glad to hear it helped and thanks for stopping by and watching.
Thank you for posting this! I messed around with my Whirlpool ice maker for a while, including replacing the inlet valve and motor. Nothing helped and I ended up replacing parts that weren't really necessary. I used an insulated jumper as shown and had ice within about 2 hours. Nicely done video and narration too.
Thank you sir. Glad it helped as that is my goal here.
How do I find these modules for my fridge?
This is excellent. Repair people must hate you, hahaha. I can't even imagine what it costs to get a repair person to show up, yet alone figure out what is wrong and start up selling you with a new ice maker, water inlet, and the boards. My Kenmore is 20 years old, and I am not ready to give up on it or replace it yet.
Information is power right. I just like being able to fix things when they break and not having to rely on someone else's knowledge and availability. Thankfully the Internet has helped out with that drastically.
Clint Holland, thanks for taking the time to make this video. It was a huge help!
Awesome. Glad to hear it helped.
Dang! I wish I would have seen this video before purchasing my new ice maker that doesn't work. Oh well, purchasing both is still way cheaper than a new refrigerator I guess. Thanks for the fantastic video.
That stinks man but glad you got it working. And it's definitely cheaper than a new fridge.
Thank you so much for this video, it saved me so much time and money by replacing the parts myself. My refrigerator did take about 10 minutes to reset since I had unplugged it, but went right back to making ice. Thanks again!!!
Great to hear and that is exactly why I make these videos. Glad it helped and thank you for watching.
Thanks Clint. We ordered the part from the link you posted. We have a Kitchenaid purchased in 2006. The kit was a perfect match and easy to remove and install.
Awesome. I love to hear positive feedback. Glad the video could help.
Thanks. Hotwired it while we waited for the part(s). Ikea Refrigerator (made by Whirlpool?). It was exactly the same.Replacement was easy. Working great now.
Awesome. Glad it worked and happy to help. Love hearing stories of how it helped people.
Exactly what I needed. $40 in parts and less than 30 minutes, including watching the video.
Awesome. Glad I could help.
Awesome, love hearing these stories. That's why I make these videos.
It's videos like yours that make DIY projects so much easier. Excellent video Sir! Thanks very much for posting!!
Awesome. Glad to hear Vinman.
Hello Clint. Can you please tell me if the plastic optic sensor door is essential/necessary as I broke it? the spring that pivots is still there, and the sensor is solid when ice maker turned on and appears to be working fine, but didn't know what purpose the little door actually serves.
Great question. So the main purpose of the little door is to block the sensor when the door is open so the ice maker doesn't dump ice while the door is open. So no big deal if it is broken except you may, if your timing is perfect, get ice dumped on you while your door is open.
Worked like a charm. Followed your clear instructions and am now ordering the parts !
For how long did you leave it bypassed ?
Your advice/instructions worked perfectly and saved me a lot of money. Thanks!!!
That's awesome. Thanks for watching and taking the time to let us know.
Just wanted to say thanks....your video helped me diagnose the problem. I've got the jumper installed and it's making ice again. Replacement parts are on the way. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video.
Thanks for the kind words Jeremy. Glad it helped you out.
Thanks so much , hubby jumped the connections and it worked dropped a load of ice , so we know the sensor is bad, you're a star.
Glad I could help. That's why I keep doing these. It's definitely not for the money.
Make sure that you also check for the black wire on the ice maker itself, it has a temp sensor in the middle of the wire and this must be under the metal stainless clip up against the ice maker green aluminum housing to sense the housing temp, this is how it knows when the water if frozen and it can cycle. If this white sensor is not under the stainless clip the ice maker will not work no matter what.
So I changed both emitter and receiver boards still no success and I don’t see an emitter light . How to I test to see if the emitter board is getting power? The receiver board does light up but with the flapper door closed I still get a flashing light. Perhaps the emitter is not getting power? Another question does the freezer door need to be closed as well or is it ok for the door to be open to test ?
So you don't see a light on the emitter when using a phone or camera to look at it?
@@ClintHolland no I don’t see the light I tried with my phone and nothing
@@ClintHolland also I was able to confirm the emitter board was getting 120v ac power using a multi meter. When I tested the board light for continuity it should have read “0” but it read in the 500 range so I’m thinking the board was bad sent back to Amazon getting a replacement stay tuned
@@semmes5342 Glad to hear that. That should get you going.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Using your directions, we fixed our ice maker for $37, saving at least $200. Your directions were very clear, and the repair was so easy to do.
Great to hear Linn. That is the reason I make these videos.
@@ClintHolland what’s the p/m thru Amazon? Thanks Clint
@@Voteblue681 Take a look in the description and I have a link right to it.
great video,The jumper test is great because in my case the optic sensor works properly but the board is not sending power to the ice maker. I jumped the main board connector and power is now sent to the ice maker. :)
aLBERT jACKSON jR great to hear. Glad I could help.
Awesome video. My Kitchenaid has this exact sensor that was faulty and blinking twice. Made it easy to diagnose and confirm it was the problem with the jumper wire. Couldn't have done it otherwise. 5 stars
Thanks. That's exactly why I make these videos.
Thanks, this was what was wrong with mine. You can use your cell phone camera to check proper operation of the infrared emitter. If it doesn't show up on your camera it most likely needs replacement.
VERY HELPFUL. Fixed it in no time. Thanks for making and sharing this video.
Thanks for sharing Ruth. Glad the video helped.
Thank you so much for this video. Ice maker is fixed! You saved me hundreds of dollars!
You are the reason I make videos like this. I have gotten so much from RUclips through the years that it only made sense for me to give back when I could. Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
Great video.. I did exactly what you said and about 3 mins later water was dispenses into ice machine. I did the jumpers as described.. Too bad I already bought the ice machine first, but it only cost 35 $.. I ordered the other parts and they will be here soon.. Thanks
Thanks Erik. Wish I could have gotten to you sooner but at least you got it going.
Thank you! Now in 2023 - and this fix still worked great - saved me hundreds of dollars. The Amazon link to the parts is still valid. The fix took 10 minutes with a Phillips screw driver. Make sure to take note of the orientation of the plugs before you remove them so that when you go to put them back on, they are facing the right way. The nubs on either end of the connectors face toward the inside of the freezer. As stated elsewhere here - the wires are very short and can be difficult to get back on. Gently wiggling them while grasping them with channel locks works well. If you don't heed the advice and unplug the refrigerator (because power is default to get to), you will get shocked when handling the larger right side board. Wear rubber gloves to make it tolerable :-) Ten minutes and $34 and I was back to making ice again!
Isn't the Internet great sometimes. Glad the video helped and got you making ice again.
Mine randomly works sometimes it works sometimes not. The lights are doing what it is supposed too. Should o still do the jumper if the lights are functioning properly thanks.
Try the jumper and see if that solves the randomness of it working. If it works all the time with the jumper, its probably the optic sensor. If it still has the same issue, it's probably something else.
Very clear. You saved me!
You helped bring my ice maker back to life! Thank you for the information.
Absolutely. Glad I could help. Hopefully it saved you some money.
@@ClintHollandYes I had some rewards bucks from my Discover card and so the kit was less than $18. Thanks again!
Where do you get a jumper cable? I tried with the paper clip but it didn't work but also I don't know if I had it pushed in correctly? Plus it had a plastic coating on it which I took off but still. The red flashing light does it's thing but then I notice if I leave it for a bit it doesn't work again. And still no ice. I ordered the part though because I feel like that's probably the issue. Thanks so much for this video. I love do it yourself stuff!
I would suggest trying a regular metal paperclip or you can make a jumper by stripping the insulation off both ends of a short piece of wire. You can actually strip it off with just a knife.
Thank you very much! This was perfect, especially how to jump the circuit to see if the ice maker itself is still working.
Glad I could help. Hopefully you have ice now.
Wish I would’ve watched this video first. Job well done sir. Thank you
Hate to hear that. Hopefully you eventually got it fixed.
Wow. Thanks. There are so many garbage, useless, & hard to watch vids out there. Finally found one that nailed it. The jumper isolated my exact issue. And its 6 years old.
Mine stopped producing ice again this week. I checked the lights and it seemed fine (solid light test). The black rubber water inlet had frozen water in in. I took a heat gun and heated it up for ~60 seconds and the water started flowing. Possible water valve seeping and causing it to freeze up the tube just in the freezer box. EBAY sensors still working.
Hair dryer would probably work but would take a little longer.