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No water to ice maker & broken wire

I'm trying to fix the ice maker built into the Dometic RM 7832.  It seem the only problem is no water to the mold.  I looked under the access panel on the outside and found what I believe is the supply line, and a water valve.  There is water in the line up to the valve.  However after the valve is completely dry.  I also found this broken (blue) wire very near the valve.  My guess is that the blue wire goes to the valve that controls water to the ice maker, but I can't seem to figure out where.

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Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #1 –
Douglas,

Trace the blue wire.  It could go to the water valve or it could be the heater wire for the water line jacket from valve to freezer.

The foil like covering of the water line has resistance heating built in.
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #2 –
Quote from: wolfe10 –
Douglas,

Trace the blue wire.  It could go to the water valve or it could be the heater wire for the water line jacket from valve to freezer.

The foil like covering of the water line has resistance heating built in.

The blue wire comes from the black box in the lower left corner of the pictures.  The one that has the label "Warning!  Disconnect 120 VAC and 12 VDC power before servicing"
It's a pretty short wire so it can't go too many places.  It reaches that valve pretty easily, but not much else.

The wire with the foil on it, is a white wire, it seem to snake around all over the place and I'm guess a good bit of the foil is missing but it's definitely a different wire.
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Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #3 –
Quote from: ScubaGuy –
The blue wire comes from the black box in the lower left corner of the pictures.  The one that has the label "Warning!  Disconnect 120 VAC and 12 VDC power before servicing"
It's a pretty short wire so it can't go too many places.  It reaches that valve pretty easily, but not much else.

The wire with the foil on it, is a white wire, it seem to snake around all over the place and I'm guess a good bit of the foil is missing but it's definitely a different wire.

Here is a better photo of the blue wire and where it starts.
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Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #4 –
Don't I see the connection point on the valve just above the bend of the cooling coil?  Are you sure it's broken and not a push-on connector?
Regards,
Brett

'99 42' Foretravel Xtreme
'14 Brown Motorsports Stacker
'05 Chevy SSR
'02 BMW R1150R

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #5 –
Douglas,  That BLUE thing at the top of the photo is the water valve, It is a solenoid that releases water to the ice maker when called for.  It should have a wire going to it and IIRC its is AC current.
Gary B

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #6 –
Gary - yes the water solenoid has 2 wires going to it.  I believe it is AC current, based on the metal shield I took off.  I put a multimeter on the leads and it's 0 Volts.  Seems like I'm going to have to figure out how to get power to the solenoid to figure out if it works.

Here are some more photos.  It's really hard to get a good photo of the wires leading into the solenoid.

I'm really not sure where that blue wire goes but I'm starting to doubt it goes to the solenoid.
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Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #7 –
Well I'm getting somewhere, sort of...

The "broken" blue wire is apparently a "test port".  So it's ok.

The water solenoid has three wires running into it.  On one connector there is 2 wires and the other connector a single wire.  I'm guessing that in-order for the valve to open and allow water into the ice mold there needs to be 120 Volts AC running thought those wires.  I've attached a photo of the solenoid and where the two sets of wires plug in.

I don't have any reason to think the solenoid doesn't work, it just doesn't seem to be getting the "signal" to open the valve.  So, what is supposed to send that signal?
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Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #8 –
Douglas,  The motor in the icemaker as it rotates will trip a switch that will open the fill valve.  The bail should be in the down position. Don't try to HORSE the bail into position by rotating the motor.  This is usually fatal.  If you have power to the ice maker and the BAIL is in the down position as soon as it is cold enough in the freezer the motor will rotate opening the valve.
I went thru all this prior to replacing a reefer and deciding that I no longer need the hassle of an icemaker.
Gary B

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #9 –
I found troubleshooting my icemaker impossible.  There seem to be too many interacting parameters.  I just bought a new one-$150.00 if I recall.  FT parts has them.
Regards,
Brett

'99 42' Foretravel Xtreme
'14 Brown Motorsports Stacker
'05 Chevy SSR
'02 BMW R1150R

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #10 –
Quote from: ScubaGuy –
I don't have any reason to think the solenoid doesn't work, it just doesn't seem to be getting the "signal" to open the valve.  So, what is supposed to send that signal?
The guts of the ice maker are in the freezer, behind the white cover (that's at little difficult to pull off and there's a circuit diagram folded up inside).  There's time clock that triggers switches and drives an arm bar that push the ice out of their molds.  It all runs on 120VAC.  It's the same system used on home ice makers. 
Here is my understanding of the event cycle which last only about 1-2 minutes (and you'll here the time clock motor running):
1.  A sensor on the ice cube mold detects a low enough temperature indicating that the ice is frozen hard.  This triggers a mold heater (so ice cubes will release).
2.  The motor starts and pushes out the ice cubes out of the mold (you'll notice it raises the BAIL as the same time)
3.  The pushing arm rotates a full 360 and as it is returning back to the start position, the motor triggers a micro switch to turn on that green/blue valve to refill the mold.
4.  Another micro switch tells the motor to stop until the sensor in #1 is triggered again.
The above assumes that ice maker power is ON and the BAIL is in the down position.
It's my understanding that one of the most common problems is the mold heater burns out.  Then the motor locks up against the frozen ice cubes, unable to push them out.  I think it's rare for the motor to burnout (even when locked up) because the freezer always keeps it cool enough.  I suggest applying 120VAC to the valve: you should hear a click and the sound of flowing water.  I agree with Brett that usually (when you have ruled out simple things like the switch not sending power or a stuck water valve) that a new unit is your best bet.  The molds have a black coating to help release the cubes - this can corrode off in little pieces that you will see in the cubes - another reason to get a new one.  You can Google "ice maker troubleshooting" and images of "ice maker parts"  - these are the same a residential ice makers.
John Fitzgerald
1991 U300 (SAI) Side Aisle Island Bed 40'
Detroit 6V92 with Allison Retarder
Meridian (Boise), Idaho

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #11 –
There's another direction that I don't believe has been mentioned.  Our unit has a water shut-off on a line by the water filter under the sink which shuts off the water to the icemaker.  Are you sure it is open?  If it is, I agree with others that a new unit is the safest way and a new plastic line up the back of the box.  Good luck!

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #12 –
Quote from: Bushwhacker –
There's another direction that I don't believe has been mentioned.  Our unit has a water shut-off on a line by the water filter under the sink which shuts off the water to the icemaker.  Are you sure it is open?  If it is, I agree with others that a new unit is the safest way and a new plastic line up the back of the box.  Good luck!
Yes, it's open.  There is definitely water to the valve, I took off the line and water ran and ran and ran.  It's just that the valve never opens.  Also, I will need to replace the line up the back (into the ice maker) as it fell off in my hand. :facepalm:
Thanks, I could use some luck at this point ;D
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Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #13 –
Everything mechanical seems to be working perfectly.  Everything seems to move and rotate just as it should.

Quote from: JohnFitz –
The guts of the ice maker are in the freezer, behind the white cover (that's at little difficult to pull off and there's a circuit diagram folded up inside).
Thanks, that wiring diagram was a big help.  And pulling off the cover was very difficult.

Quote from: JohnFitz –
3.  The pushing arm rotates a full 360 and as it is returning back to the start position, the motor triggers a micro switch to turn on that green/blue valve to refill the mold.
I removed all three micro switches (they are all identical).  I tested them all and they all tested ok.  I put them in different positions, everything is still the same.  Pretty sure they are not the problem

Quote from: JohnFitz –
I think it's rare for the motor to burnout (even when locked up) because the freezer always keeps it cool enough.  I suggest applying 120VAC to the valve: you should hear a click and the sound of flowing water.
  I totally agree the thing to do now is to test the valve by applying 120VAC to it.  But how do I do that without making all my hair stand up!  I can make up some jumpers but where do I get the power from?  If anyone can help me with that part it would most appreciated.

Quote from: JohnFitz –
I agree with Brett that usually (when you have ruled out simple things like the switch not sending power or a stuck water valve) that a new unit is your best bet. 
Generally I would agree too, but in this case I don't think it would make a difference.  I'm pretty certain my problem is in the fact that that 120VAC is not making it to the water valve, and I'm not sure how a new unit would fix that.

Thanks very much for the help.  It will be a few weeks before I get a change to work on this some more, but I'd like to figure out a game plan in the mean time.
The selected media item is not currently available.
Douglas and Amanda
1997 40' U320 "Brawley"
2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
Motorcade #17266 Escapee #113692
 

Re: No water to ice maker & broken wire

Reply #14 –
Douglas, You have 110 right there at the rear of the reefer, use a junk cord or a lamp cord, rig some clips to the solenoid and plug it in with either the inverter on or shore power.  DO IT CAREFULLY and make sure you are not grounding ( EARTH  GROUND ) anything.
Better yet take the solenoid off and test it on the bench where you have fewer things in the way and more clearance.  A Multimeter will tell you a lot.

Gary B