Proper Operation
Learn how your appliance is supposed to operate so you can determine if it is malfunctioning.
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Ejecting the Ice
At the next step in the cycle, the shut-off arm has made its trip up and is almost all the way back down. The mold heater and motor are still energized, but the circuit to get it accomplished has changed because the position of the shut-off switch has changed. The motor is stalling while the ejector blades push on the ice crescents to break them loose.
Once the cubes are freed from the mold, the ice maker has nearly completed its first complete revolution. The cubes are then ejected, as shown in figure 6. At this point of the cycle there's a tricky situation regarding the schematic. Even though there is a circuit through the water solenoid, water will not be coming into the mold yet.
While it's true that the water solenoid switch does make a circuit, a path of lower resistance is present. Since the thermostat is still closed, the electrical energy will flow through the heater and not the valve solenoid because the heater has less resistance.
In Figure 7, the ice is about to be dumped into the storage bin. That water valve solenoid circuit no longer exists because the depression in the cam that allows the water valve switch to make has passed, allowing the switch to return to the other position. Another cam depression has also allowed the holding switch position to change but the motor keeps moving.
In Figure 8 the ice is dumped and the shut-off arm moves again, which means that the position of the shut-off switch also changes. Both the motor and the mold heater remain energized but the path of current flow is different.
Once the cubes have been dumped and the ice maker continues the cycle by going into its second revolution, the mold heats up, the bimetal thermostat that started the whole thing reacts to the temperature increase and opens. Figure 9 shows the change in the circuit and the position of the ejector blades and the shut-off arm.
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