The short answer
On the Amana 4w9j81 refrigerator family, an ice maker that has stopped filling the bucket points at humidity, because a gasket that has lost its seal at one corner welds a bucket of good ice into one useless block. The brand-generic article puts the ice maker module itself at the top of this symptom. It does not lead here, and on these models it is not what the first three checks are looking for.
What you observe on these models
- Frost has built up around the bucket and the door — Humid air reaching the freezer, which welds good ice into useless ice.
- Ice has welded into one block in the bucket — A maker with nowhere to put its output looks exactly like a maker that has stopped.
- Production has slowed rather than stopped — A gradual decline is a supply story; an abrupt stop usually is not.
- NEAR MISS — the dispenser works but the maker does not — Water reaching the door proves the supply and moves the ranking on.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- Humid air reaching the bucket and frosting it into a block — Top of the list on these models. A gasket that no longer seals at one corner lets the bucket frost over. The maker keeps cycling and the ice keeps welding itself together.
- Ice bucket jammed, or the auger seized in a block — Second. Ice that has partly melted and refrozen welds into a block that the auger cannot turn. The maker may be making ice perfectly well and simply have nowhere to put it.
- Freezer not cold enough to finish a harvest — Third on this platform. The maker waits for the mould to reach its harvest temperature. A freezer sitting a few degrees warm never gets there, so the ice stops without a single ice-maker part being faulty.
- Fill tube frozen shut — Fourth, and the one to rule in only when the others are clean. One overshooting fill leaves a plug of ice in the tube, and every fill after that misses the mould entirely. Nothing has failed electrically, which is why the module often gets replaced for nothing.
Check in this order, and why
- Look for frost on the bucket and around the freezer door — Start here. Frost that is worst at one corner points at the gasket there rather than at the maker.
- Lift the bucket out and look at the ice in it — Then this. A welded block means the maker has nowhere to put its output, which is a different fault entirely.
- Put a thermometer in the freezer and leave it overnight — Third. A freezer sitting warm stops the harvest, and the ice maker is then a symptom rather than the fault.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel; a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. If the cabinet has been pulled out, check the water line has not been pinched or kinked before it is pushed back.
Models covered by the 4w9j81 family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| 4w9j81-05 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-06 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-07 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-08 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-09 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-10 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-11 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-12 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-13 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-14 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-15 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-16 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-17 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-18 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-19 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-20 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-21 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-22 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-23 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-24 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-25 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-26 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-27 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-28 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-29 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-30 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-31 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-32 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-33 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
| 4w9j81-34 | amana:refrigerator:4w9j81 |
When to call a technician
Call once the supply, the shutoff arm, the bucket and the freezer temperature are all proven good, because what is left is the module or the valve. Call if the freezer cannot hold temperature, because the ice maker is then a symptom and the cooling fault is the job.
The other faults covered for this family
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