The short answer
On the 51W396 refrigerators an ice complaint is usually a water-supply or a temperature problem rather than a failed ice maker, and the two are easy to tell apart once you know what to look at. Start by deciding whether water is arriving at all, because everything downstream depends on that answer. Most of this is owner-checkable in a few minutes.
What you observe
- The mould is empty and dry — Nothing has arrived. That points hard at the supply side — the valve, the line, the filter or a shut-off nobody remembers closing.
- The mould is full of water that never freezes — Water is arriving and the compartment is not cold enough to harvest. That is a temperature fault wearing an ice maker costume.
- Cubes are small, hollow or cloudy — A partial fill, usually restriction rather than failure: a clogged filter, a kinked line or a valve that is opening but not fully.
- Cubes fuse into one block in the bin — Slow harvest or repeated part-melting. It means the compartment is drifting warm between cycles even if it feels cold to a hand.
- NEAR MISS — water pools under the unit instead — That is a supply-line or drain leak and it is covered on its own page. Chasing it here wastes an afternoon.
Causes, most likely first on the 51W396 models
- The water filter or the supply line is restricted — Ranked first here because it is the cause with the clearest signature — small, hollow or cloudy cubes — and the only one you can settle without opening anything.
- The compartment temperature is drifting — Second: a condenser working through a dust blanket at floor level loses just enough capacity to stop harvests without ever looking obviously broken.
- The fill valve or the fill tube is blocked or frozen — Third: a valve that opens partly gives you the same small cubes as a tired filter, which is why the filter goes first — it is the cheaper of the two tests.
- The ice maker module or its shut-off arm — Last: check the arm before you condemn the module. An arm resting up stops production completely and costs nothing to correct.
Check in this order, and why
- Check the filter age and change it if it is due — First here, because it is the most likely cause on this build and the only one you can settle without moving the cabinet.
- Look in the mould — Second: it tells you whether the filter change is going to be the whole answer or only part of it.
- Pull the front grille and clear the condenser — Third, because a compartment drifting warm behind a dusty coil will keep stopping harvests after the filter is new.
- Inspect the fill tube and the shut-off arm — Last of the owner checks and the cheapest of them.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the refrigerator or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Turn the water supply off at the shut-off before disconnecting any line, and never thaw a fill tube with an open flame or a heat gun: the tube and the mould are plastic and the components around them are not rated for it.
What this page covers — Scope of this page, taken from the page address. No model-level specification is asserted.
Reference| field | value |
|---|---|
| brand | Amana |
| family label | 51W396 |
| appliance class | refrigerator |
| models covered | the models sold under this family label |
When to call a technician
Call once the mould, the filter, the supply and the arm are all clean and there is still no ice. On the 51W396 models the line is the fill valve: everything upstream of it is owner work, and testing a valve means a meter across a live solenoid, which is not. Call sooner if the compartment cannot reach and hold a safe freezing temperature — that is a cooling fault, it is costing you more than ice, and it is covered on its own page.
Nearest pages of this class
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