The short answer
On the Amana AMAR refrigerator family, an ice maker that has stopped filling the bucket points at the bucket, because a maker that is working perfectly and has nowhere to put its ice looks identical to one that has stopped. The brand-generic article puts the ice maker module itself at the top of this symptom; on this platform it sits third, behind causes that are quicker to rule out.
What you observe on these models
- 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.
- The mould is full of water and nothing ejects — Fill is fine and the harvest is not, which is the one pattern that does point at the module.
- NEAR MISS — water leaking at the same time — A fill that overshoots is a leak page as much as an ice page.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- Ice bucket jammed, or the auger seized in a block — First on this platform. 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 — Second on these models. 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.
- Ice maker module, ejector or its thermostat — Third, and less common than the two above. When the harvest never starts, the mould stays full and the cycle stops there. It is a real failure mode, and it empties a bucket in exactly the way several cheaper causes do.
- Humid air reaching the bucket and frosting it into a block — Fourth, and the least common of the four here. 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.
Check in this order, and why
- Lift the bucket out and look at the ice in it — Start here. 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 — Then this. A freezer sitting warm stops the harvest, and the ice maker is then a symptom rather than the fault.
- Watch a full cycle if the maker will start one — Third. A mould that fills and never ejects is the module; a mould that never fills is not.
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.
Models covered by the AMAR family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AMAR27**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR27S1E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR31T**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR35**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR35S1E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR43**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR46TS1E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
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 before cutting into any water line. A saddle valve on a supply pipe is the single commonest cause of a repair that turns into a plumbing job.
The other faults covered for this family
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