What is happening, in three sentences
Ice is the last thing a refrigerator does and the first thing it stops doing, so on an RMRS cabinet a slow or absent ice supply is often the earliest sign of something else. A freezer section that is running a little warm makes ice slowly long before anything else looks wrong. That is why temperature comes into this diagnosis as early as it does.
How the fault presents
- Cubes are welded into the bin as one lump — Melt and refreeze between cycles, which is a compartment question rather than an ice maker one.
- The ice tastes or smells of the cabinet — Old ice in a bin absorbs odour; it is a housekeeping matter rather than a fault.
- Cubes are hollow, small or only partly formed — A short fill, which usually means restricted supply rather than no supply.
- NEAR MISS — no ice and the food in the freezer is soft — That is a cooling fault first. Fix the temperature and the ice usually returns on its own.
What it usually turns out to be, in order
- Fill valve or its inlet screen blocked — The inlet screen catches grit from the supply and is a common restriction; the valve itself is electrically opened and can fail closed. On RMRS this is where to start, because the alternative first checks all need the cabinet moved or a panel off and this one does not.
- The cabinet is not fitted with an ice maker, or its switch is off — Across a stem this wide the fitting is not uniform, and an arm resting in its raised position or a switch left off produces exactly the same complaint as a broken machine. Second here, and it is the rank most sensitive to how the cabinet is used — a unit opened all day sees this far sooner than one that is not.
- Fill tube frozen shut — If a fill overshoots or the compartment runs very cold, the tube that delivers water can ice over, and every subsequent fill adds to the blockage rather than reaching the mould. Third on this family, and the rank where the cause stops being obvious from the doorway.
The order of checks, and why it is this one
- Look at the mould before anything else — Dry, wet or solid: that single observation on an RMRS cabinet decides which half of the list below applies and saves working through the other half.
- Judge the fill by the cubes it makes — Hollow or half-height cubes mean water is arriving but not enough of it, which points at the screen before the valve.
- Look inside the freezer section for the mould and the arm — No mould means nothing to fix. An arm in the raised position, or a switch at off, means nothing broken.
- Look for ice at the back of the compartment above the mould — A visible spike of ice is the fault. Clearing it is a temporary fix; what caused the overshoot is the real question.
Safety before diagnosis
Safety
Isolate first: unplug the machine, or switch off the breaker if the socket is behind the cabinet. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off.
Models in the RMRS family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| RMRS31X#**-IS | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
| RMRS31X** | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
| RMRS31X**-IS | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
| RMRS31X1B-IS | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
| RMRS31X5R-IS | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
| RMRS31X6BL-IS | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
| RMRS31X7G-IS | avanti:refrigerator:rmrs |
Where the owner fix stops
The line on this family is the panel: everything above it is owner work, and the moment a diagnosis needs the freezer rear panel off or a meter on a winding, it is a service call. Call immediately if the breaker trips again after a reset, if the cord or plug is warm to the touch, or if you see oil anywhere on the tubing.
Nearest pages for this model group
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.