The short answer
Ice arriving slowly, hollow, fused into a block or not at all on the RMS family is a temperature story far more often than a mechanism story, and that is where this page starts. An ice complaint on a cabinet like this splits in two before any diagnosis starts, because some of the models in the table make ice automatically and some do not, and the two versions of the fault have almost nothing in common.
What you observe on these models
- Ice that smells or tastes of the cabinet — Ice picks up whatever is around it, so a taste complaint is a storage and turnover matter rather than a mechanical one.
- Frost building inside where nothing should be frosting — On a cabinet with no ice maker this is what the complaint usually turns out to be, and it is a sealing and airflow story rather than an ice one.
- A single large lump instead of separate cubes — That is a fill or a release fault rather than a freezing one, and on some models it is simply a mould that has been overfilled by a supply at high pressure.
- NEAR MISS - ice stopped and there is water on the floor — A supply line that has failed will stop the ice and wet the floor at the same time, and the water leak page covers that pairing properly.
Causes, most likely first on this platform
- The compartment is not cold enough — Ice is nothing more than water held below freezing long enough, so every other cause on this page sits downstream of temperature. A compartment at 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius) or below makes ice; one a few degrees warmer makes it slowly, hollow, or not at all. A group built on several distinct bases will not be fitted uniformly, so establishing what your own model actually has comes before any diagnosis.
- The bail arm or the on-off control — Second on this platform. Worth a glance at any point in the process: an arm resting up or a control left off gives a total stoppage with nothing whatever wrong.
- A frozen fill tube or a jammed cube — Third here. A jam is worth clearing before condemning anything, and it is usually the visible consequence of a temperature swing rather than a fault in its own right.
- What happens before the water reaches the mould — Fourth. Where a model is plumbed, the supply remains worth checking, particularly after the unit has been moved, because a kinked line behind a cabinet is invisible until it is pulled out.
- A complaint about ice on a cabinet that never made it — Last. Where a model was never fitted with an ice maker, the fault is not a fault: the ice being complained about is frost, and it is driven by warm air getting in.
Check in this order, and why
- Pull the cabinet out and follow the supply line — Where the model is plumbed, look for a shutoff that has been nudged, a kink behind the unit and a line that has been crushed against the wall. This is the check a move most often makes necessary. The 2 entries below sit on 2 different bases, so confirm your own code before carrying a neighbour's result across.
- Look for a jam before condemning the mechanism — A wedged cube or an iced fill tube stops the cycle in place. Clear it with warm water rather than a tool, and watch whether it returns, because a jam that returns is a temperature story.
- Put a thermometer in the freezing compartment — Give it several hours undisturbed. Anything above 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius) explains slow, hollow or absent ice on its own, and explains it before any part does.
Before you open anything
Safety
Isolate the cabinet at the plug or the breaker before a panel comes off, and never put a hand into a mechanism that is still live - an ice maker harvests on its own schedule, not yours. Where the model is plumbed, close the water shutoff before disturbing any fitting, and use warm water rather than a tool on any ice you need to clear.
Models in the RMS family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| RMS550PS | avanti:refrigerator:rms |
| RMS551SS | avanti:refrigerator:rms |
When to call a technician
Bring someone in once the free checks are clean and the mechanism still will not cycle, because the remaining causes need a meter and a panel off. Do not wait at all if the cabinet has stopped holding temperature more generally, because at that point ice is the least of it and the food is the priority.
Other faults covered for these models
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
