The short answer, at family level
On the Criterion CCR refrigerator family the first question is not why the icemaker stopped but whether these models carry one at all: a compact cabinet of this type usually has a small freezer box and an ice tray rather than an automatic icemaker. Where one is fitted, the fault splits cleanly into a water side and a cold side, and the mould tells you which. This profile generalises over the eight codes below.
What you observe on these models
- Water running down the back wall after a fill — An overshooting fill, usually from a frosted fill tube, sends water past the mould. It shows up as a leak first and an ice problem second.
- Frost or an ice sheet growing where there should be none — On a compact cabinet, frost on the cold plate is normal and is cleared by switching the cabinet off; a solid build behind it is not.
- Ice forming in a solid mass where loose cubes should be — A clumped mass usually means the cabinet is warming and refreezing between cycles rather than that the icemaker is faulty.
- Hollow, small or slow-forming cubes — Partial fill points at pressure, a restricted filter, or a fill tube that has iced. The cubes are the measurement: consistently small means consistently short fill.
- NEAR MISS: the cabinet is also not holding temperature — Ice output is the first thing a cabinet gives up when it runs warm. If the compartment is warm too, read the cooling page first.
Causes, most likely first on this platform
- These models do not all carry a factory icemaker — First here because it is the answer for most owners of this family: a compact cabinet of this type usually has a small freezer box and an ice tray rather than an automatic icemaker. Establish whether your model has one, and whether it is factory or an accessory.
- Ice forming where it should not, rather than failing to form — On this family the question is usually the other way round. On a compact cabinet, frost on the cold plate is normal and is cleared by switching the cabinet off; a solid build behind it is not. That is the version of this fault most owners of this family actually meet.
- The compartment is not cold enough to harvest — An icemaker will not cycle until its mould reaches cut-out, so a warm compartment gives slow ice or none with nothing wrong in the icemaker. A freezer holds food safely at 0 °F (-18 °C) or below.
What to check first, and why in this order
- Establish whether this model has a factory icemaker at all — Check your model number against the roster below and look inside the compartment. On this family that check answers the question for most owners, and it costs nothing. Work down in order rather than jumping to the likeliest cause.
- Look for stray ice and ask where the water came from — On a compact cabinet, frost on the cold plate is normal and is cleared by switching the cabinet off; a solid build behind it is not. Ask where the water came from before you clear it, because clearing it without answering that question guarantees it returns.
- Check the compartment temperature before the icemaker — A compartment sitting above where it should be explains slow ice, clumped ice and no ice with nothing wrong in the icemaker itself.
Before any panel comes off
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel or icemaker assembly; a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Where the cabinet is plumbed, shut the water supply off before touching a fitting, and never thaw a fill tube or a frozen line with a flame or a heat gun: hot air melts the surrounding plastic long before it clears the ice. Do not chip ice off any surface with a screwdriver, because the tubing behind it is soft aluminium.
Models in the CCR family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| CCR17CE1B | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR312DCE1B | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR33CE1* | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR33CE1B | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR33CE2B | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR44CE1* | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR44CE1F | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
| CCR44CE1W | criterion:refrigerator:ccr |
When this stops being owner work
Checking the supply, the filter, the bail arm and the compartment temperature is owner work. Call when the mould is wet and never harvests, when the fill tube re-frosts within days of being cleared, or when the ice problem is really a temperature problem, because that moves the job into the cold path. On this platform the cabinet has to come away from the wall before most work can start, which is a two-person job on a loaded cabinet.
Other faults on these models
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