U-Line under counter ice maker not working.

[mtrumpet]

This thread is a couple of months overdue for me..

We have a U-LINE Model ULN-BCM95-03 under-counter cabinet mounted Ice maker in our MH that hasn't worked at all this season since we pulled it out of storage a couple of months ago. It worked fine before we put it away for the winter. (It is stored in a heated building and never sees less than an average of 72 degrees all winter, so freezing was not a contributing factor.)

Here's what happens...

We turn the unit on, and the fan comes on, but cooling/refrigeration unit (unsure of the proper term for it) never comes on. It just sits there with the fan running. We had left it run for quite sometime to see if it would eventually turn on, but nothing.

I checked for any loose wire connections, and everything seems fine.

Any suggestions as to what else I might check?

[dougrainer]

Is the compressor running? Is the condenser fan running? You may have a bad tstat, whack the tstat with a wrench and see if the compressor starts if it is not running. There are 3 wires at the tstat. Doug

[mtrumpet]

mtrumpet wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The odds are on a 12 year old unit, the motor(not the compressor) and control switches are rusted. You can take the white cover off the motor control and use a pair of pliers to manually turn the gear sprocket on the motor. IF it does NOT turn or does NOT continue on its own when freeing it with the pliers, the motor is rusted. Replace the inside tray/motor assbly. Do NOT just replace the motor as the Bin switches and such will be rusted also. Doug

Just tried turning the motor and it indeed did take off on its own with minimal effort. It did seem "stuck" as was suggestd. It seems to have gone through a rotational cycle and then filled with water. After about twenty minutes the unit seems like its cooling down. I'll let it go for awhile and see what happens.

...and, nothing. The unit never did cool down. After about an hour, it still did not get cold, much less freeze anything. I went and gave the motor another spin start and it again went through the dump cycle on it's own, but it merely dumped water into the ice bucket (DW was laughing at me when that happened!) It seems that the motor assembly in the ice making unit is working fine. Just that the entire unit is not cooling down and therefore not making ice.

[dougrainer]

mtrumpet wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The odds are on a 12 year old unit, the motor(not the compressor) and control switches are rusted. You can take the white cover off the motor control and use a pair of pliers to manually turn the gear sprocket on the motor. IF it does NOT turn or does NOT continue on its own when freeing it with the pliers, the motor is rusted. Replace the inside tray/motor assbly. Do NOT just replace the motor as the Bin switches and such will be rusted also. Doug

Just tried turning the motor and it indeed did take off on its own with minimal effort. It did seem "stuck" as was suggestd. It seems to have gone through a rotational cycle and then filled with water. After about twenty minutes the unit seems like its cooling down. I'll let it go for awhile and see what happens.

Inject a liberal amount of WD40 into the motor thru the plate. to dislodge any corrosion rust. Doug

[mtrumpet]

dougrainer wrote:
The odds are on a 12 year old unit, the motor(not the compressor) and control switches are rusted. You can take the white cover off the motor control and use a pair of pliers to manually turn the gear sprocket on the motor. IF it does NOT turn or does NOT continue on its own when freeing it with the pliers, the motor is rusted. Replace the inside tray/motor assbly. Do NOT just replace the motor as the Bin switches and such will be rusted also. Doug

Just tried turning the motor and it indeed did take off on its own with minimal effort. It did seem "stuck" as was suggestd. It seems to have gone through a rotational cycle and then filled with water. After about twenty minutes the unit seems like its cooling down. I'll let it go for awhile and see what happens.

[dougrainer]

JohnQ wrote:
On my model 95 U-Line Ice Maker, it NEVER makes ice the 1st I turn it on, NEVER!!!! The solution is buried deep in the manual trouble shooting. It says to turn the thermostat UP slightly. Once you hear the tinkle of ice cube making, turn it back down to where it was. Kind of counter intuitive but works every time for me.

U-Line FYI

It is a replacement ice-maker compressor. The original U-Line was an R12 Gas model and is no longer available. The new compressor assembly is available from Air & Water, Inc., at $369. The unit is model A1-500SS. Phone 1.800.734-0405 or 714.421.4328. FAX 714.200.0665. Their address is 100 South Linwood Ave., Building B, Santa Ana, CA 92705. One has to shave off approximately 1/4" on one of the vertical frames.

Replace the tstat. NEVER in almost 30 years of working on RV U line Icemakers have I ever had your type problem. I have U line RV icemakers in my house and after each defrost, I never have any problem with harvesting ice or the start of the Ice making harvest. I probably defrost at least 10 to 15 times a year and have for over 20 years. The tstat just allows you to set the harvest time. You can set it up to dump ice before it is hard as a rock and let it complete the solid process in the bin. This gives you a faster supply of ice. Your points are probably sticking and that is why you need to replace the tstat. Doug

[JohnQ]

On my model 95 U-Line Ice Maker, it NEVER makes ice the 1st I turn it on, NEVER!!!! The solution is buried deep in the manual trouble shooting. It says to turn the thermostat UP slightly. Once you hear the tinkle of ice cube making, turn it back down to where it was. Kind of counter intuitive but works every time for me.

U-Line FYI

It is a replacement ice-maker compressor. The original U-Line was an R12 Gas model and is no longer available. The new compressor assembly is available from Air & Water, Inc., at $369. The unit is model A1-500SS. Phone 1.800.734-0405 or 714.421.4328. FAX 714.200.0665. Their address is 100 South Linwood Ave., Building B, Santa Ana, CA 92705. One has to shave off approximately 1/4" on one of the vertical frames.

[mtrumpet]

dougrainer wrote:
The odds are on a 12 year old unit, the motor(not the compressor) and control switches are rusted. You can take the white cover off the motor control and use a pair of pliers to manually turn the gear sprocket on the motor. IF it does NOT turn or does NOT continue on its own when freeing it with the pliers, the motor is rusted. Replace the inside tray/motor assbly. Do NOT just replace the motor as the Bin switches and such will be rusted also. Doug

Thanks Doug. I'll pull that cover and have a look and see how it looks and whether or not I can turn it.

[rodcole]

Is it freezing but not making ice? If so the compressor is working but the icemaker itself is not working. Replace icemaker unit inside, around $100. I replaced mine two years ago, not a hard task. If it is not cooling I would replace the whole unit if it is aged.

[dougrainer]

The odds are on a 12 year old unit, the motor(not the compressor) and control switches are rusted. You can take the white cover off the motor control and use a pair of pliers to manually turn the gear sprocket on the motor. IF it does NOT turn or does NOT continue on its own when freeing it with the pliers, the motor is rusted. Replace the inside tray/motor assbly. Do NOT just replace the motor as the Bin switches and such will be rusted also. Doug

[mtrumpet]

bsinmich wrote:
It is possible the power was interrupted at exactly the wrong time in the dump cycle. When the cubes are dumping the compressor is shut off until the cycle finishes. I have called U-Line and gotten help in the past. I don't use mine because I don't like the taste of some water. I just buy a bag and keep it in the freezer. You did turn on the water supply to the ice maker?

Yep. Water supply to the ice maker is turned on.

If that is the case, do you know if there is anyway to manually get it past this "dump cycle"?

Personally, I too could do without the ice maker, but, DW likes it. So...

[bsinmich]

It is possible the power was interrupted at exactly the wrong time in the dump cycle. When the cubes are dumping the compressor is shut off until the cycle finishes. I have called U-Line and gotten help in the past. I don't use mine because I don't like the taste of some water. I just buy a bag and keep it in the freezer. You did turn on the water supply to the ice maker?