Over the last 7 years I've had the ice maker on my Samsung side by side seize up several times. I hit it with a hair dyer and it always started working again. I hit it 3 times yesterday with a hair dryer and no luck. I held the test/reset button after each round. I took the ice maker out (this is an in the door model RSG257 ) and am letting it thaw out. Is there anything else I should look at before putting it back in? I assume if it doesn't work after putting it back in I should replace the ice maker part.

 

I'm not real familiar with that ice maker. I don't see parts available for it which usually indicates it's just replaced as entire unit.

You said seizes up..... is it full of frozen cubes ?
That could indicate a timer motor that's freezing or a mold heater that's not working.

Fortunately that's not an expensive unit to replace. The model number is DA97-07549B.
Be sure to shop around.

 

When I took the whole unit out and left it on the counter, there was quite a bit of water after a couple hours. This was just the ice maker portion- the ice bucket part was separate.

I put it back in and 8 hours later, no ice cubes. I never heard it fill. When I tried to poke in there it doesn't seem like there is anything in the "tray".

Could the water line be frozen going to the unit? I was thinking of turning the whole fridge off for maybe 4-6 hours before ordering a new unit. It seems they can be had for around $80-$100.

 

Apparently that freezer runs near -14 degrees during ice bin fill up. The ice maker fill tube is heated.
In the link is the fast track service info from Samsung. Maybe there's something helpful in there. There needs to be a way to monitor the ice bin for full. Make sure that isn't blocked.
Fastrack service (pdf)

 

Thanks. I took a look at the fastrack bulletin. I also turned the fridge off for a minute. Nothing. It sounded like it tried to fill the tray a couple times, but there is no water in there that I can see.

I don't have a problem spending $100 for a new ice maker if that is the issue. I just hope that I don't do that and it still doesn't work because it is something else.

I don't see any kind of IR sensor to see if the bin is full. I am thinking it is the arm at the bottom left in the attached photo.

 

I found a service bulletin that said the water line can freeze in the door. I removed the leg cover and disconnected the orange ice maker hose at the coupler and introduced air in it and heard air coming out of the ice maker so it wasn't that. The bulletin said if the water line is frozen in the door to replace the door (what????).

There was no water (other than about 1/4 cup left in the the line) coming out when I disconnected the coupler. I imagine that is normal and there is some kind of pump/valve that has to be activated by the ice maker to make the water flow.

 

There is water valve assembly (DA97-08587A). It's on the back of the fridge. It's usually located right where the water lines connects from the house to the fridge. Doubtful that's your problem.

Exploded parts views

I don't know if that arm shuts off the ice maker. Would it hit the ice if the bin was full ?
In the fast track paperwork should be a way to activate the fill valve. It may require getting to the control board which is usually on the back.

 

Not familiar with that brand. Your description sounds like their is more than one symptom. Fill tube freezing then no water after you removed, thawed , and replaced it. Is this correct? If no water after R&R are you sure the unit has power? I think that switch in lower left of the photo is the manual turn off. There is generally a manual lever that lifts as the compartment fills with ice. You should be able to lift it and hear or feel a click when it is raised as if full of ice. I have also had ones that have a switch that opens if the ice drawer is removed.
Verify you everything is connected and switched on. If there is no water then verify the fill valve is functioning. It is a common failure part. Once you are getting water back to the tray and not frozen in the door then see if it is freezing in the fill tube. I had one do that and figured out the fill valve was faulty and not completely shutting off completely and the water continued to dribble out and froze in the tube.

 

The fill tube isn't frozen as air blown from the bottom of the fridge made it to the ice fill tube at the top.

The ice maker test button gives the chime it is supposed to, so it is somewhat functioning (it has power, etc).

It is true the tray seems to not be filling now even though the line isn't frozen.

I am no expert, but it seems like it could be the ice maker unit or the water valve assembly. Not sure how to further diagnose this.

Not sure if I should try and fill the tray manually with water.

 

Read up on testing the fill valve. I suspect that is your problem.

 

I've looked at a bunch of videos, however my fill valve looks different than most. The connections appear to be integrated into the unit. I don't see where/how to attach my multimeter. See attached picture.

 

Never mind. It looks like if I disconnect the wiring harness behind the metal panel I can slip the multimeter probes in there.

 

The fast track troubleshooting guide lists a Heat Release I/M Test Mode. You could try that and see if water flows. No need to disconnect any wires. Or, pull the fill hose after the valve output and hold over a container.

 

I combined your threads. Better to keep them all in one thread.

Most of the test points needed are on the control board.
The fast track mentions a test switch on the ice maker. Have you seen or tried that ?

 

Yes. When I hold the test button a couple of seconds it chimes and that is it. I don't hear anything or see anything move.

When I held the two buttons on the front of the fridge it gave no fault code (88-88).

I'm not getting a reading with my multimeter, but I am not sure I am hitting the connections through the wiring connector/harness.

I'm really at the end of my abilities on troubleshooting this I think. I can either change out the water valve and ice maker (one by one or together) or call someone I guess.

 

Update: I replaced the ice maker a couple of days ago and it is working fine. 75 bucks plus shipping.

Thanks for the help to those that replied.

One thing I didn't know, that I learned from the bulletin, is that the freezer goes to -18 when the ice bin isn't full. I would push the "Power Freeze" button to make ice faster. According to the manual "Power Freeze speeds up the ice making process by reducing the amount of time it takes for the ice maker to make a tray of ice from 90 minutes to 55 minutes." So that is a little confusing as I don't think the freezer goes much colder than -18. Also, we use a lot of ice so I doubt the bin is every full for long so the freezer must be running a lot. I wonder if the energy saving setting does anything with regard to that.