Spent 6 hours diagnosing a Samsung fridge ice maker, ended up being a $12 thermistor

Last Wednesday I was out in a suburb near Portland, this family's ice maker had been dead for weeks. Checked the basic stuff first, water line was fine, valve was clicking, but no ice. Pulled the whole auger assembly apart, tested the motor, checked the board for error codes, even swapped the control board out of my van just to rule it out. Six hours man. Six hours of head scratching and watching YouTube videos in their driveway. Turned out it was the thermistor in the ice bucket, the one that tells the control board it's cold enough to dump the ice. Reading slightly off, not dead, just off. Put a new one in and it kicked right on. Now I'm wondering if I should just swap those out first on Samsung ice makers even if they test okay? What's your guys' cutoff for when to just throw parts at it versus keep testing? I usually hate shotgunning parts but sometimes it feels like the cheaper move time-wise.

2 comments

2 Comments

quinnbailey10d ago

Dude I learned this the hard way too. Now if I see a Samsung ice maker acting up and the basics check out, I just swap the thermistor before pulling my hair out. Takes me 10 minutes and saves me a whole day of guessing.

janaw1110d ago

Yeah but that extra part cost adds up when you're wrong half the time.