Is there a ghost in my ice maker?
January 29, 2018 8:19 PM Subscribe
Why would turning off the water valve to my powder room toilet cause the ice maker in my refrigerator to stop working?! Please help me understand some basic plumbing fact that is escaping me, because the alternative answer is that my refrigerator ice maker is possessed and I don't want that.
On Friday I discovered a problem with my powder room toilet and turned off the valve between the wall and the toilet. But I got sidetracked and didn't fix the problem, so I left it turned off for the weekend.
On Saturday morning I emptied out the ice maker bin in my freezer because it was full of "old" ice that was frozen in big chunks ... I do this periodically to start over with nice, fresh ice.
When I got home Saturday night, there had been no new ice produced into the bin. And none on Sunday either. Today (Monday morning) I finally got fed up and called to make an appointment with the repair guy.
About an hour ago (Monday night) my friend came by and fixed my toilet problem and turned the valve back on between the wall and the toilet. Less than 10 minutes later, I heard the ice maker dump cubes into the bin and I heard the water re-fill the machine.
What is going on in my house?! How is the valve to my powder room toilet controlling my ice maker?
Details: Powder room is on the same floor and adjacent to kitchen but not directly next to the refrigerator. It's a Bosch refrigerator, about 3 years old, that has had zero other problems since I've owned it. The problem in the toilet was just with the bobber and was simple to fix, it didn't even require any tools. At no point did I touch the main water cut-off for the house or any other valve or knob that controls the pipes. During the Weekend of No Ice, I showered, washed dishes, washed clothes, etc. with no problems or noticeable difference in performance of any other appliance.
I hope someone knows the answer to this, because otherwise I'm going to have to pay the repairman's visit fee just to have him figure it out and explain it to me.
On Friday I discovered a problem with my powder room toilet and turned off the valve between the wall and the toilet. But I got sidetracked and didn't fix the problem, so I left it turned off for the weekend.
On Saturday morning I emptied out the ice maker bin in my freezer because it was full of "old" ice that was frozen in big chunks ... I do this periodically to start over with nice, fresh ice.
When I got home Saturday night, there had been no new ice produced into the bin. And none on Sunday either. Today (Monday morning) I finally got fed up and called to make an appointment with the repair guy.
About an hour ago (Monday night) my friend came by and fixed my toilet problem and turned the valve back on between the wall and the toilet. Less than 10 minutes later, I heard the ice maker dump cubes into the bin and I heard the water re-fill the machine.
What is going on in my house?! How is the valve to my powder room toilet controlling my ice maker?
Details: Powder room is on the same floor and adjacent to kitchen but not directly next to the refrigerator. It's a Bosch refrigerator, about 3 years old, that has had zero other problems since I've owned it. The problem in the toilet was just with the bobber and was simple to fix, it didn't even require any tools. At no point did I touch the main water cut-off for the house or any other valve or knob that controls the pipes. During the Weekend of No Ice, I showered, washed dishes, washed clothes, etc. with no problems or noticeable difference in performance of any other appliance.
I hope someone knows the answer to this, because otherwise I'm going to have to pay the repairman's visit fee just to have him figure it out and explain it to me.
follow the hose from the back of your fridge and find where it connects to the water line. Chances are it's a "saddle valve", spliced into the water line down-stream from the shutoff for your bathroom. Now that you know that, you can just keep it in mind next time you need to shut off water. The saddle valve will also have it's own shutoff too.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:20 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:20 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
My guess is that this is coincidental, and the toilet valve and ice maker issue are unrelated.
Here's why: you got ice less than ten minutes after the valve was turned back on. That's not enough time for the water to freeze, which means there was water in the ice mold prior to that.
As to why the ice maker didn't make ice after you emptied the old ice: I don't know the specifics of that model of refrigerator, but most of them have a "feeler arm" that stops ice production when the bin is full, and also when removing the bin. It's usually made from wire, and when it's pushed up by ice in the bin, it shuts off the water valve. As ice is removed, it drops back down and the valve comes back on. Also, on many units, when removing the bin the feeler arm gets locked into the up position so ice doesn't dump into your binless freezer. You can also just push the feeler arm up when you'll be away for a while or don't need ice.
So, totally speculation, but it makes the most sense to me. You may have noticed no ice was being produced, and moved the bin enough to reset the feeler arm. Or, if you're like me, you may have pushed it down manually wondering "what does this do?" and then forgot about it due to your weekend being so busy. Another possibility is that is was stuck in the up position and then vibrated down over time.
Also ghosts.
(Icemaker info.)
posted by The Deej at 6:06 AM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Here's why: you got ice less than ten minutes after the valve was turned back on. That's not enough time for the water to freeze, which means there was water in the ice mold prior to that.
As to why the ice maker didn't make ice after you emptied the old ice: I don't know the specifics of that model of refrigerator, but most of them have a "feeler arm" that stops ice production when the bin is full, and also when removing the bin. It's usually made from wire, and when it's pushed up by ice in the bin, it shuts off the water valve. As ice is removed, it drops back down and the valve comes back on. Also, on many units, when removing the bin the feeler arm gets locked into the up position so ice doesn't dump into your binless freezer. You can also just push the feeler arm up when you'll be away for a while or don't need ice.
So, totally speculation, but it makes the most sense to me. You may have noticed no ice was being produced, and moved the bin enough to reset the feeler arm. Or, if you're like me, you may have pushed it down manually wondering "what does this do?" and then forgot about it due to your weekend being so busy. Another possibility is that is was stuck in the up position and then vibrated down over time.
Also ghosts.
(Icemaker info.)
posted by The Deej at 6:06 AM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
I agree with the Deej. Coincidence. This only happened once, right? You could experiment and turn the valve off again for a couple of hours and see if you get ice.
I know on my icemaker the arm that shuts the icemaker off when full will occasionally get stuck in place, or the water outflow will get clogged, or whatever, and it won't make ice for a few hours or a day.
The only way the toilet valve would be the culprit is if the little pipe going to the icemaker was between the valve and the toilet. Plumbers will take all sorts of shortcuts so I could see this happening, but it would be pretty obvious. Or if the valve is the type of valve normally used on outdoor sillcocks, the place where it actually closes the pipe could be a foot or more upstream from the valve, but that would be unlikely.
posted by bondcliff at 6:13 AM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
I know on my icemaker the arm that shuts the icemaker off when full will occasionally get stuck in place, or the water outflow will get clogged, or whatever, and it won't make ice for a few hours or a day.
The only way the toilet valve would be the culprit is if the little pipe going to the icemaker was between the valve and the toilet. Plumbers will take all sorts of shortcuts so I could see this happening, but it would be pretty obvious. Or if the valve is the type of valve normally used on outdoor sillcocks, the place where it actually closes the pipe could be a foot or more upstream from the valve, but that would be unlikely.
posted by bondcliff at 6:13 AM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
« Older For the storage nerds in the audience... | Two days in the Scottish Highlands without a car Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
This seems pretty unlikely, but if yours is an older place, there may be all sorts of wonky stuff with the plumbing.
Otherwise, yeah ghosts.
posted by notyou at 8:40 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]