Hi. I just tested the ice maker solenoids. The meter is Ideal autoranging digital. One solenoid that has 35v stamped on top (and supplies water to icemaker and assumed defective) reads 193.0 ohm. Other solenoid has 15v stamped on top and reads .394k ohm. Would you explain what these numbers mean, although I may have to know their normal resistance, which I don’t have as yet.
Also why is one a whole number and the other in decimals with k after it? K means 1000, right? So why is the number in decimals? Sorry but that is all the background information I have now.
The meter range/resolution for resistance is 400.0/4.000k/40.00k/400.0k ohm.
The solenoid assembly was completely disconnected from water lines and power supply.
Thank you in advance.
Replies
multimeter
Thank you for the reply. That makes it clear. Now I know the likely problem is the ice maker module. Again, thanks.
Do spend a little time checking for a broken wire or loose connection. Especially any wires that are subject to movement or vibration.
Sorry but this just popped into my head. Can the resistance reading of 193 ohm mean that the solenoid wire is loosing resistance and at the end of its life? Just a speculation based on comparing two solenoid ohm numbers. Again thank you for your help.
No, as the wire nears the end of its life (which is generally very long) the resistance will go up. The coils have different resistance because of their power needs. The more powerful the coil needs to be, the lower its resistance for a given voltage (or the higher the voltage for a given resistance). Power is voltage squared times resistance.
solenoids
Thank you very much for all the help. I will give the valve one more test to make sure it's not stuck closed. Can't do any more tests. I've run out of time according to my kids. Again thank you.
Are you sure the ice maker is cycling?
Try it by pouring some water in the tray from a container and see if it dumps ice.
ice maker
Thank you for reply. Exactly that was the second thing I tried per repairclinic suggestions. The problem was in the icemaker. Instead of trying to test the parts in the icemaker, I just ordered a replacement icemaker. Again thank you.
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