What Does an Ice Maker Holding Switch Do?

Two Switches

• The ice maker has two main switches, the on-off switch and the holding switch. The on-off switch is triggered by the lever bar when it is lifted or lowered. When the switch is on, the ice maker will continue to make ice as long as the water and electric supply hold up and the bin is not yet full. The holding switch tells the motor to push the finished ice cubes out to the holding bin.

Faulty Switch

• If the holder switch is faulty, either the motor never turns on and the ice is not pushed into the bin or it continually runs and keep trying to push non-existent ice into the bin. Removing and analyzing a holder switch is easy and requires only a minimum amount of do-it-yourself skills. An essential piece of equipment is a multi-tester to check the integrity of the switch.

Modular Unit

• Unplug the refrigerator before doing any work. Move the lever to the off position and then unscrew the bottom screws. Hold the icemaker in place and remove the top screws. Pull the unit out from the refrigerator and unplug the water line. Remove the face plate. If you see labeled holes, it is a modular unit with the switches bundled together. Make sure the ejector blades are over the mold tray. With the multi-tester ohms set to X1, place a probe into hole "M" and the other probe into "L." If there is no continuity, the part is defective and should be replaced. A new modular switch just drops in place when the old one is popped out.

Non-Modular Unit

• The holding switch for a non-modular unit is slightly higher than any other switch and has three wires connected to it with spade connections. Gently pull the connections off and pull the switch out. Test the contacts with the multi-tester, You should get a reading of either zero or infinity. When you press the holding switch, the readings should reverse. If they don't, then the switch if faulty and needs replacing.