Ice melts in freezer container

rwatson22 · December 19, 2015

After numerous attempts to search on Ice Maker, Ice Melting, Refrigerator, Freezer, etc, and getting returns about solar panels, and everything else in the dictionary, I am posting my question.

We have a Dometic Royale refrigerator (2002) with an ice maker.

It makes ice, slowly, but it appears, the ice it makes is smaller than expected and all the ice underneath, in the container, turns to one solid block of ice. Aside from that the refrigerator works fine. The RV is old (2002) and we have owned it for about 4 years but have not really used the ice maker until now. We don't know if we need to replace the ice maker a circuit board or the refrigerator. The ice maker has an adjustment -/+ that we moved towards - and are waiting on the outcome.

Has anyone else experienced this situation?

Thanks in advance.

RBH · December 19, 2015

Sounds like water is leaking down into the ice compartment then freezing.

Tex Bigfoot · December 20, 2015

Ether the water valve is not sealing Or and this is a second guess .But seeing as you say the ice cubes are smaller that expected it could be that the water valve is ok but somehow the water is not running into the mold correctly and some is running into the catch pan and freezing.

Kirk W · December 20, 2015

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you be part of the group and we will do all that we are able to help you.

There are several possible causes for your problem and a leaking valve could be it but I wonder if you may have the same problem that we have experienced with an RV ice maker. Have you ever checked to be sure that all of the ice is ejecting properly into the tray each time that it dumps and not leaving some behind? In ours, when the trays got to be a little bit mineral contaminated the ice sometimes stayed in the tray and when it rotated up to fill position, the remaining ice would cause the tray to over fill and run water into the ice below, doing exactly what you are experiencing. If it is this problem, you will need to clean the ice tray with a white vinegar/water mix to get the minerals out and if the tray has become etched you may need to replace that tray.

If you turn it back on when you will be where you can hear it dump the ice, then check the tray immediately to see if it is empty and has no ice remaining in it. If there is, observe while the tray fills and you will find the source of the block ice in your ice bin.

budeneighe · December 20, 2015

Another possibility with an RV refrigerator of that age (I had one, too) is that the ice is simply not being completely frozen as cubes before it is being dumped and a lot of water is being dumped into the bin each time it cycles.

Whether this is due to the refrigerator being off level, crystallization forming in the sealed coolant system or something else, it could be a sign of pending cooling unit failure. A technical inspection may be in order to determine which of these your unit is struggling with .

wildmandmc · December 20, 2015

i also have an older rv 2000, never used ice cube maker. have a norcold . which from what i hear is probmatic, mine has always been great at getting an keeping cold temp. what i always do, (not a full timer) make one big bag of ice cubes to use for making drinks. stick the bag in freezer.

teacher's pet · December 20, 2015

Had the same problem with our 1200 series Norcold. Since rebuild of cooling unit has always stayed at 0 or below per thermometer in one side of the freezer. Started seeing a "block of ice" in the ice tray. Eventually saw water leaking at powerhead end of the icemaker into the freezer compartment. Ordered a "Whirlpool" universal ice maker unit on line for around $60. It came with several wiring harnesses and water supply tubes. I changed the unit out in about 15 minutes and haven't had a problem since. On inspection of the old unit (10 years fulltime use) I found the freezing tray's interior coating was peeling and appeared to wicking water out of the tray at the control end.

Biker56 · December 20, 2015

I took the Ice Maker out of my refrig. To make more room for food(Ice Cream )

Then I installed a standalone Ice Maker under the kitchen table. And extended the water line from the refrig Ice Maker to it.

Unlike the portable Ice Makers. These make hard Ice and keeps it that way.

Whynter the one I installed

Sunpentown

Kirk W · December 20, 2015

If you will, let us know if we have helped at all as we do our best.

One thing that may be helpful to you in this is to monitor the temperature inside of the freezer. If you do this one of the thermometers that have a remote sensor will help a lot as it keeps the door closed buy you still know what is happening. You may also want to monitor the temperature inside of the chill box area as well.

rwatson22 · December 22, 2015

Thanks to everyone for your help. I am going to:

1 - monitor the water as it fills to see if its leaking into the bin

2 - if no leaks, replace the ice maker.

I noted that with the ice maker turned off, the ice is not melting in the bin, so I am ruling out the freezer somehow warming up.

I will let ya'll know the outcome.

Double-Trouble · December 22, 2015

Had the same problem with our 1200 series Norcold. Since rebuild of cooling unit has always stayed at 0 or below per thermometer in one side of the freezer. Started seeing a "block of ice" in the ice tray. Eventually saw water leaking at powerhead end of the icemaker into the freezer compartment. Ordered a "Whirlpool" universal ice maker unit on line for around $60. It came with several wiring harnesses and water supply tubes. I changed the unit out in about 15 minutes and haven't had a problem since. On inspection of the old unit (10 years fulltime use) I found the freezing tray's interior coating was peeling and appeared to wicking water out of the tray at the control end.

Same problem in my s&b ice tray was cracked and leaking new unit fixed the problem.

LFDR3116 · December 22, 2015

We have an ice maker we do not use, but, while reading this thread I was thinking -- we never used to be able to keep ice cream hard. Freezer wouldn't get cold enough. We replaced the thermistor and now have a colder freezer and can keep ice cream. Could it be that the freezer temp is not cold enough to completely freeze the cubes? Maybe a new thermistor. Our was 14 years old when we replaced it. Food seemed to freeze okay, but not the ice cream which takes a colder temp.