March 18, 2022 - Ice Maker Repair Project

Our portable ice maker has been underperforming for the last several weeks. The last few days the ice cubes have only been about 1/4 inch tall and thus they melt quickly. Upon investigating I found the problem. The water tray was cracked and almost all the water ran out each cycle.  Here is a picture with an arrow pointing to the crack, which discolored due to rust running down from the motor gear. In the picture it looks like all the plastic parts are dirty but that is a calcium build up. As part of this repair project I cleaned that all off with vinegar.

I got on YouTube and found a video made by a guy who had the same problem with the same ice maker. What happens is due to stress the plastic water tray cracks where it is keyed for the motor. The crack then spreads downward. The plastic tray was still turning to dump the ice but the crack was letting almost all the water leak out so that the cubes being made were minimal. The video was great for showing how the unit came apart so that I could remove the tray to fix it.  Here are a couple of pictures of the cracked tray.

I cleaned the area all up, sanded it inside and out, then put Super Glue in the crack to hold it together for the epoxy fix. Here it is Super Glued.

While the Super Glue was drying I went to Home Depot and bought some JB Weld Epoxy for Plastic. Here are a couple of pictures of the epoxy as it was drying inside and out. I couldn't put any on the keyed area of the crack because it has to lay in a track to rotate.

Hardening time was a half hour but I let it all sit for well over an hour before putting everything back together. I then waited several more hours before plugging in the unit to make ice. I watched as it filled the tray to the top for large cubes as it should. This morning we have lots of ice!!! Yippee!!!

Plastic parts are such crap. They last a couple of years but as they age they get brittle and crack. At a minimum the geared portion of the plastic tray should have had a metal ring around it to help it take the pressure from the metal gear turning every cycle. That would have cost an extra two cents I guess. Anyway, hopefully, it will last for a couple more years. These things aren't cheap. The ice maker is necessary because the RV refrigerator is small and we never seem to have room in the freezer for ice trays on long stays. I like ice in my drinks. Next year this fix will be even more important because the park we are going to does not allow any outside electric appliances so I can't take the mini-fridge. I will put the ice maker in the front compartment and have my ice.