My 2013 Samsung side-by-side fridge randomly stopped dispensing water and ice. (Unfortunately, it’s not from someone accidentally turning on child lock.) I’d like to try to save some money and fix it myself. I am good a following YT videos on repairs, but I can’t find one for my specific problem. I’m not sure what is wrong with it. The front panel and inside lights come on when the door is opened, so it seems from that like the door sensor is working. Also, the clicking noises are all the same as before when you press the glass to the dispenser, so it doesn’t seem like any lever is broken. But the ice motor won’t engage, nor will it dispense water. (but it still makes ice just as before) I’ve had to change the motherboard on it before and that was super easy. I wonder if I need to do that again or if something else could be wrong with it.
I’ve come to this board to see: 1) if y’all know of a good message board to troubleshoot appliance problems like mine or 2) if there’s someone here that just so happens to know what might be causing the issue. I can call a repair person, but I’d like to do the repair myself to save money if possible.
I’ve never repaired a refrigerator, but a couple things come to mind.
Try Reddit for help. You can google something like ‘refrigerator ice water dispenser repair Reddit" and you might get links to others’ posts and replies.
Since you’ve easily replaced the motherboard before, just take it out and put it back in. And/or unplug the refrigerator and plug it back in. Maybe that will reset something.
The reason I’m leaning towards something electrical is because it makes ice just fine. If something broke that prevented the water from flowing, then I would suspect that it would no longer be able to make ice.
If the relay clicks when you press the cold water button the signal is getting to the relay. The problem could be an interlock between the ice dispenser and the cold water valve. That could be either mechanical, electrical or both.
The issue with repairing this yourself is the absolute mess you will have if the ice maker leaks. When mine went, my son removed it and I make ice in trays. Its a pain, but better than a ruined kitchen floor.
When I installed an ice maker, I had a small faucet turnoff that came with it.
Any possibility that there is a similar one and it is turned off. Also there may be a turnoff elsewhere where the hose comes from perhaps the basement?
