Door dispenser won't dispense water---but dispenses ice, and icemaker works

[passatdoc]

I spent part of New Year's weekend at my father's place. He know nothing about home repairs. He has a roughly five year old GE side by side with ice and water in the door. Sorry, I forgot to note the model number, but I digress.

As far as I know, he had never changed out the water filter in the back of the refrigerator section. When I checked the dispenser, it dispensed neither ice nor water, and the ice maker bin was empty. Thinking perhaps that the problem was a clogged, five or six year old water filter, we went to Lowes and bought replacement filters (one to use, one as a spare). After I installed one of the new filters, the icemaker started to work and the dispenser now produces ice. However, when you change the dispenser selection button to "water", water doesn't come out of the dispenser.

At this point, it can't be a clogged filter since the ice maker is working (though replacing the filter did seem to resurrect the ice maker). So I suspect the problem is in the door or in the dispenser and now involves only the water dispenser line.

Is there a switch in the door that activates the water line that can go bad? Do these lines ever develop obstructions if they haven't been used for several years?

He lives in San Diego where tap water tastes awful, and since he paid for the convenience of filtered water via the fridge door, it would be nice for him to enjoy better tasting tap water. Neither he nor I want to spend hundreds of dollars fixing the issue, but I wonder if the solution is simpler than we suspect. A modestly priced solution (buy new water filters) did fix the icemaker problem. If a switch is bad in the door, it could cost a bundle to take it apart and rectify the problem.

So for you expert out there:

1. Is this something I could try to do myself, or better to call an appliance repair service?

2. Any estimates about how much this repair should reasonably cost?

 

[danemodsandy]

Jim:

What I'd do in your shoes is to pose the question over at fixitnow.com, where they specialise in late-model appliances. The guy who runs it calls himself the Appliance Samurai, and he runs a discussion group and takes questions as well.

Once you have a knowledgeable rundown on what it will take to fix the problem, you can decide whether your skills are up to the task. Sometimes in-door features require disassembly of the door for repair. While taking a door apart is not all that hard (just patience), putting it back together properly is another matter. It's possible to "rack" the door, meaning that it's a bit twisted out of shape by the way in which it was put back together; the door then will not fit flush upon the door jamb, causing air leaks. Racking can be corrected, however; it doesn't ruin the door permanently.

Again, find out what you're getting into first, then see if you're up to it. If you are, great. If you're not, at least you'll know why the repairman will be charging so damn much.

 

[coldspot66]

You could have a frozen water line that runs into the freezer door to the dispenser. Do you hear a hum of the solenoid when you push the lever for water? You can try pulling off the grill at the bottom and you will see the connection for the water line. Push in on the outer ring to disconnect the lines. Push the water lever at the dispenser to see if water comes out of the tube that runs on the right side of the unit (goes to the water reservoir beneath the crispers in the fresh food section).

 

[passatdoc]

Yes, I do hear a solenoid hum when I try to activate the dispenser. But no water comes out.

A frozen water line is certainly in the realm of possibility, given that he hadn't used the dispenser in months or years. This is a single-paddle dispenser where you have to push a button to choose ice or water before depressing the paddle. I think for a long time he was just using it for ice and may not have been aware that he could choose filtered water as an option, and when the filter clogged and stopped everything, of course no water was flowing through the line.

I will give this a try the next time I am at his house and we'll see if this works. But I definitely hear a solenoid hum when I try to dispense water.

 

[cadman]

Had a similar problem once with a late model Amana. Ice maker worked but no water at the door. Turned out the heat from under the fridge had "baked" part of the waterline that ran up into the door and it cracked with age. You'd go to dispense water and not get anything at the door. Of course it was soaking the carpet. -Cory