Just found out most ice makers fail because of one stupid filter I always ignore

I was reading through some service bulletins from GE last night and saw this stat that blew my mind. Something like 60-70% of ice maker callbacks in the first year are actually caused by a clogged water inlet screen, not the ice maker itself. That tiny little mesh filter behind the water valve gets packed with sediment and restricts flow just enough to mess up the fill cycle. I've been replacing ice makers left and right for the last 3 years in Phoenix and never once checked that screen first. Now I feel like an idiot for all those parts I swapped out that probably had nothing wrong with them. Has anyone else noticed this being a huge issue in your area?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper1753d ago

Is it just me or does this keep happening with everything now? Cars, appliances, even my phone. They put one tiny stupid part that fails and makes the whole thing seem broken. That screen thing you mentioned, same deal with washing machine fill valves. Ppl toss the whole machine when it's just a $5 fix. Our water here has so much mineral junk in it, I bet half the complaints about any water-using appliance are just clogged screens nobody knows exist. Techs love replacing the big stuff cause it pays more. Makes you wonder how many "board failures" are really just a corroded connector or something dumb.

troyjackson3d ago

Nah, I gotta push back a little on that. Sometimes the screen is the problem, sure, but a lot of times the ice maker itself is legit dead because of a bad board or a frozen fill tube, not a little filter. Replacing parts without checking the simple stuff is just bad practice no matter what you're fixing.