Frigidaire FRS26R4A Side by Side Refrigerator Logo
Posted on Jun 06, 2008
Answered by a Fixya Expert

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Ice dispenser not dispensing

I saw in a previous blog, you replied to someone with the same problem this:
"Your auger or your auger drive is locked up. To test which, remove the ice bin from the freezer and set it aside. Now, with the door open, hold the light switch in and activate the ice dispenser on the door at the same time. You should see the drive gear rotating on the back panel. If it is not rotating, this is your problem. The auger drive motor and gear box is either frozen (can be thawed out) or locked up and failed (needs replacement)."
So my question is, if it's just frozen, how best to thaw it?  Our power was off for 24 hours, and now the ice dispenser won't dispense. So I'm wondering if some water got in around the auger drive somehow and froze up when power came back on...
thanks! Bill

  • Anonymous Feb 21, 2009

    I have the same problem, our power was out for a couple of days and when it came back on the dispenser does not work. I can hear it run, but it does not dispense.

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  • Posted on Jul 25, 2008
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With your power going off your problem sounds like a dispenser control problem..you can check for power at the auger motor

38 5304430812 A B C Power Board
38A# 5304421617 A B C Switch-micro,single pole ,double throw
38C 5304430991 A B C Board-control

I would remove the dispencer cover and check the boards for burn marks

hope it helps

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  • Posted on Jul 17, 2009
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I was able to solve mine, last night.
I needed a 1/4-inch nut driver, and a Philips screwdriver.

There are two 1/4-inch hex head screws, securing the bottom edge of the ice dispenser.
After removing those, you tilt the bottom edge toward the front, and unhook the ice dispenser from the upper edge.

But you can't remove it yet, since the wiring harness needs to be disconnected from the lower-left (as you look at the dispenser from the front of the freezer) corner. Before you attempt this, make sure you have removed the main power plug so that the fridge/freezer is totally without power.

It's really difficult to reach that power connector, underneath the dispenser, you need to have the food removed from that top shelf of the freezer and snake your hand behind/beneath it, to squeeze the 2 little plastic retaining tabs on the connector (work by feel, you'll eventually get it disengaged). There's almost no working distance on the wiring harness.

Once you have removed the dispenser, there are two screws keeping the rear baffle/panel on it ... can remove that piece.
Remove seven (I think) other screws that hold the actuator unit (that has the motor, solenoid, gearing etc.) to the main frame.
Once you have this unit (with the motor, etc.) free and clear, you need to take the built up ice crystals off of it, defrost it ... use a hair dryer, etc.
Totally dry it out. Make it very dry.
Ensure by hand that the auger drive will turn if you slowly torque it by hand. You are spinning the motor (through the reduction gearing) this way, it's the reverse of the normal mechanical action.

Look at the motor, and at the solenoid (used for cubes/crusher selection) and make sure that nothing appears to be burned or melted or singed or discolored.
It's very possible that all of these mechanisms are all right, and that it was simply frozen up.
If that's the case, you need to find some grease, and grease certain areas on the plastic piece that attaches to that solenoid ... equally important, put a little bit of grease around the spinning point of that motor. I'm hoping that the reduction gearbox is well-sealed and permanently lubricated inside of it.
I didn't have the proper type of grease so I found some red grease that's used for auto body suspension components. Maybe lithium grease would be okay, I didn't have any at hand.

There is one crucial plastic piece and I didn't see it in the Electrolux parts diagram: There's a plastic deflector on the back of the compartment, behind the dispenser unit, that directs the cold blown air upward, toward the ice maker, and away from this dispenser. It is a little bit strange to figure out how it fits into the hole, but when you removed this dispenser, it must have dislodged the deflector because of how the harness cable moves across it.

After you reinstall the dispenser, you need to put that little deflector back in, and make sure it's seated properly. You could do it before mounting the dispenser, but it'll probably get knocked loose.
I also removed the little vertical side-shelf (again, 2 1/4" hex-head screws) at the right side of the compartment, to give me more working room when reinstalling the dispenser. If this plastic air deflector isn't installed properly, I believe that the dispenser motor will ice up again, in no time.

Don't forget to reconnect the harness to the dispenser, as the first step in reinstalling it. Again, this is a difficult step. If you got grease on your fingers, it's much more difficult. Don't pull hard on the harness cable, that's bound to overstress one of the pin connections or fray a wire if it happens too much.

Another thing to make very sure is that the rear plastic panel on the back of the dispenser unit is nicely seated, with the 2 retaining screws. That should block the cold air flow from going into the motor/gearbox area. And, make sure that you reassembled the dispenser unit properly, with all 7 or however many screws you took off of it.

After getting everything back together, plug the main power back into the fridge/freezer, and the dispenser should work okay. Wait for new ice to be produced, and you ought to be back in business.
Get a thermometer and check your freezer temperature ... make sure it's not too too cold. More importantly, make sure that built-up ice hasn't blocked any airflow / channels in the freezer compartment, and make sure that you didn't pack the freezer so fully that the cold air can't properly circulate in an up-to-down direction.

Good luck ... Larry in Milpitas / San Jose, CA USA

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