Refrigerator SOMETIMES makes ice -- stopped making ice when filter needed replacing

[userWXuJD5kIs1]

samsung rf28r7351sg stopped making ice when received water filter replacement indication.  Replaced water filter.  Water comes out of dispenser perfectly, but frig stopped making ice.  Called Service, they checked all the temp settings and indications -- all looks good.  We reset the ice maker and got the beeps as detailed in the manual (and online).

There is NO ice dam.  Desperate for ice, we started purchasing ice and filling the tray.  Dispenser works perfectly fine.  One day, it just started working!  Woo hoo!  I was thrilled that finally the frig was going to make ice again.  Two days later, it stopped again.

I don't want to replace the ice maker unit because it actually worked.  I saw that I could replace a fuse that helps ice slide out from the trays, but the unit worked, so I don't think that's the problem.  I called Samsung help, and despite this being out of warranty, someone actually stepped me through checking things.  (It was basic stuff; temperature, correct buttons pushed and set, etc.)  Then they said it's out of warranty and they can send someone out to look at it.  I don't want some guy to come out and not fix it, but tell me to replace the whole unit and hope that it fixes the problem.

We replaced the filter with a WaterDrop filter (great reviews on Amazon), that's far cheaper than the Samsung brand and according to the reviews, actually fit better than the Samsung.  Other people have used this filter without issue.

QUESTION: Is there some sort of sensor in the filter telling the frig to not send water to the ice maker? 

I wish Samsung would recognize that this issue is a problem and put videos online showing people how to fix a Samsung design problem.

[realaud]

I use the water drop filters and have absolutely no problem with them, so it would not be a problem with the filter.  Are you sure you have the filter seated properly? (It's a stupid question, because if it was not seated properly, water would be running all over the place out of your refrigerator).  You could try taking out the filter and reinserting it.  Are you sure you didn't accidentally turn the ice maker off? I assume you have a digital panel on the front of your fridge door.  On the lower right of the panel should be a label that says ice maker off/control lock.  If you touch that label once, it will either turn the ice maker on  if it's off or off if it's on. You will also get a little light when the ice maker is off, it will appear when you first turn the ice maker off and then eventually disappear until you a) either open the door or b) press any control on the panel, when it will reappear.  You will only see it if the ice maker is off.

When the icemaker is off, water will not flow to the icemaker and no ice will drop. I always turn the icemaker off when I change the filter and then turn it right back on after the change.  I don't want a sudden rush of water while replacing the filter.

[userWXuJD5kIs1]

Good questions.  But, alas...

Filter is seated properly.  No leaks and water dispenses without issues.

I did not try reinserting the filter.  I'll do that next.  (Ice started happening shortly after our power went out in the neighborhood, so I'll shut off power, reseat the filter, and see if that fixes it - although this breaks troubleshooting rules since we'll try TWO things instead of just one.)  Unfortunately, a day or two later, it stopped making ice again.

Ice maker is on.  I checked this about 100 times.  (Ok, only about 7-8.)

Blue reset button was pushed and I heard the ding.  (But I'm not patient enough to stand around for the second ding.)

Thanks for the suggestions!

[realaud]

You didn't mention the power outage. It could be the surge on power restoration caused a relay to fail or fuse to fail

[userWXuJD5kIs1]

This would be a good explanation except that it only worked AFTER our town lost power.  3-4 days after it stopped again.  I tried to repeat the power outage, but just unplugged the frig.  It didn't work.  A few weeks later, still no ice.

[notforhire]

my ice maker still makes ice. it doesn't drop ice unless I reset the unit. it was cheaper for me to buy 4 ice trays and make my ice the old fashioned way. not the answer you're looking for, but I like keeping my money as much as possible.

[userWXuJD5kIs1]

I saw this as a possibility.  Someone online showed that what needed to be done was replace a fuse that was connected to a coil that very slightly heated underneath the ice tray causing the ice to slide out.

Well, I just started to say that I went to poke my finger in the tray to see if any ice is sitting in the ice tray and lo and behold!  THERE'S ICE!  The refrigerator started making ice again.

The only thing I did was, out of frustration at seeing another empty tray, was push the blue reset button this morning.  Again.  I've tried this multiple times in the past and it changed nothing.

Why is this happening?!  If it stops again, I'll come back crying with another post.  Until then... life is good.

[realaud]

I was just about to suggest that if you really wanted to duplicate the power outage and restore surge, you would have to turn the breaker off and than back on, unplugging doesn't give the same surge.

[userWXuJD5kIs1]

And, it happened again.  The refrigerator, after a glorious 2-3 days of ice making, stopped making ice.  Nothing was done to the ice maker.  I didn't take out the tray to check.  No buttons were pushed.  It just restarted making ice.  Worked for a few days.  Now it's stopped again.  

I tried hitting to blue reset button yesterday and it did nothing.  I wish Samsung would stand by their products beyond 1 year.

[realaud]

It really is possible that the power surge from the power going back on after the outage damaged the electronic switch that tells he ice maker to make ice.  Is the ice maker full? Because if it's full, there's an automatic stop til the ice level goes down. There may be some ice stuck on the sensor telling it your bucket is full.