In my experience, the control board on Manitowoc Ice Makers is quite possibly the #1 misdiagnosed component. Service technicians tend to blame the electronics in the control board before properly testing and checking on the various probes that tell the board what to do. Remember, garbage in, garbage out.
Before ordering or replacing a Manitowoc control board, check the following probes.
Manitowoc Control Board 2006199
Water Level Probe – Often times when the water level probe gets dirty from scale build up, it will false read, telling the control board that the sump trough is full. Because the board is being told the trough is full of water, it will shut the water inlet valve off. This will lead to thin or no ice formation on the evaporator.
S Series Manitowoc Water Level Probe 20-0654-9
Q Series and older Manitowoc Water Level Probe 25-1129-3
Ice Thickness Probe – The ice thickness probe on Manitowoc Ice Machines is another common item that will fail due to being dirty. The scale build up from hard water will tell the ice machine that it’s got a full sheet of ice and ready to harvest, when in reality there may be little to no ice formation. Early harvests, with no ice to trip the bin switch, will eventually lead to a safety limit lock out. Clean or replace your ice thickness probe before replacing a control board, your bottom line will appreciate it.
S Series Ice Thickness Probe 20-0802-9
Q Series and Older Manitowoc Ice Thickness Probe 76-2781-3
Magnetic Bin Switch – The bin switch on Manitowoc Ice Makers is the component that tells the machine when the ice has harvested off of the evaporator. When the ice falls it will break the magnetic proximity switch on the water curtain, which tells the ice machine to terminate the harvest sequence and go back into a freeze cycle. This item can be very difficult to diagnose because of being an intermittent problem, the only way to test is to OHM the switch out and look for consistency.
S Series Magnetic Bin Switch 20-0681-9
Q Series and older Manitowoc Magnetic Bin Switch 23-0148-3
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put me on you email list for Manitowoc machines. Thanks
Will do nilo, please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.
I have a manitowoc. The water level probe is prematurely satisfied and so I can’t harvest and the compressor starts to frost because there is not enough water filling from the inlet. I cleaned everything, checked the inlet lines and everything okay and clear. Do you have any recommendations?
Natalie,
I would recommend eliminating the water level probe from the equation and see if you still have this same issue. Simply unplug the water level probe from your board and turn the machine to ICE. The machine should then fill normally and continue to fill (since there is nothing telling it to stop).
If your machine continues to fill with water, then shut down and replace the water level probe. Even though you clean the probes, scratches in the metal or even in the plastic can cause them to misread, which would lead to short fill times.
Hopefully this will remedy your problem, if not please contact us at sales@icemakerpartsshop.com with your model and serial number so that we can assist further.
I am working on a q134a. It starts to make ice then shuts down.The safety code flashes 2times.Both lights are on steady when freeze cycle starts and continue to stay on.Isnt it normal for the harvest light to flicker during a freeze cycle? I did find the condenser very dirty so it may have been tripping a high limt switch.I cant tell in the piping whlch one that is.Any suggestions? Thanks
Owen,
Keeping the condenser clean is very important, but there should be an automatic reset. Also, yes it is normal for the ice thickness control light to flash during the freeze cycle, it should blink every time water comes in contact with the probe.
Could you explain at which point in the cycle it shuts down? Is it specifically shutting down in the freeze cycle or is it immediately going into a harvest?
If you want, contact me at sales@icemakerpartsshop.com and I’ll do what I can to help you diagnose.
Here is a link to the Q0130 parts break down. http://manitowocice.com/docs/uploaded/mii/parts/q0130_parts_mii.pdf
Please put me on the email list for Manitowoc machines. Thanks
Not a problem James, I’ll add you.