Also on the truck
The rest of the lineup.
Same $99 diagnostic, same written quote, same written warranty on every machine we fix in Downtown & North End.
The bin in a Sub-Zero on Warm Springs Ave has been empty for a week. A KitchenAid in Hyde Park drops six small cloudy cubes a day.
Same $99 diagnostic, same written quote, same written warranty on every machine we fix in Downtown & North End.
The ice makers we see most in Downtown Boise and the North End sit inside panel-front Sub-Zero, Thermador and JennAir built-ins in the Harrison Blvd and Warm Springs Ave houses, inside French-door Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Samsung and LG refrigerators in Hyde Park and around Camel's Back Park, and inside compact counter-depth units in the condos along Idaho St and Main St. Different modules, same water. Boise city water is hard, and an ice maker takes a small measured shot of it every cycle through a valve with a pinhole opening, which is exactly where scale likes to build. We come in from our Meridian shop on I-84 and the Connector, off at Myrtle or Front, then up 13th St or out Warm Springs Ave.
An ice maker fails quietly. First the cubes get smaller and cloudier because the valve is passing less water. Then a cycle overshoots or undershoots, the fill tube freezes into a solid plug, and one morning the bin is simply empty. Older houses add a saddle valve on a copper line under the floor that has half-closed itself with mineral, and a long run from the basement that loses pressure. In a 1930s kitchen off 13th St we recently found a KitchenAid module in perfect health downstream of a fill valve that passed a tablespoon per cycle. New valve, cleared tube, full bin by the next morning.
The arm or paddle is up, the module has stopped cycling, the fill valve is scaled shut or the freezer is not cold enough. We check the shutoff, test the valve coil and the water flow, run the module through a harvest with the meter and name the part.
Not enough water per fill. Almost always a fill valve narrowed by scale or a supply line with a half-closed saddle valve in the basement. We measure the fill in ounces, compare to spec, and replace the valve or open the supply so the tray fills fully.
A weak fill from a scaled valve lets water freeze in the tube before it reaches the tray, and the plug grows each cycle. We thaw the tube, then fix the reason it froze, because thawing alone buys about a week before the same call comes in again.
An old water filter, a bin that has been absorbing freezer odors for months, or ice sitting too long because the household uses little. We replace the filter, wash and sanitize the bin and check the freezer for the food that is doing the talking.
Cubes fused into a block in the bin, an auger motor that has stopped, or a dispenser door flap that sticks. In through-the-door Samsung and LG units the chute heater is often involved. We clear the jam, test the auger and flap, and fix the cause of the fusing.
A fill tube spraying past the tray, a cracked ice mold, or a valve that drips between cycles because scale keeps it from sealing. We watch a fill cycle, find the water, and replace the mold or valve from the truck so the drip stops for good.
We start at the water, because most ice maker calls in the North End are water problems wearing an ice maker costume. Shutoff open, pressure checked, filter date read, supply line inspected for a saddle valve that has quietly clogged. Then the module: we trigger a harvest, watch the ejector and the fill, and catch the fill water in a cup to measure it. The meter goes on the valve coil, the mold heater and the thermostat or optical sensor. In most cases the answer is clear inside fifteen minutes and the part is on the truck. You get the failed part named plainly and one written number that already includes the $99 diagnostic.
Sub-Zero, Thermador, Viking and JennAir built-ins on Harrison Blvd and Warm Springs Ave have modules and valves specific to them, and those sometimes have to be ordered; the return visit carries no second trip fee. Whirlpool, KitchenAid, GE, Samsung, LG and Frigidaire modules for the rest of Downtown Boise and the North End generally ride on the truck. We only repair the ice makers built into refrigerators, not standalone machines, and we say so up front. For rentals near St. Luke's and the downtown core, the tenant lets us in and the owner approves by text. Pricing after the diagnostic, in writing, and if you decline, $99 is the whole bill.
Because the fill valve opening is tiny and the water sits in it between cycles. Boise city water leaves mineral in that opening every fill, and after a few years the valve passes a fraction of what the tray needs. Small cloudy cubes and a frozen fill tube are the early warning.
Yes. Sub-Zero, Thermador, Viking and JennAir ice systems are regular work in the East End and along Harrison Blvd. Their valves and modules are brand-specific and may need ordering, so the repair may take a return visit with no second trip fee. The $99 diagnostic and written quote are the same.
Yes. Compact and counter-depth refrigerators in the downtown buildings use the same module types as full-size units, and the water line often runs through a wall to a shared shutoff. We check the line, the filter and the module, and coordinate with the building if the shutoff is not in the unit.
Sometimes, if the filter is a year past due and the cubes are small but clear. A clogged filter starves the fill just like a scaled valve. We check the filter date first because it is the simplest possibility, then measure the fill to see whether the valve is also involved.
No. The $99 diagnostic is folded into the written repair price you approve, so you pay one number. If you decide the ice maker is not worth fixing, $99 is the whole bill, and you know exactly which part failed and why.
Tell us the machine and what it is doing. We call back with a real window — and the $99 diagnostic is already inside the written price you approve.
