An ice maker is actually a small appliance that resides within your freezer. It's usually independent of the other refrigerator systems and works together with a water-inlet valve in the operation cycle.
The components of the ice maker include:
The ice maker itself includes:
An internal motor that, in combination with a micro switch, specifies how long the water-fill valve needs to be open to supply the correct amount of water. The motor also drives the ice-ejection sequence.
The water tray for the ice cubes.
The water tray thermostat that senses when the ice is at the proper temperature.
An ice cube tray heater, under the ice maker water tray, that slightly heats the ice cubes to loosen them in the tray for ejection into the holding bin.
The sweep fork or push bar that pushes the ice cubes from the tray.
The holding bin that holds the ejected ice cubes.
The shut-off arm (like a coat hanger) that operates the switch that turns the ice maker on and off.
The water-fill valve supplies household water to the ice maker. It's on the outside, back of the refrigerator, near the bottom.
Here's how ice makers work:
First, the ice maker signals the water-fill valve to open and flow into the ice maker tray the amount of water specified by the internal motor and switch.
When the water tray thermostat senses that the tray has reached a certain temperature, it signals the ice maker to begin ejecting the cubes, as follows.
The ice maker turns on the ice cube tray heater, which warms the tray enough for the ice cubes to move freely.
Then the sweep fork rotates and pushes the cubes up and out of the tray. Or, if the ice maker has a push bar instead, it pushes the cubes up and out of the tray.
While the ice maker is dumping the cubes into the holding bin, the metal wire swings up to let the cubes drop down.
When the cubes have dropped, the wire goes back down, unless the holding bin is full. If the bin is full, the wire can't go all the way back down, which turns off the ice maker until there's room in the bin for more ice.
When the wire goes all the way back down, the ice maker refills with water and repeats the process.