Thank you all for sharing your knowledge. Your guidance was very helpful. I just wanted to post a follow-up, in the hopes that someone else might gain insight from my amateur troubleshooting.
Appliance: Amana Side-by-side Refridgerator Model# SRD20S4W
Original symptoms of problem: Water was leaking out of the freezer, between the door seal and freezer compartment.
Misdiagnosis: Water Inlet Valve was bad causing for the valve to not close, thus overflowing the ice maker, and over time dribbling out of the freezer onto the kitchen floor. I replaced the Water Inlet Valve, but failed to logically assess the problem.The problem (leaking) occurred again, days later, even after replacing the water inlet valve. After some cursing, I decided that the Ice Maker timer is shot. I ordered a replacement Ice Maker for $35 +shipping.
Further inspection: Shortly after placing the order for the replacement Ice Maker, I began making a closer inspection of the freezer compartment. I realized there was ice build-up at the very bottom-rear of the freezer compartment. The ice was forming between the bottom of the freezer compartment and the drain tray that sits just a couple centimeters above it. I removed the evaporator cover panel and discovered I had ice forming up into the heat dissipation fins on the THINGY (Evaporator/Heat Exchanger?). After a complete thawing of the freezer, the ice turned to standing water.
Final diagnosis: I had 2 problems at the same time.
#1) The drain was clogged with what can reasonably be described as primordial ooze. Every time the freezer went into defrost mode, unable to drain (due to the clog), the water would trickle down to the small cavity at the bottom of the freezer compartment. When that small cavity was filled with water/ice, the overflow would dribble onto the kitchen floor.
#2) The ice maker was not sending signal to close the water valve (I'm not 100% on this diagnosis). The water would fill the ice maker, then overflow into the freezer compartment, and flow out the freezer door onto the kitchen floor.
Solutions:
#1) I threaded a small diameter wire through the defrost drain tube so that the end of the wire was sticking out both ends of the drain tube. I attached some gun barrel cleaning patches to the wire and pulled the wire through the drain tube, effectively reaming the gunk from the tube.
#2) I installed the replacement Ice Maker I ordered (
http://www.seneca-river-trading.com/reicbforwhse.html) and it worked as it should, no overflow. I then yanked it and installed the old ice maker again. Same overflow problem occurred again. I fiddled with the timing knob on the old ice maker, but that did not stop the flow of water. I assume the old ice maker has an electrical flaw, but I did not test it with a meter to be certain. The replacement ice maker has been working great for a couple days now. The entire unit is back to working superbly. For those keeping score, the unit now has a new Water Inlet Valve (unnecessary), and a refurbished Ice Maker.
Regarding the forum headline: Whats the green flakes, and did they have anything to do with my problems? No. The green flakes were a red herring in my troubleshooting. It turns out that the green/bluish flakes are mineral build-up that have taken on the color of oxidized copper. Why? Because I neglected to operate my water softener for a long period of time, the mineral content in our water tended to build up around the valve that regulates water flowing to my fridge. Only when I open and close that valve would it jar the mineral particles to flake off and then appear in my water flow to the fridge/freezer. How do I know the green flakes are not a problem? Because I was so curious to know if the flakes were a problem, I dismantled the old water inlet valve to inspect it for green flakes. It was clean as a whistle, inside-and-out. The mesh screen was keeping all the visible green flakes out of the system. My next project in the near future is replacing the copper tubing with newer plastic stuff. Additionally I learned my lesson with hard water. I will keep my finicky water softener operating. Don't be surprised when you see me appear on the Water Softener forum, soon.
This forum has been a huge help. Thanks for all your guidance folks. If my diagnosis seems incorrect in anyway, I am very eager to hear your feedback.
I now have my old Ice Maker available, if anyone has the ability to refurbish it or wants it for parts, please contact me through this forum.
Thanks for the update.
Linear Mode
