Opal Ice Maker issue

This was made to show to Opal (on Point) support. Looks like other people have found the video as well. I hate this ice maker. When it worked, it made great ice. It quit working, and GE doesn't warranty it because I bought it from Amazon. GE referred me to On Point. On Point says they are going to send me a refurbished unit, but don't know when, because they have a parts shortage. Meanwhile, my warranty will run out while I'm waiting. The remanufactured unit doesn't come with any additional warranty.

[@suburbanhobbyist2752]

I just bought one. Made about half a bucket of ice and promptly stopped working. Now I get 1 or 2 mostly melted nuggets and then the light turns a different color and it stops entirely. The thing is BRAND NEW. Amazon reviews on this thing are fantastic....surprise, surprise...

[@gasd-annette5637]

IKR?! There must be some deception when it comes to calculating the reviews…. Hmmm. Because when You actually look at reviews the first 5 or 6 are one star ⭐️

[@SixPackDan]

It WAS great...............then ge bought it out and cheapened it

[@sophiar6996]

I've had this POS for two weeks and it makes about ten nuggets of ice. I despise this ice maker.

[@jimmypark8280]

I just fixed mine by thoroughly cleaning out the vents. I believe it was overheating due to the vents being clogged. My symptoms were it would start to make ice, but very slowly and then would stop. Then I would get the yellow circle cycle. I bought a very small attachment set that hooks onto my vacuum and then pushed the side metal over the vents on the left side so the brush of the vacuum brush could reach the vents under the grill. Vacuumed the side thoroughly so the dust was clear, powered it back up and it is working great now. Hope this helps.

[@cherrywolf713]

I'm so happy I found this comment!! Ours was doing the same thing and, after reading this, we took the case off and cleaned the vent and bam! Working good again!

[@jimmypark8280]

@@cherrywolf713 That makes me feel so good. I was hoping some others who have had no luck fixing would get the same result! So great to hear.

[@wildstar1063]

I have one that was given to me because it was having the same issue it would barely make any ice and then it would stop and give me the yellow circle. After watching some videos and doing some reading I took the cover completely off mine and unscrewed the fan from the condenser unit then used compressed air to blow through the condenser fins and oh my God! What a bunch of crap came out of it. Now it works like new. The previous owner bought this original firstbuild unit from the kick starter in 2015/2016 and used it until it quit working in 2018 and stuck it in the garage, it was given to me and I was able to fix it with a couple of hours of research and a couple of hours of teardown cleaning and rebuilding. I also cleaned out the reservoir and cleaned a bunch of really hard water deposits.

[@diad3288]

Mine is doing the same I haven't tried this but I will. I wish there was a video on how to vacuum the vents

[@jimmypark8280]

@@diad3288 I have a hand vac with a simple duster brush attachment. This worked well.

[@HotBranch]

I've had my FirstBuild Opal ice machine for 5 years and it has worked (mostly) flawlessly during that time, but last week, I ran into the "yellow circle of death" and OnPoint called me this morning to say that it is out of warranty (not surprising) and that it is likely unrepairable. Not really happy with that as an answer, so I am looking for videos online that disassemble and try to troubleshoot the unit. I hope I can bring this machine back from the brink of death.

[@dcgeorgia6307]

Hey Paul, just wondering 9 months later, were you able to save your ice maker? My Opal is almost 4 years old and it's doing the same thing.

[@HotBranch]

@@dcgeorgia6307 sadly, no. The few trouble shooting videos I found didn't address my problem that seemed to be a dead compressor. Ended up buying the Kitchen Aid ice maker as a replacement. Not as good overall, but it has many more videos available for eventual repair. Also, it's much less expensive.

[@SeriousMonster1]

It has to do with the compressor not running, mine is doing the same thing

[@acbattle]

Mine started working when I unhooked the side tank. But I don’t think that’s a good option long term.

[@philipinomojo]

thats one of the indicators of cleaning needed. get some cleaner run it through the system, when you put in cleaning need to run cleaning mode untill all 4 portions are full yellow, if you notice when you put in cleaning it showed only top right sector lit up run it a few times untill full yellow circle then rinse, and swap to ice mode.

[@MatthewKitchin]

I did all those things. This video was just meant to show Opal what was going on.

[@MrFocused82]

Hey thanks this info is very helpful! I appreciate it

[@sbpippin]

I got mine from Amazon on Black Friday and it's doing the same thing. To save some time, did you try GE first or go straight to OnPoint?

[@collinkitchin-soccer7450]

I tried GE, they said they wouldn't cover it, since I bought it on Amazon.

[@hopeexnicious]

Did you bring it back or buy the extended warranty ?

[@AquaTech225]

Bad compressor. It it was working it would be transferring the heat. Same reason the outside of your home condensing unit of your ac fan blows warm outside when it’s on cooling mode. If the compressor on there dies also. It’s just going to circulate the outside air. Just like your ice machine is just circulating your inside air. Bad compressor. Or it’s not being told to turn on by the board. Maybe theirs a small contractor or relay or something in their not sending juice to the compressor. Everything else that can be seen here or heard from you is functioning

[@katieadolph2464]

Did you ever fix this? mine is doing something similar

[@MatthewKitchin]

No. That video was for Opal support. Mine is warrantied by a 3rd party company called On Point. GE doesn't warranty them if you buy them on Amazon. It has been an awful experience. I'm supposed to get a replacement, but they have no idea when, because of product shortage. This thing is an expensive paperweight right now.

[@katieadolph2464]

@@MatthewKitchin that’s what mine is looking like too

[@Krispy1953]

Mine is 2 years old and doing the same thing. It was too expensive to only last 2 years!

[@MrLatinguyinLBC]

mine is doing this too.....anyone know what to do?

[@MatthewKitchin]

You can try cleaning out the vents with compressed air or a brush. If it generates no heat at all from any of the vented areas, it is likely dead. These things are a joke. They do not last.

[@venezuelainvestigators141]

It's an air lock.

[@MatthewKitchin]

That is not what their support said. They gave up and replaced it.

[@venezuelainvestigators141]

@@MatthewKitchin I've had the same problem and I remove the hose and put it back in and it works. Then yours must have been some other type of failure. But it's great that they replaced it.

[@yusaqhwiff2442]

I’m running with this issue did you find a solution or a fix?

[@MatthewKitchin]

Nope. It was dead.

[@gasd-annette5637]

@@MatthewKitchin I’m afraid mine dead too 🙄. I took apart entire thing and cleaned out all the hoses (which when doing so I saw how much scale buildup was on them 🤮) HOPING that would work. But no 4 days and 3K curse words later I guess I’ll finally wave white flag and toss it. Just wanted to let you know it wasn’t just yours, apparently it’s a flaw.

[@tylergeraci7033]

@@MatthewKitchin did you buy a new motor or is it broken?

[@AquaTech225]

@@tylergeraci7033 it worth having it repaired. Yould spend double the price of a new one than to buy a new compressor. An have someone come out cut out the bad one and have a new one braised in place and recharged. Sadly. Their basically made as well disposable machines

[@davidhoover8877]

Mine is 8 months old and squealing like hell.

[@isabelaegan9913]

I have the same issue! Did anyone fix it?

[@gasd-annette5637]

Same issue too. After one year of use

[@isabelaegan9913]

@@gasd-annette5637 I called the support number and what they told me was, is has to be cleaned once a week.

[@gasd-annette5637]

@@isabelaegan9913 I guess that their excuse for crappy product. Have you cleaned the water reservoir on top of the unit? 🤮. They NEVER mention it needs to be cleaned anywhere in their paperwork. I saw it on a KZbin video and was SHOCKED at how much mold we prob ingested 😡

[@isabelaegan9913]

@@gasd-annette5637 I know! It does not say it! I have cleaned it three times this week and still getting an error message. I am kinda giving up at this point. It takes so long to clean at least 18 in a vinegar soak and then rinse 3 times, and the next day I get an error message again.

[@gasd-annette5637]

@@isabelaegan9913 did yours start messing up (meaning: error light Mine flashes yellow) after you took top off and cleaned that upper water reservoir? Or was it messing up before you did that? Only reason I looked for videos on the machine was because we were getting black flecks in our ice, that’s where I found a video to remove the back and top to gain access to that upper reservoir. After I 🤮 and cleaned it out, I put machine back together and it worked for maybe a day or two (still had moldy black pieces in the ice) until I got the flashing yellow light 🙄. You know I think they’d be interested in trying to make this right (partial refund if they cannot find a permanent solution) seeing as how they allowed me and my family to ingest, Lord only knows how much, mold due to their misleading cleaning procedure that fails to mention the true location of the mold being that reservoir 🤔. I may have to call and tell them I’m looking into starting a class action lawsuit, since it appears it’s effected us all in some point of time. 🤔