I have a fault with an N26 Nice Ice ice maker. On switching on, the green light comes on, the tray turns down and empties and then returns, the water enters and the stirrer starts, then the compressor, all normal so far. The evaporator starts to cool, the hot gas outlet of the solenoid valve remains cool and then ice forms on the evaporator as expected, however the defrost cycle starts when the ice thimbles are only about 1mm thick. The tray turns down and empties and then returns, the water enters and the stirrer starts, then the compressor, however the evaporator does not cool, the hot gas outlet of the solenoid valve remains hot.

It would appear that the solenoid valve is sticking in the defrost position. The resistance of the solenoid windings is about 5k and the solenoid when removed from the machine and powered from the 240V supply, attracts a screwdriver sufficiently to draw it inside and when the screwdriver is held, the weight of the solenoid is supported. So maybe the core of the solenoid is sticking or there are shorted turns in the solenoid, reducing its power. What should the resistance of the solenoid be, please? The refrigerant pressure switch operates about once a minute, turning on the condenser fan as expected, however each time this happens, there is a pulse on the solenoid which could cause it to turn on and let hot gas into the evaporator.

Do you have any suggestions, please?

By the way...

I electrically bypassed the pressure switch so now the condenser fan runs all the time except in the defrost cycle. The ice maker now works properly, so either the pressure switch was faulty or the system was slightly short of refrigerant.

I am still interested in further service information in case more faults develop.