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lindatsr

Liebherr 36' icemaker problems

lindatsr
14 years ago

Has anyone else had problems with their Liebherr icemakers? Mine worked for about three batches of ice when first installed but that was the end of it. I have been working to get it repaired for FOUR months. Nice people on the phone at their service center, but I am getting QUITE frustrated. Living in a rural area where no "authorized" service people want to go has complicated matters.

So far, we have:

Tried various diagnostics by phone with Liebherr service techs,

Brought in a local appliance serviceman (twice) who was willing to come to our out-of-the-way house and perform various diagnostics/attempted fixes/parts replacements with Liebherr on the line coaching him through the various processes,

Brought in our plumber (at our own expense) to recheck the water supply lines when Liebherr told us that MUST be the cause of the problem. After plumber verified there was NO plumbing problem, Liebherr finally admitted we were not the only people experiencing problems with this model!!!

In one phone call Liebherr rep told us the entire icemaker unit was being redesigned in Germany. Then, a bunch of the new units were "in customs." Weeks went by and we called to find out the status. We were told ours had been shipped and our local repairman should have received it. He hadn't. We waited another week and no unit received. Called back, told "parts" were coming from Canada. Said we weren't expecting "parts," we were promised a whole new unit. Nice Liebherr service tech on the phone said he was only telling us what he had been told.

If anyone else out there is dealing with this, I would appreciate knowing what you're being told. I have tried to be patient because, other than this, I really do love this refrigerator and actually designed the entire row of cabinetry along that wall to mimic it. I have postponed putting the cabinetry panels on yet as I would like to know it is all WORKING and won't have to be totally replaced before installing the panels. Don't even want to think about the possibility of pulling it out as it was a very tight fit in my totally custom kitchen. This is about the last thing to finish in what has been a very long, expensive whole house remodel that has exhausted both us and our bank account.

Any suggestions, for resolving this, coping, etc? TIA!

Comments (30)

  • marthavila
    14 years ago

    Ouch! I feel your pain! And, as much as I love my Liebherr FD/36", I have to admit that I've also had a couple of first generation product issues. One was the doors and the other was the icemaker. The latter suddenly stopped making ice; the problem turned out to be the circuit board for the icemaker. In order to fix the problem, there was never the need to pull out the unit from the cabinet run. The tech simply swapped out one board for another and accessed it at the bottom front of the fridge (below the bottom freezer drawer). The entire service call took all of 45 minutes from start to finish. I don't know why you're having this runaround with the tech people! If want, you can email me offline for a more detailed description of this issue and how it got resolved. And, yes, take heart. It did get resolved and I've had a fine functioning fridge ever since.

    Good luck!

  • pluckymama
    14 years ago

    Icemaker problems here too. I've been buying ice at the grocery store for many months now. Have had one repair to the icemaker and it didn't last. Now waiting on another service call. I will mention to them about replacing the board.

  • lindatsr
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Miaery loves company, so they say, right? Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, we tried the circuit board swap and that didn't work either. So I continue to wait. Luckily, I don't really use ice much, except on my aching back. In the meantime, there's more room in the freezer for ice cream... comfort food!

    Will keep you posted!

  • lgrdh
    14 years ago

    I've also had problems with the icemaker from the get go. Tech support has been helpful but so far there is no resolution to the problem. I actually asked them about whether a redesgned icemaker was in the works and they said they know of no such thing. Even when the icemaker works, it produces small quantities of ice per batch at such a slow pace that it can't keep up with our very normal usage level.
    At first it seemed to me that it only dropped ice when the freezer drawer was opened and then closed, and tech support said it was probably an issue with the magnetic sensor. It seems like there may be more than one problem, though, since the performance is so erratic.
    But again, at best, even when it is dropping ice, the production is very, very slow.

  • macrosox
    14 years ago

    Oh dear. Planning on ordering a 30" Liebherr with icemaker next week. Have any of you heard of icemaker problems with the 30" Liebherr?

  • PRO
    Trevor Lawson (Eurostoves Inc)
    14 years ago

    The Liebherr ice maker in no way resembles the standard whirlpool ice maker which is in most other refrigerators. The Ice Maker that whirlpool makes is the crescent shaped ice, this unit will produce ice until it over flows on some occasions, it produces more murky ice than you could ever want.

    This what to expect from a Liebherr Ice maker.

    1)The ice box will only fill less than half way (3' Probably)
    2)It can produce 150 cubs in a 24 hour period (average)
    3)They are SMALL ice cubes (cocktail ice size)
    4)Clear ice compared to a whirlpool crescent ice

    This ice maker is (in my mind) a supplementary ice maker, if you need more ice than 150 cubes in 24 hours and I understand this is possible in warmer states your options are

    1) Buy it in a bag.
    2) The Split Drawer can be utilized. (if you fill a drawer it will hold over 600 cubes)
    3) Use the super frost feature ( OCCASIONALLY ) to increase production by 25% - 30%.
    4) Pull the ice to the front of the ice box to create more space for new ice.

    The tray in my ice maker had 186 cubs when counted them.

    You can see from the photo slide show (link Attached at the bottom of the web page)the following

    1)The size of the ice cubes
    2) How full the box will get
    3) How much ice is used per 16oz water glass
    4) A gallon Zip Lock bag ¾ full with 186 Liebherr ice cubes

    Example

    16 oz water glass holds 30 Liebherr ice cubes which equals just over 6 full glasses of ice from the box containing 186 cubes
    16 oz water glass holds 11 Scotsman ice cubes which equals nearly 17 full glasses of ice. If you work on 186 cubes to start with.

    I donÂt have a crescent ice cube maker in the store but I would suggest a 16oz water glass would hold around 7 cubes which will give you over 26 full glasses of ice.

    People donÂt buy a Liebherr refrigerator for the ice maker, in my mind people buy the Liebherr for its size options, silent running, constant temperature control, finish, bio fresh, freezer drawers and for other personal features required by each customer.

    I hope this gives everyone a better understanding of how the Liebherr ice maker works and produces. I will be making some videos shortly to explain each area of the Liebherr refrigerator.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Liebherr Ice Maker

  • marthavila
    14 years ago

    Thank you, Trevor.

  • Fridge Magnate
    14 years ago

    It is true - there is a newly designed ice maker for the Liebherr units. I've had one installed in my Liebherr for the last 6 weeks and it is working flawlessly.

  • cpmljs
    14 years ago

    We too just got a CS2062 with all the same symptoms described above. Fridge Magnate - where did you get your 'newly designed' ice maker? Heck, we just bought this fridge!

  • rococogurl
    14 years ago

    No issues whatsover in my 30" freestanding re the ice marker. It's fast and we like the small cubes -- and the plastic scoop.

    Question: does anyones fridge have an intermittent low buzz/rattle? It's only been in use for 10 days and the buzz/rattle started a few days ago -- comes and goes. If I push at the closed door it seems to subside.

  • marthavila
    14 years ago

    Hey Roc,

    No buzz or rattle for me. Very quiet machine overall.

  • rococogurl
    14 years ago

    martha -- you have built in or freestanding?

  • ray06905
    11 years ago

    The 36" icemakers are the worst in the industry. We've had our unit for 3 years and it has never worked properly. We've had 3 service calls, replacement of parts....it works for a couple of weeks and then fails again. No question about it, the ice maker is simply garbage.

  • kitchenkat
    11 years ago

    I have had my 36" Liebherr French door refrigerator for nearly four years and have never had a problem with the icemaker.

  • marthavila
    11 years ago

    My "first generation", 36" integrated (referred to in the above older posts) did develop an icemaker problem. After several attempts to fix it, however, Liebherr replaced the entire fridge and included a free upgrade to biofresh -- all occurring post-warranty! It doesn't get better than that! And, I've had no problems since.

  • mnstreet
    9 years ago

    I got my Liebherr about 5 years ago. At first the ice maker made about 4 cubes/day, then nothing. Had repair man ($150) and ice maker worked for 2 weeks. Next time said it would be expensive replacement. No response from Liebherr. I buy bagged ice at grocery store. Meanwhile two plastic door shelve holders broke. Liebherr charged to replace. Then the 2 bottom freezer doors split open. I have used duct tape to hold them together. Now there is a huge wall of ice on the back freezer wall. Not to mention the condensation tray at the back of the fridge overflows daily and floods my fresh food tray the the fridge bottom. I would love a whole new fridge. I am done.

  • Davis Bennett
    9 years ago

    anyone have feedback that say bought one in the past 2 years or so - I see the original thread is old and some of the other issues reported now are with unit several years old - I just wonder if they have these kinks out - or they persists with the current offerings. I am about to start a new build and has been considering the Liebheer as a SubZero alternative - I love the SZ, but just feel like Wolf is price gouging a bit - that and their promotion that ended the end of April has been replaced with one that is worthless for me (Cash off if buying multiple items to some offering for countertop appliances - feels like the consolation prize on Let's Make a Deal.....


  • sprtphntc7a
    9 years ago

    you should start a new thread, since this one is old and hopefully u will get more responses.
    we have had ours for 3 1/2 years and its been problem free. we had one service call for our doors not closing,(within first month) and they came and fixed them. no problems with icemaker or anything else....
    we have 36" FD, w/biofresh.
    make sure u can get service in your area!!


  • cookncarpenter
    9 years ago

    I've had mine a little over two years, and no problems at all, love it! My wife and I actually chose it over the S-Z, price not withstanding. 30" w/biofresh...

  • LE
    9 years ago

    Had it for only 6 months, but so far so good. Fingers crossed. It is certainly quiet, looks good, and works well. Just need it to prove durable, but only time will tell.

  • htsuk
    8 years ago

    We have had our fridge 8 yrs. the ice maker works off and on. Not reliable. Can't figure out why sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

  • John Gooch
    7 years ago

    We were going thru water filters very fast and having troubles making ice... After a few calls to liebherr, i found out the unit can run WITHOUT water filter! We removed it- making ice perfectly now.

    CS2062 unit. about 5 years old.

  • kldickinson73
    3 years ago

    If anyone wants to know, I have spent the last 4.5 years without an ice maker with my liebherr. Countless stress hormones released thinking about how we would ever get this refrigerator out of the very tight spot to replace it, now I want to sell my home and I’m thinking we will have to give a $2,000 credit to the new homeowners because they will have to use ice trays again. Ughh anyway my Husband finally called liebherr- I have called many many times and all I got was “you need to call a repair person”. anyway, after running through all the turn this off, press this for ten seconds b/s finally the guy asks do you see a little magnet or are there open slots in the front of the ice tray? Well no, the little slots were empty. Well we were missing A $3 part called a magnet. And if the magnet isn’t there the ice machine doesn’t know to make ice. All the replacement filters, stress and actually replacing The whole ice machine ... we were missing the magnet. I happened to remember a tiny little white thing I knew was a magnet that I have had in a Miscellaneous drawer for almost five years wondering what it went to. I put it in there and in an hour we heard a noise we haven’t heard in years, the sound of ice dropping in our ice bucket. Oh the relief. so, if you are in this predicament. There is a white magnet that goes in the front of the ice bucket. It sits close to the Handle of the freezer door. The guy at liebherr says for some reason this happens all the time and no one thinks to look for it. Don’t go through years like I did. Look for the missing magnet.

  • safemommy
    3 years ago

    I have the 2062 and am in the process of defrosting the freezer to remove a layer of ice that has formed along the bottom and back wall. I need to remove the freezer tray in order to clean up the melted ice. After reading the freezer compartment container removal instructions, I don't have enough clearance to get the drawer out even at an angle and wondering how far this drawer should open? I only get 13.5" on the drawer glide (pic attached), anyone else?




  • wreek514
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    safemommy: Open both french doors fully and then you should have enough room to get the top bin out. I've never been able to get the bottom bin out, but not needed to defrost. Just keep both freezer compartments open as you defrost. Put some towels in the bottom to absorb water as it melts.

  • safemommy
    3 years ago

    Thank you, interesting Liebherr told me it was because of the custom panels being too large, but maybe only the top tray actually comes out. I did collect the water but what happens here is there is water that sits in the grooves along the back, extremely difficult to get out with the tray still in place.

  • wreek514
    3 years ago

    I don't have custom doors. And when service guy was here when I was having an icing problem shortly after install I watched him open the doors and THEN pull the top tray out. The bottom one does come out - but I'm not willing to fight with it. get someone with long arms to wipe down the grooves.

  • safemommy
    3 years ago

    I hear you! Just crazy that for an appliance this $$$ the drawer doesn't come out as pictured without removing the screws

  • Doug Miller
    2 years ago

    I hate this piece of crap fridge. It’s a 2080 model. We bought it back in 2018 during a renovation, it was installed by a plumber the contractor knew. Then we left NY for most The ice maker has never worked. I’ve tried the usual pushing buttons and waiting for 10 secs but no joy. I’m dreading calling the service dept.