Also on the truck · Downtown & the Capitol
The other five
$99 to diagnose, one written figure, printed coverage — the same for every machine we take in Downtown & the Capitol.
The ice maker in a downtown Olympia refrigerator drinks moderately hard city water through a line that snakes behind cabinetry in a condo near Percival Landing or a loft over 4th Ave.
Weekdays 7:30–5:30 · Saturday 9–1 · closed Sunday · Woodland Square Loop, at the Olympia–Lacey line
$99 to diagnose, one written figure, printed coverage — the same for every machine we take in Downtown & the Capitol.
Think of the ice maker as an appliance nested inside another, and downtown Olympia is hard on it in specific ways. The water comes from the McAllister Wellfield and Allison Springs, moderately hard with some manganese, so the fill valve narrows over years and the filter loads faster than the light suggests. The line behind a condo refrigerator often runs through a saddle valve someone installed before the current owner moved in.
We repair ice makers as their own job, not as an afterthought to a cooling call. The technician tests water pressure at the valve, cycles the module by hand, checks the freezer temperature, and tells you which piece has stopped doing its part.
When the module never cycles, we check that the freezer is actually cold enough, then test the module motor, the thermostat inside it, and the fill valve solenoid. A module that has died after a decade of Olympia water is common and replaceable. We also verify the water shutoff behind the fridge was not closed during a kitchen remodel.
Undersized ice means the fill is short. The valve may be partially blocked with scale, the pressure at the refrigerator may be low after a building plumbing change, or the fill time on the control may have drifted. We measure fill volume directly, then meter the valve and inspect the filter before touching any adjustment. Tall buildings near the Port sometimes see pressure that changes with the hour.
The fill tube freezes when the valve dribbles after closing or when the tube sits in a cold spot with a poor heater. We thaw it, test the valve for a proper shutoff, and replace the valve if it weeps. On models with a fill-tube heater, we test that circuit, since a dead heater guarantees a repeat.
Off-flavor comes from a spent filter, a bin full of old ice, or, in some cases, a line that has absorbed odors from years of storage against a warm compressor. A fresh filter goes in, the line gets flushed, and bin and auger get scrubbed. If the problem is a plastic line gone stale, we replace it with the right material.
French-door units in downtown condos route ice from a door-mounted maker through a chute that clogs when the bin freezes into a clump. We test the auger motor, the chute flap and its heater, and the dispenser switch, then clear the jam and check that the freezer is not cycling warm enough to melt and refreeze the bin.
A cracked fill cup, an overfilling valve, or a mold that has shifted sends water down the inside of the freezer, where it freezes into a sheet on the floor. We find the source, replace the failed part, and clear the ice. When the leak reaches the kitchen floor, we check the supply line and saddle valve behind the unit too.
Every ice maker call starts at $99. For that you get a metered diagnosis, the failed part identified in everyday terms, and a single figure in writing for the repair. Approve and the $99 is included in that figure; decline and the $99 is the full amount for the visit. There is no separate line for driving downtown, and no phone quotes on parts before we see the machine.
Condo owners and building managers use us the same way for ice makers as for everything else: approval by text, invoice by email with the printed warranty term, door or garage code kept only until the job is done. If the refrigerator is new enough that the maker's coverage still applies to the ice maker, you will hear that from us before any part is ordered.
It probably does not, but Olympia's city water is moderately hard and carries manganese, which scales the fill valve and loads the filter. Combine that with a compact refrigerator that runs its freezer a little warm and you get slow, small ice. We test both the water side and the temperature side on every call.
A module or a valve is a modest repair on most refrigerators, and the $99 diagnosis tells you which one you have. If the fault is a door-mounted maker on a French-door unit with a failed auger and heater together, we will lay out the figure honestly so you can decide.
Often. Pressure changes, air in the line, or a shutoff left partly closed all starve the fill valve. We check pressure at the refrigerator and purge the line before condemning any part. If the saddle valve behind the unit is the weak point, we recommend a proper shutoff.
Yes, in nearly every case. Modules, fill valves, fill tubes, auger motors, and filters are all replaceable parts. The exceptions are a few sealed door-mounted designs where the maker is part of a larger assembly, and we tell you plainly if yours is one of those.
Whoever manages the unit gives approval of the written figure by text. We arrange access, finish the repair, and the invoice with its printed warranty term goes out by email. Tenants need only be present for the door. We hold no keys, and the access code is deleted when the ticket closes.
The price goes on paper before a screw comes out.
Ring or use the form; a phone photo of the display or the model sticker saves a step. We ring back with an arrival window and text again as the van pulls off Woodland Square Loop.
The technician tests the suspect part with instruments, tells you in plain words what gave out, and writes the repair down as a single price. Your $99 is already inside that number.
Fill valves, defrost heaters, igniters, drum rollers, drain pumps, relays — the things well water, salt air and PSE outages wear out on this shore of the inlet. If we have to order something, the second trip is ours to make, not yours to pay for.
You watch the machine finish a whole cycle, the kick panels and the floor go back the way they were, and the warranty term is typed onto the invoice.
Tell us over the phone. For $99 a technician tests the machine and writes the repair down as one price with that $99 folded in, and the invoice carries the warranty term in print.
