What Fault 26 Means
Fault 26 means the ice maker motor started its harvest turn but the gearbox never came back round to the start position, so the signal the controller waits for at the end of the rotation never arrived and the operation timed out. F&P's first action is to examine the gearbox and replace it if it has failed.
Common Causes of Fault 26
- The ice maker gearbox has failed or jammed
- Ice bridged across the tray blocking the ejector
- An ice maker motor that no longer has the torque to complete a turn
🔧 One Safe Check You Can Try
Look for the simple mechanical explanation: cubes fused into a bridge across the tray, or a bin overfilled to the point that the ejector cannot sweep, will both stall a harvest without anything being broken.
⚠ Why You Shouldn't Go Further Than That
- Unplug the refrigerator before freeing anything in the ice maker, because the mold heater and fill valve in there are live whenever the cabinet is on.
- Chipping at jammed ice with a tool is how ejector arms and tray mouldings get broken, and neither is cheap to replace.
- A gearbox that jams intermittently looks fine when warm on the bench and fails again as soon as it is cold, so the diagnosis has to be made in place.
- The ejector and the tray are timed to each other; reassembled out of phase, the arm sweeps while the tray is still full and shears its drive.
Opening a panel to inspect or repair something yourself doesn't automatically cancel your manufacturer's warranty — but it can risk accidental damage, and some manufacturers do have specific service conditions. Check your product's warranty terms, or ask us, before deciding.