Keeps saying add water null

Question

Accepted Answer

I contacted the Opal Service Techs at 866-907-6718 to inquire about the same issue and these are the instructions they sent me via email. I hope this information is helpful if you are experiencing this issue.

“Thank you for contacting us regarding your Opal Nugget Ice Maker!
 
If the water well is filled to the upper fill line and no ice is being produced, please perform this simple test:

1. Please start the Opal and switch to cleaning mode. Don't forget to detach the side tank.
2. Remove the screen/filter at the bottom corner of the reservoir, exposing the small white rubber inlet used for water circulation.
3. Make certain that the Opal is not connected to the phone app and that the water well is filled to the upper fill line with distilled water.
4. Remove the ice bin and press the button to see if the Opal pumps water. This could take up to 5 minutes to start.
5. Plug the small inlet with your finger for 10-15 seconds to create a vacuum within the pump/circulation system.
6. Release the plug and wait a minute or until you see water movement.
7. If you do not see a change, you may want to repeat these steps a couple of times.
8. Please reply to this email and advise what you see...water is flowing down the back of the trough or there is no water movement at all.
9. If you see water movement, please switch to ice mode and run for 30 minutes.

Please reply directly to this email with the results.  To serve you and others in a timely manner, your ticket will be closed after 5 days if we receive no response.
 
Thank you,

OnPoint Warranty Solutions
GE's Authorized Opal Service Provider

OnPoint Warranty Solutions LLC | 9900 Corporate Campus Drive | #2050 | Louisville, KY  40223 | 877.533.2559

Dano · Answer

If that happens just after cleaning, you probably need to prime your pump. I use a turkey injector and GENTLY fill the hose that doesn't go to the side tank with water, and then restart the machine.

Answer

I took the screws off the back there is a water reservoir on the top right I pop the lid open enough to add strat vinegar, to fill the reservoir up and the machine took off. It was so full of scale. I filled it with vinegar and ran it on clean cycle a ton of times. If the water cannot go up into this reservoir, there is a sensor telling the machine it does not have enough water. Sometimes you just have to dig into it and fix it yourself holding your finger over the tube in the water reservoir did not fix anything because the top reservoir was plugged full of lime.

Answered by Anonymous 2 years ago

Answer

I had this issue and followed the first tip above and then the one about priming the pump because I had just cleaned my machine doing regular maintenance. I didn't have the turkey baster so I used a funnel to fill the line (the one that is not going to the side tank) because it was empty. I took the filter in the water bin off and filled the water bin to the fill line. Then I turned it on and pumped my finger on the lower left white tube opening inside the water bin and felt it suddenly start to pull water again. That primed the pump and now it's making ice again.

Answered by Anonymous 2 years ago

RobertW · Answer

When i got the "add water" message constantly, I Checked the screen and it was plugged, i ran the descaling cycle. I also soaked the filter in some dawn power cleaner and rinsed. I also blew some compressed air through it. This seemed to fix the issue.

Answered by RobertW 3 years ago

Answer

Same issue, I fixed by removing little black filter in main water reservoir (lower back left) to expose the white thing with a hole. With a couple inches of water covering that hole, put your finger over the hole for 10 seconds or so, it will suck on your finger a bit and they take finger away - after a few times it started to suck water. The pump just needed primed.

Answered by Anonymous 2 years ago

Answer

I did two things:

1. I took out the filter and did the prime the pump thing with my thumb as mentioned in previous posts.
2. I replace the 3rd party water filter we'd installed.

The machine is once again making ice.

I'm guessing the filter need to be replaced.

Answer

If the ice machine is not completely level, it will continue to say add water.

HarleyDog · Answer

I either lift the tank and squeeze the water line or I open and close the ice container. That seems to to restart the ice making process. This is the one negative I have for this machine, but it is not a deal breaker.

Answered by HarleyDog 3 years ago

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I am having the same problem. I did get the water running but after 2-3 minutes it still switches to ADD WATER. Any ideas?

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So glad I found this q&a! I had gotten mine on FB Marketplace about 6 months ago. It’s had this issue off and on the entire time, which was kind of a bummer but it wasn’t enough for me to hate it.

Until this week!

I cleaned it, as I usually do and ever since, it will only make maybe one cup of ice and tell me it needs water.

I found this post and all I did was prime the pump, as suggested by taking the filter off and putting my thumb over the hole a few times when it suddenly started pulling water!

Such a simple fix! This should be included in the owners manual!! Thanks!

Neveragainopal · Answer

I’ve talked to the opal experts and tried everything on you tube.  Nothing works.  I clean mine once a week and still have to take it apart every two months and scub clean, or it will make horrible grinding noise.  It is broke more than it works.  We have soft water, so I give up.  Never again.  This is the second one and no longer in warranty.  The first one was not working right out of the box.

Gary · Answer

Tried the finger plug after removing the filter and after about 5 pumps it started back up

Answer

Keeps Saying Add Water
When I finally solved this problem, I knew I needed to share it.
I found this thread when I was looking for a solution to a problem that was triggered by a deep clean including removal of the sheet metal.

The tank and the float inside were contaminated so I cleaned both. On the tank lid there is floating dough nut on a shaft. This tells the unit when the tank is full.  The dough nut can easily be cleaned by pulling out a plastic C clip on the bottom of the shaft and sliding it off.

I put it all back together expecting clean ice, but this is when the “needs water.” problem started. I pulled the lid off and checked several possible causes but found none.

Then it hit me, what if the floating dough nut had a top and a bottom that I had reinstalled on the shaft upside down? 
So, I opened the tank, pulled off the float shaft clip and turned the dough nut over.

Presto, problem solved.  It’s always the little stuff that causes big problems.

Answer

I can’t get the screen off in the water reservoir

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I primed the pump and it made one batch of ice and quit again

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There is a reservoir on the top left rear corner while looking at the machine from the front. We are pretty religious about cleaning our machine, but you can see by the pics this tank clearly is dirty. The sensor in this he tank was causing the add water error. After cleaning it seems to work as it should.

Answer

I received this error after only having it 2 weeks. We use reverse osmosis water only so it’s super filtered. I cleaned it through the cleaning cycle with white vinegar and it still had the error. I took out the white filter and put a new one in. Voila, it’s making ice again. It seemed to be the white filter already. The filter is supposed to last 3 months but I only got 2 weeks out of it. I think works needs to be done on this issue. This machine is awesome but super sensitive. One other thing I noticed is it started the get a rattle in it and got loud. Now I wonder if the rattle was from it not getting the water the way it needed to?

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Not making any noise ce

Russ · Answer

I ended up taking the back cover off and completely draining both clear water lines as well as "tapping" on the water pump with a screwdriver. I performed the additional  steps in the other comments and my Opal starting "making ice" again. I clean my unit regularly each month with vinegar as recommended, but this seems like a lot of time and effort for such a little machine.  At least I know what to do now if and when it happens again in the future and the wife will be "happy" once she gets home from work as she has become addicted to this ice machine.

Answer

How to put in Clean Mode

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We had this problem . The problem is that the tubes inside the unit get blocked by calcium deposits.  The water pump cannot pull water in fast enough to keep the inner tank full. 
This  small tank inside the unit that has the water level sensor.  This tank is filled by the pump and then moves into the chiller unit.   We had to disassemble the outer panels and clean the tubes . Cleaning solutions did not work.

Mike · Answer

I was having this same issue but once I took the drawer out and pushed it back in it stopped doing it. Maybe I was just lucky.

“Keeps saying add water”

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