The Test Button Harvested Ice, but Automatic Harvest Never Started
The in-door ice maker froze cubes, ejected them during its manual test and refilled normally. A complete replacement ice maker did the same thing. The missing input was cold enough air at the ice compartment.
What the manual test proved
The harvest motor, tray movement and refill path could all operate during the test. That made another identical ice-maker replacement difficult to justify. Automatic harvest still depended on temperature and control conditions that the test button could override.
A similar symptom can have a different cause on another refrigerator. Door wiring, fan airflow, temperature sensing and the ice-maker mechanism can all interrupt harvest.
The decisive temperature observation
The compartment measured about 12–15°F. The technicians expected this design to harvest only when the sensed temperature was lower. The ice-maker fan ran and visible door wiring appeared intact, so attention moved upstream to the freezer's ability to deliver cold air.
Why the evaporator frost pattern mattered
A localized ice block formed at the evaporator inlet
That pattern supported uneven refrigerant feeding rather than a uniformly loaded evaporator.
The refrigerator had prior compressor work
The repair history increased the need to check charge, leak and sealed-system quality.
The ice box was too warm for normal harvest
Cubes could freeze slowly while the control still withheld automatic ejection.
What the source did not confirm
The technician added refrigerant and planned to check the next day. No later result was captured. The evidence supports insufficient ice-box cooling as the diagnosis, but does not prove whether the underlying cause was a leak, charge error or restriction.