Why does my ice dispenser act up in summer?

[Agrajag]

I have an Amana refrigerator that has served us well for about 10 years now (a couple bumps but nothing big).

However, the one annoyance is that every summer getting ice out of the automatic ice dispenser is a trial in patience. The area inside the door by the chute ices over here and there and gets worse if I don't clear it away and the dispenser often just churns and churns and churns before ice comes piling out.

In other months of the year none of this happens.

What causes this and can it be "fixed"?

[JWWebster]

Might be your flap ain't closing tight allowing air to penetrate and melt cubes in the bucket.
In summer the air is warm enough in the kitchen to melt the ice during the defrost operation then when the ice box gets back under way the melted ice gets welded back together.

[Agrajag]

Is this "common"? It's been doing it every year I've had the box. There's always lots of "powder" during this time too as the wheels grind out the ice.

[shieldcracker]

Like JW said make sure you have the chute flapper sealing tightly, but also check the door gasket and transfer vents to the refrigerator.

That powder you see is frost taken out of the air that is leaking in to the box. During summer the air can hold more moisture than during the other seasons simply because it  has a much higher temperature there fore the propensity to get this powder during summer.

[MajorApp]

 pro-pen-si-ty: an often intense natural inclination or preference. Thanks, I learned a new word today.

[schaffersapplian]