Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Heritage Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair service in CITY, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are perhaps one of the best inventions of all time. This is a little luxury a lot of people certainly take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of complicated parts that could have issues.

Like with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that need to be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace an ice maker without replacing the entire fridge, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a few of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.

If an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice cubes it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue versus an electrical issue. This can occur when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you shift the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker will get jammed with something, including a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there is ice or food blocking this from operating properly.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is on. This is done by moving the metal control arm down. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer can put it into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there may be food or ice stuck inside the ice maker or it is not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the control is down and there is ice but it’s not dispensing it, there might be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to need some more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the back of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.

To check this, unplug the freezer and slide it out from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

After that, remove any ice that is in the ice maker. This can be accomplished by adding a small amount of water to help to get any ice that’s inside of there out.

Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that can cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.

Unplug the fridge and find the shut off valve. Shut the water off and then get a hair dryer to warm the water line or just let the refrigerator sit shut off for a few hours and wait until the line is thawed.

Some brands and models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice over. For these situations, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen line.

When your ice maker isn’t making large enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover off and find a simple control that has plus and a minus signs. To do this, you might need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

• Refrigerator Noisy
• Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working
• Refrigerator Not Cooling
• How Does a Refrigerator Work?