Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

One Pro Appliance Repairs offers refrigerator repair in Elizabeth, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Ice makers are possibly one of the best inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury many people take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of components that will go wrong with them.

As with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a couple of the causes for an ice maker failure.

When an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue opposed to an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing food around in the freezer, you could accidentally shift the control lever up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker might get blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. First, look to see if there is anything blocking this part from operating properly.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is on. This is done by flipping the metal control arm down. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer may put it into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there might be something stuck inside the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, this could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This will need some more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

To inspect this, first unplug the refrigerator and move it out from the kitchen wall. Turn off the water supply. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s plugged in the right way.

Next, remove all of the ice that’s inside of the ice maker. This can be completed by pouring in a bit of water to help get ice that is inside of there out.

Once complete, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is completely full, wait around 4-5 hours or so to see if you have cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker failures that might cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.

Unplug the fridge and find the shut off valve. Shut the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the fridge sit without being on for a couple of hours and wait until the water line is thawed.

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

When an ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there’s an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a basic control that displays plus and a minus signs. For this process, you may need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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