Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Stone Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in CITY, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated parts that can go wrong with them.

As with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the model. First, let’s discuss a couple of the reasons for an ice maker not working.

If your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually a mechanical problem versus an electrical failure. This can occur when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you might accidentally shift the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker can be jammed with something else, including a piece of ice. So, check to see if there’s ice or food blocking this from working the right way.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This can be done by moving the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer can put the switch into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there could be something jammed inside the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the control arm is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, there could be an electrical or mechanical issue. This will need some more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, first unplug the freezer and pull it out away from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s plugged in correctly.

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

Once complete, turn on the power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker failures that may cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines have been blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple problem to fix.

Unplug the refrigerator and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or let the freezer sit turned off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

There are some brands and models that have a water filter that can clog or ice over. In these situations, locating the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen line.

When an ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a simple control that has plus and a minus symbols. 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?