Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Remedy Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in Central California, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:

Ice makers are perhaps one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury most people certainly take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not feature a lot of complex parts that could go wrong with them.

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

When the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually a mechanical issue versus an electrical problem. This happens when reorganizing food around in the freezer unit, you might shift the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker can get blocked with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. So, check to see if there is anything blocking this from working the right way.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This is done by flipping the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer unit may put the control in the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there might be food or ice jammed inside of the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there is ice but it is not dispensing it, this might be a mechanical or electrical failure. This will need a bit more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.

To check this, unplug the freezer and slide away from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer unit. Ensure that it’s plugged in correctly.

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

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

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker problems that might cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.

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

Some brands and models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice up. For these cases, locating the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.

When an ice maker is not making large enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover off and locate a basic knob that displays plus and a minus signs. To do this, you could need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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