Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Finest Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Garland, including professional services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people certainly take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t feature a lot of parts that can go wrong with them.

Like with any repair, there are basic things that should be looked at before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you are able to replace the ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, depending on the model. First, let’s review some of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.

When an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice cubes it is usually means there is a mechanical problem vs. an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing things around in the freezer unit, you jam the control arm up or down. Most of the time the ice maker can be jammed with something, possibly a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from working properly.

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

Check the Control Arm

If the control arm is down and there’s ice but it’s not ejecting it, there might be a mechanical or electrical problem. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we must check the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from behind the freezer when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

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

Then, remove all of the ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be accomplished by adding a bit of water to help to get the ice that’s in there out.

Once complete, restore power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is 100% full, wait around 4-5 hours or so to see if you have cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that might cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen lines. The water lines have been blocked with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.

First, unplug the refrigerator and locate the shut off valve. Shut the water off and then get a hair dryer to heat up the line or let the refrigerator sit shut off for a few 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, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen line.

When your ice maker is not making large enough pieces of ice, there’s an issue 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 find a basic control that displays plus and a minus symbols. For this process, 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?