Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Esteem Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair service, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions ever. This 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 parts that will have issues.

Like with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that should be looked at before thinking the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s review a few of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.

If the ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice cubes it is usually means there is a mechanical problem opposed to an electrical failure. This happens when moving things around in the freezer, you could jam the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker will be blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. So, look to see if there’s anything blocking this from operating correctly.

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

Check the Control Arm

If the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not ejecting it, there might be an electrical or mechanical failure. This is going to need some more diagnosing. Ready to proceed? First, we have to check the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the back of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.

To check this, first unplug the freezer and move it out from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer unit. Ensure that it is plugged in correctly.

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

Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a few seconds to react and fill the mold. When the mold is completely full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that might cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be 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 warm the line or let the fridge sit turned off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

There are some models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice over. In these situations, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced line.

If your ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there is a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover off and find a basic knob that has 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?