Why is My Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working?

Is the water dispenser on your refrigerator broken? If not, you can attempt to repair the issue on your own or call Esteem Appliance Repair for professional refrigerator repair.

There are a lot of reasons for the water dispenser in a refrigerator to stop working. Again, some of the suggestions could sound a little strange. However, something as obvious as a power switch has been the reason before. Be sure to inspect the obvious potential issues prior to moving forward with refrigerator repair. Let’s start to tackle this appliance repair problem and see what reasons we can cite for a broken water dispenser on a refrigerator.

The reason for a broken water dispenser is typically an installation error, a filter problem or frozen water tubes:

Refrigerator Installation Issues

You just purchased a new refrigerator with a water dispenser, but it is not dispensing water. The water dispenser has to be hooked up to the water line. That might be the reason for the issue.

If the brand new refrigerator is replacing an older refrigerator that didn’t have a water dispenser or ice maker, there’s a possibility that you don’t have a water line running to this area of the kitchen. A water line is commonly run from under a home either in a basement or crawl space. You can get this type of water line at nearly any hardware store and they’re pretty easy for the typical homeowner to install. Usually they have a a water shut-off valve, which is necessary so that if you need to relocate the refrigerator, you can shut off the water.

If there’s a water line, is the valve turned on? The valve handle must be lined up with the hose. And, is water running through the pipe you have installed to connect the water line? Obvious and questions, but items that need to be accounted for.

If you had to remove the refrigerator doors during installation the water dispenser might not be plugged in. Check the owner’s manual to find the wire harness for the particular refrigerator. Be sure that it is plugged into the refrigerator.

When the water line is connected, usually there is air in the water line. So, lifting and lowering the water dispenser lever on the refrigerator to get the air out is needed.
Filter Problems

On some household refrigerators, there are different filters. These filters might “expire”, clog or get frozen. All filters are based on the style and type of refrigerator. If the filter is clogged it might cause slow filling or no flowing period. It’s recommended that your filter is changed every 6 months. Replacing filters in a refrigerator can be hard sometimes. If you run into issues, go online or call us and find the right process to change a filter.

One recommendation is to fill up the filter with water before installation. A lot of time the water filters need a long time to fill, which might cause you to assume the water dispenser on the refrigerator isn’t working. You should read the directions if nothing is working. To ensure it is not air caught in the water lines, we recommend to depress the dispenser lever for about 5 minutes.

A frozen water tank could be the source of the problem as well in some models. If the tank is frozen it will leak onto the fresh food bins. Low amounts of food in the fresh food bins will cause freezing.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

• Refrigerator Not Cooling
• Refrigerator Noisy
• Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working
• How Does a Refrigerator Work?