Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Wells Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Fremont, including services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the greatest inventions of all time. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people certainly take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of complex parts that will go wrong with them.

Like with any repair, there are some basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s discuss a few of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

When an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting it it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue opposed to an electrical issue. This happens when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you could accidentally jam the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can get jammed with something, even another chunk of ice. First, check to see if there’s ice or food blocking this part from operating the right way.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This can be done by moving the control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer might put the switch into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there might be food jammed 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 is not dispensing it, there might be a mechanical or electrical problem. This will require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the rear of the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To check this, unplug the freezer and pull it out from the wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the valve on the back of the inside of the freezer unit. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in properly.

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

Once this is done, restore power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component 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 solved the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

First, unplug the refrigerator and find the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and grab a hair dryer to warm the water line or let the refrigerator sit shut off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

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

When your ice maker isn’t making big enough pieces of ice, there’s an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover off and locate a simple dial that has plus and a minus symbols. 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?