Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Quality Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Quincy, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are perhaps one of the greatest inventions of all time. This is a small luxury many people certainly not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of parts that could have problems.

Like with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that need to 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 model. First, let’s discuss a few of the causes for an ice maker failure.

If the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually a mechanical issue opposed to an electrical problem. This happens when shifting things around in the freezer unit, you might shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can be jammed with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. So, look to see if there’s ice or food blocking this from operating properly.

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

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, there could be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to need a bit more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from behind the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, 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. Be sure that it is actually plugged in properly.

After that, remove any ice that’s in the ice maker. This can be completed by adding a bit of water to help get the ice that’s inside of there out.

Once complete, turn on the power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you have cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker issues that might cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is an easy fix.

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

There are some models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice up. For these situations, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced water line.

When an ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a simple 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?