Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Yates Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair service, including professional services to repair ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker issues below:

Ice makers are one of the best inventions of all time. An ice maker is a small luxury many people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated parts that will cause problems.

Like with any repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing the entire fridge, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s review a couple of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.

When your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice cubes it is usually a mechanical problem vs. an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting things around in the freezer, you could jam the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker will get blocked with something else, including a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there is something blocking this from operating the right way.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is turned on. This is done by moving the control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer can put it in the off position. If the control arm is free, then there might be something jammed inside the ice maker or it is not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the switch is down and there is ice but it is not dispensing it, this could be an electrical or mechanical issue. This will require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the back of the freezer when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

To check this, first unplug the fridge and slide it out away from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the valve on the back of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it’s plugged in properly.

Next, remove all of the ice that is in the ice maker itself. This can be completed by pouring in a little water to help get ice that is inside of there out.

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

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker issues that could cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy issue to fix.

Unplug the refrigerator and find the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then grab a hair dryer to warm the water line or let the freezer sit shut off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

Some brands and models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice up. In these cases, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen line.

If your ice maker isn’t making big enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a basic dial that has plus and a minus signs. To do this, 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?