Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Eastvale Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Eastvale, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the best inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury many people not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of complex components that could cause issues.

Like with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if necessary, you are able to replace the ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s review a few of the causes for an ice maker not working.

When an ice maker is making ice but it is not dispensing the ice it is usually a mechanical failure vs. an electrical problem. This can happen when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you might push or pull the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker might get blocked with something, possibly a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there is anything blocking this from working correctly.

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

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, this could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This is going to require some more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the back of the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To check this, unplug the freezer and move from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the water supply. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

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

Once this is done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker problems that could cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.

First, unplug the fridge and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the fridge sit turned off for a few hours and wait until the line is thawed.

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

If your ice maker is not making large enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover off and locate a basic control that has plus and a minus symbols. For this process, you may need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

• Refrigerator Noisy
• Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working
• Refrigerator Not Cooling
• How Does a Refrigerator Work?