Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Anytime Arlington Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Arlington, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Ice makers are one of the best inventions of all time. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people certainly not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of complicated parts that will cause problems.

Like with any repair, there are basic things that need to be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if necessary, you can replace an ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the model. First, let’s review some of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.

If your ice maker is making ice but it is not dispensing the ice it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue opposed to an electrical failure. This can happen when reorganizing food around in the freezer, you could accidentally push or pull the control lever up or down. Most of the time the ice maker might get blocked with something else, including a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there’s something blocking this from working properly.

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

Check the Control Arm

If the control is down and there’s ice but it is not ejecting it, this could be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to require a bit more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we have to check the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the rear of the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the freezer contents.

To inspect this, first unplug the fridge and slide from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in correctly.

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

Once complete, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker failures that may cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen lines. The water lines could be clogged with frost. This is an easy fix.

Unplug the refrigerator and locate the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the water line or just let the refrigerator sit turned off for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.

Some brands and models that have a water filter that can clog or ice over. For these cases, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen line.

If an ice maker is not making large enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a simple dial that has plus and a minus signs. To do this, 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?