Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

A&L Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Escondido, including professional services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are perhaps one of the most convenient inventions ever. This is a small luxury many people certainly take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not feature a lot of components that will go wrong with them.

Like with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that need to be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace the ice maker without replacing the entire fridge, dependent 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 isn’t dispensing the ice it is usually means there’s a mechanical failure vs. an electrical problem. This happens when shifting food around in the freezer, you might accidentally push or pull the control switch up or down. Most of the time the ice maker will be jammed with something, even another chunk of ice. So, check to see if there’s ice or food blocking this from working correctly.

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

Check the Control Arm

If the control arm is down and there’s ice but it is not ejecting it, this might be a mechanical or electrical problem. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we need to inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from behind the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

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

Then, remove all of the ice that’s inside of the ice maker. This can be accomplished by adding a little water to help get ice that is inside of there out.

Once this is done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

Unplug the fridge and locate the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the fridge sit without being on for a couple of hours until the line is thawed.

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

When your ice maker isn’t making large enough cubes of ice, there is 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 find a standard control that has plus and a minus signs. For this process, 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?