Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Hale Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair service in CITY, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the greatest inventions ever. This is a small luxury many people might take for granted. Ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of complicated parts that could have problems.

As with any repair, there are basic things that need to be looked at before assuming the worst. And, it’s good to know, if necessary, you are able to replace the ice maker without replacing the entire fridge, dependent on the model. First, let’s review a couple of the causes for an ice maker failure.

If your ice maker is making ice but it is not dispensing it it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue vs. an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting things around in the freezer unit, you could accidentally shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker will get blocked with something, even another piece of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this from working properly.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is on. This is done by moving the control arm down. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer can put the control in the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there might be ice stuck inside the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

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

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

Next, remove any ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be accomplished by adding a small amount of water to help get the ice that’s inside of there out.

Once this is done, turn on the power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a few seconds to react and fill the mold. After the mold is completely full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker problems that will cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen lines. The water lines have been blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple problem to fix.

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

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

If your ice maker is not making big enough pieces of ice, there is a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover off and find a standard dial that displays plus and a minus symbols. 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?