Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Pierce Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in CITY, including professional services to fix ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions ever. This is a small luxury a lot of people certainly take for granted. Ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of complex components that will have issues.

As with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that need to be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, it’s good to know, if needed, you are able to replace the ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s discuss some of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

If an ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical failure vs. an electrical problem. This occurs when moving food around in the freezer, you might shift the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker will be blocked with something else, even another chunk of ice. First, check to see if there is something blocking this from operating the right way.

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

Check the Control Arm

When the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, there could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This is going to require some more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from behind the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, unplug the refrigerator and move from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

Next, remove all of the ice that is inside of the ice maker. This can be done by adding a small amount of water to help to get ice that is in there out.

Once done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. Once 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 failures that will cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.

First, unplug the refrigerator and locate the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the fridge sit without being on for a couple of hours until the line is thawed.

There are some brands and models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice up. In these situations, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced water line.

If your ice maker isn’t making big enough pieces of ice, there is an issue 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 knob that displays plus and a minus symbols. To do this, you could need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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