Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

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

Ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions of all time. This is a little luxury many people take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not have a lot of complex parts that might go wrong with them.

As with any repair, there are basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s discuss a couple of the causes for an ice maker not working.

When your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting it it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue versus an electrical problem. This can happen when shifting food around in the freezer, you might jam the control switch up or down. Most of the time the ice maker can get jammed with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there’s something blocking this from operating properly.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is turned on. This is done by moving the control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer may put it in the off position. If the control arm is free, then there may be something stuck inside the ice maker or it is not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the switch is down and there is ice but it’s not dispensing it, this could be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to need some more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we need to inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the back of the freezer when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

To check this, first unplug the refrigerator and pull it out from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer unit. Ensure that it is plugged in the right way.

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

Once done, restore power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is completely full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you have solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker failures that can cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is an easy fix.

Unplug the refrigerator and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and grab a hair dryer to warm the water line or just let the freezer sit turned off for a few hours and wait until the line is thawed.

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

When an ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there’s an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a standard dial that displays 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?