Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Ideal Edison Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Edison, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions ever. This is a little luxury a lot of people take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated parts that can have problems.

As with any appliance repair, there are basic things that should be looked at before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s discuss some of the reasons for an ice maker not working.

If an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting it it is usually means there is a mechanical problem opposed to an electrical issue. This can happen when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you could accidentally jam the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can get blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. First, check to see if there’s ice or food blocking this from operating the right way.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, ensure the ice maker is on. This is done by flipping the control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer might put it into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there could 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, there could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This will need a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we need to check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, unplug the refrigerator and slide it out away from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it is plugged in correctly.

Then, remove any ice that is inside of the ice maker itself. This can be done by adding a bit of water to help get the ice that is in there out.

Once complete, 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 solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker failures that can cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen lines. The water lines have been clogged with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.

First, unplug the freezer and locate the shut off valve. Shut the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or let the refrigerator sit without being on for a couple of 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 situations, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.

When an ice maker is not making large enough cubes of ice, there’s a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a basic dial that has plus and a minus signs. To do this, 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?