Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Donaldson Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair service in Texas, including services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the best inventions ever. This is a little luxury many people take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of complicated parts that could go wrong with them.

As with any appliance repair, there are basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if necessary, you can replace your 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 breaking.

When the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice cubes it is usually means there is a mechanical failure vs. an electrical problem. This happens when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you might accidentally push or pull the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker might get jammed with something else, even another piece of ice. First, check to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from working properly.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, ensure the ice maker is on. This is done by flipping the control arm down. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer unit might put the control in the off position. If the control arm is free, then there may be something stuck inside the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, this might be an electrical or mechanical issue. This will need a bit more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we need to inspect the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from behind the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, first unplug the fridge and move from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s actually plugged in properly.

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

Once this is done, restore power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is completely full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you’ve solved the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that will cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is a pretty simple problem to fix.

Unplug the fridge and find the shut off valve. Shut the water off and grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the refrigerator sit shut off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

Some brands and 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 iced line.

If your ice maker is not making big enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover off and locate a basic dial that has plus and a minus symbols. For this process, you may need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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