Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Valor Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair service, including services to fix ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the best inventions of all time. An ice maker is a small luxury most people certainly not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that do not feature a lot of complicated parts that might cause issues.

Like with any appliance repair, there are basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace the ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s review some of the causes for an ice maker failure.

If your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice cubes it is usually means there’s a mechanical failure opposed to an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing food around in the freezer unit, you could jam the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker might get blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. So, check to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from working the right way.

Before starting the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that the ice maker is on. This can be done by pulling the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer unit may put it in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there might 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 is ice but it is not dispensing it, there could be an electrical or mechanical problem. This will require some more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must check the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from the back of the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To check this, unplug the freezer and slide it out from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer unit. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in correctly.

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

Once done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is 100% full, wait around 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker failures that might cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen water lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple problem to fix.

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

Some brands and models that have 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 water 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 find a simple knob that has plus and a minus symbols. 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?