Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Apex Joliet Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Joliet, including services to fix ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the best inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury most people certainly not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of components that will go wrong with them.

Like with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, dependent on the model. First, let’s review some of the causes for an ice maker not working.

If the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice cubes it is usually a mechanical failure vs. an electrical failure. This happens when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you could accidentally shift the control lever up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker can get jammed with something, including a piece of ice. So, look to see if there is anything blocking this part from working properly.

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

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there is ice but it is not ejecting it, there could be a mechanical or electrical problem. This is going to need a bit more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To check this, first unplug the fridge and slide from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it’s plugged in correctly.

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

Once this is done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. After the mold is 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 any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines have been blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.

Unplug the freezer and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the water line or let the fridge sit shut off for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.

Some models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice over. For these situations, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced line.

If an ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there’s a problem with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a basic control that has plus and a minus symbols. For this process, 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?