Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Gray Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair service in Missouri, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are perhaps one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of complex parts that might go wrong with them.

As with any appliance repair, there are basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, it’s good to know, if needed, you are able to replace your ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the model. First, let’s review some of the reasons for an ice maker not working.

If your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical problem versus an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting food around in the freezer, you could push or pull the control switch up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker can be jammed with something else, including a piece of ice. First, check to see if there is ice or food blocking this from operating correctly.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is on. This is done by flipping the control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit might put the switch in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there may be food or ice 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 failure. This will need some more troubleshooting. Ready to get started? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the back of the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To check this, first unplug the fridge and pull it out away from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the water supply. Locate the connection on the back 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 the right way.

After that, remove all of the ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be done by adding a bit of water to help get the 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 react and fill the mold. When the mold is completely full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you have cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

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

Some models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice over. In these cases, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen line.

If your ice maker is not making big enough cubes of ice, there is a problem with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a simple control that displays plus and a minus symbols. To do this, 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?