Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Corona Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Corona, including services to fix ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people might take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of parts that can have issues.

As with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that need to be looked at before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if necessary, you can replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a few of the causes for an ice maker breaking.

If the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice it is usually means there is a mechanical issue versus an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting things around in the freezer, you might jam the control switch up or down. Most of the time the ice maker might get jammed with something else, even another chunk of ice. So, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this from operating the right way.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This can be done by flipping the metal control arm down. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer unit may put the switch into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there might be ice jammed inside the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the control is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, there could be an electrical or mechanical issue. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the rear of the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, first unplug the freezer and slide from the kitchen 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. Ensure that it’s plugged in properly.

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

Once this is done, restore power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a few seconds to react and fill the mold. When the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve solved the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker issues that can cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines have been clogged with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.

Unplug the freezer and locate the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and then get a hair dryer to heat up the line or let the freezer sit shut off for a few hours until the water line is thawed.

There are some models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice over. For these situations, locating 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’s a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a standard control 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?