Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

broken refrigerator ice maker

Greeley Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Greeley, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions ever. This is a small luxury many people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of complicated components that might go wrong with them.

As with any repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a few of the causes for an ice maker not working.

When the ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical failure. This can happen when moving food around in the freezer, you might accidentally shift the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker will be blocked with something else, including a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there is something blocking this from operating properly.

Before starting the steps of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This is done by moving the control arm down. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer unit might put it in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there may be food stuck inside the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, there might be an electrical or mechanical problem. This will need a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we need to check the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the rear of the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

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

After that, remove any ice that is inside of the ice maker itself. This can be done by adding a bit of water to help get the ice that is inside of there out.

Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is completely full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that might cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines could be clogged with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.

First, unplug the refrigerator and find the shut off valve. Shut the water off and then get a hair dryer to heat up the line or let the fridge sit shut off for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.

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

If your ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there’s an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a basic knob that displays 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?