Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Triumph Appliance Repair of Troy provides refrigerator repair in Troy, including services to fix ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the greatest inventions of all time. This is a little luxury many people not appreciate. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not feature a lot of complex components that will go wrong with them.

As with any repair, there are a few basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace the ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a couple of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

If the ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually means there is a mechanical problem versus an electrical problem. This can happen when moving food around in the freezer unit, you could push or pull the control arm up or down. Most of the time the ice maker might get jammed with something else, including a piece of ice. So, check to see if there’s ice or food blocking this from operating correctly.

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

Check the Control Arm

If the control is down and there’s ice but it’s not ejecting it, this could be an electrical or mechanical problem. This is going to require some more diagnosing. Ready to proceed? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from behind the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, unplug the fridge and pull from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s plugged in correctly.

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

Once done, restore power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a few seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you’ve solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that could cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy issue to fix.

First, unplug the freezer and locate the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and grab a hair dryer to warm the line or just let the refrigerator sit shut off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

Some models that have a water filter that can clog or ice up. For these cases, locating the water filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the iced line.

When an ice maker isn’t making large enough cubes of ice, there’s a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a basic knob that has 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?