Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Fast Fall River Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Fall River, including services to repair ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of complex components that can go wrong with them.

Like with any repair, there are basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you are able to replace your ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s discuss some of the causes for an ice maker failure.

When your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting it it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing food around in the freezer, you push or pull the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker will get jammed with something, possibly a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there’s something blocking this from working the right way.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, ensure the ice maker is on. This is done by pulling the metal control arm down. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer unit may put the control into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there may be ice jammed inside of the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there is ice but it is not ejecting it, this could be an electrical or mechanical problem. This will require some more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must inspect 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, unplug the fridge and move away from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

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

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

Check for Frozen Lines

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

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

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

If an ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there is a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a simple dial that displays plus and a minus symbols. To do this, 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?