Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

St. Petersburg Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in St. Petersburg, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:

Ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t feature a lot of complicated components that might cause issues.

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 the entire fridge, dependent on the model. First, let’s discuss a couple of the causes for an ice maker failure.

If an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually a mechanical problem opposed to an electrical problem. This occurs when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you could accidentally jam the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker will be blocked with something, possibly a piece of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from working correctly.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This can be done by flipping the control arm down. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit can put it into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there could be ice jammed 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’s not dispensing it, there could be an electrical or mechanical issue. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the rear of the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

To check this, first unplug the refrigerator and pull it out away from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

Next, remove all of the ice that is in the ice maker. This can be completed by pouring in a bit of water to help get ice that is in there out.

Once this is done, restore power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is completely full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you have solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

Unplug the fridge and find the shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the freezer sit without being on 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, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen line.

When an ice maker is not making large enough pieces of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a standard knob 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?