Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

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

Ice makers are perhaps one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of complex parts that could go wrong with them.

As with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if necessary, you are able to replace your ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s discuss some of the reasons 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 problem vs. an electrical failure. This can happen when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you could accidentally push or pull the control lever up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker will be jammed with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there’s something blocking this from operating properly.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This is done by flipping the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer unit can put the control in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there might be something stuck 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 ejecting it, there might be a mechanical or electrical failure. This will require a bit more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To check this, unplug the refrigerator and slide it out away from the 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. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in properly.

Next, remove all of the ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be accomplished by adding a small amount of water to help to get the ice that’s inside of there out.

Once done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you have cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

First, unplug the refrigerator and find the shut off valve. Shut the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or let the freezer sit turned off for a few hours and wait until the water line is thawed.

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

If an ice maker is not making big enough pieces of ice, there is a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a standard control 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?