Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

United Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Hillsboro, including professional services to repair ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker issues below:

Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the best inventions of all time. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of parts that can go wrong with them.

Like with any repair, there are some basic things that should be looked at before assuming the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace your ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s take a look at a few of the causes for an ice maker breaking.

When an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting it it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical problem. This occurs when shifting things around in the freezer unit, you shift the control arm up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker will get jammed with something else, including a piece of ice. First, look to see if there is anything blocking this part from operating the right way.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit may put the switch into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there could be ice jammed inside of the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the control is down and there is ice but it is not ejecting it, this could be a mechanical or electrical failure. This will require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.

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

Then, remove any ice that’s inside of the ice maker. This can be completed by pouring in a small amount of water to help to get any ice that’s inside of there out.

Once this is done, restore power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. When the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

Unplug the refrigerator and locate the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and then get a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the fridge sit shut off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

Some brands and models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice over. In these situations, locating 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 big enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a standard control that has plus and a minus symbols. For this process, 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?