Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Allen Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in South Dakota, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the best inventions ever. This is a small luxury a lot of people might take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not have a lot of complex components that might go wrong with them.

As with any repair, there are basic things that should be looked at before assuming the worst. And, it’s good to know, if necessary, you are able to replace the ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the model. First, let’s take a look at a couple of the causes for an ice maker not working.

When your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice it is usually a mechanical problem opposed to an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you might jam the control arm up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker will be blocked with something, including a piece of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this from working properly.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the metal control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit might put the control in the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there may be food or ice stuck inside of the ice maker or it is not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the control is down and there’s ice but it’s not ejecting it, this might be an electrical or mechanical problem. This is going to need a bit more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we have to check 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 refrigerator and pull it out away from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

After that, remove any ice that’s inside of the ice maker. This can be done by adding a little water to help to get ice that’s inside of there out.

Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is completely full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve solved the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker failures that will cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines have been blocked with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.

First, unplug the refrigerator and locate the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or let the freezer sit without being on for a couple of hours until the line is thawed.

There are some models that have a water filter that can clog or ice up. In these situations, locating the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.

If your ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there is a problem with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover off and locate a simple dial that displays plus and a minus signs. 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?