Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Shoreline Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in Orange County, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Ice makers are perhaps one of the most convenient inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people certainly not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of components that will go wrong with them.

Like with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if necessary, you are able to replace your ice maker without replacing the entire fridge, depending on the model. First, let’s take a look at some of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

If an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice cubes it is usually means there’s a mechanical problem vs. an electrical problem. This occurs when moving food around in the freezer, you could accidentally jam the control lever up or down. Most of the time the ice maker will be blocked with something, possibly a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from working properly.

Before starting the steps of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is turned on. This is done by pulling the control arm down. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer may put it into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there could be something stuck inside the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not ejecting it, this might be an electrical or mechanical failure. This is going to require a bit more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we have to inspect the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To inspect this, first unplug the freezer and slide away from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the water supply. Locate the connection 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 the right way.

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

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

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker failures that could cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy fix.

Unplug the freezer and find the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or let the fridge sit turned off for a few hours until the water line is thawed.

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

If your ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes 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 find a standard control that displays plus and a minus symbols. For this process, you might need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

• Refrigerator Noisy
• Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working
• Refrigerator Not Cooling
• How Does a Refrigerator Work?