Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

A&L Corona Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Corona, including professional services to repair ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever. An ice maker is a little 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 have issues.

As with any repair, there are a few basic things that should be looked at before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you are able to replace the ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s review a couple of the causes for an ice maker failure.

When your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue versus an electrical failure. This happens when reorganizing food around in the freezer unit, you might shift the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker can be blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. So, look to see if there is something blocking this part from working properly.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This is done by pulling the control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit may put it into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there may be food jammed inside the ice maker or it is not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the switch is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, this might be an electrical or mechanical issue. This will require some more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we have to inspect the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the back of the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

To check this, first unplug the fridge and move away from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s plugged in correctly.

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

Once complete, turn on the 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. When the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours or so 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 lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy fix.

Unplug the fridge and find the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then grab a hair dryer to warm the line or let the freezer sit shut off for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.

There are some brands and models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice over. For these cases, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the iced water line.

When your ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there’s an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover off and find a basic control that displays plus and a minus symbols. 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?