Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Gold Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in New Orleans, including services to repair ice makers that are not working. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Ice makers are possibly one of the greatest inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury a lot of people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not feature a lot of complicated parts that might go wrong with them.

Like with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s discuss a few of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

When the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually a mechanical failure vs. an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting things around in the freezer, you could accidentally shift the control arm up or down. Most of the time the ice maker can be jammed with something, possibly a chunk of ice. So, check to see if there’s anything blocking this part from working properly.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by flipping the control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer can put it into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there may be something stuck inside of the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the switch is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, there could be an electrical or mechanical issue. This will require a bit more diagnosing. Ready to begin? First, we need to check the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from behind the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the freezer contents.

To inspect this, first unplug the freezer and move it out away from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. 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 correctly.

Next, remove all of the ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be done by pouring in a bit of water to help to get any ice that is in there out.

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

Check for Frozen Lines

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

First, unplug the freezer and find the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the refrigerator 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 clog or ice up. For these cases, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen water line.

If an ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a standard knob that displays plus and a minus signs. 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?