Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

L&G San Diego Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in San Diego, including professional services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the greatest inventions ever. An ice maker is a small luxury many people certainly take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not feature a lot of complicated parts that will go wrong with them.

As with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that need to be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, it’s good to know, if necessary, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at some of the causes for an ice maker failure.

If your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting it it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you could accidentally shift the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker might get blocked with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there is ice or food blocking this from working properly.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the metal control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer can put the switch into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there might be food stuck inside of the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the control arm is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, this might be a mechanical or electrical problem. This is going to need a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from behind the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the freezer contents.

To inspect this, unplug the fridge and move it out from the wall. Turn off the water supply. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it is actually plugged in the right way.

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

Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It might 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 have cleared the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

Unplug the fridge and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the refrigerator sit without being on for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.

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

When an ice maker is not making big enough pieces of ice, there is a problem with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover off and locate a simple dial that has plus and a minus symbols. 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?