Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Hayward Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Hayward, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the greatest inventions of all time. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people might not appreciate. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of complicated components that can go wrong with them.

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

If the ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually means there’s a mechanical problem vs. an electrical failure. This can happen when reorganizing food around in the freezer unit, you jam the control switch up or down. Most of the time the ice maker can get blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from operating properly.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is on. This is done by flipping the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer unit might put the control into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there could be food or ice jammed inside of the ice maker or it is not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

If the control is down and there is ice but it’s not dispensing it, this could be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to need a bit more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from behind the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.

To check this, unplug the freezer and pull away from the wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s actually plugged in correctly.

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

Once this is done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker failures that may cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen lines. The water lines have been clogged with frost. This is an easy fix.

First, unplug the fridge and locate the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and then get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the fridge sit shut off for a few hours until the line is thawed.

There are some models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice up. For these cases, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the iced water line.

When an ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there’s an issue 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 basic knob that displays plus and a minus signs. To do this, you could need a flat head screwdriver.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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