Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Wright Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair service in Alabama, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker issues below:

Refrigerator ice makers are perhaps one of the greatest inventions of all time. An ice maker is a small luxury a lot of people certainly take for granted. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated components that will have problems.

As with any appliance repair, there are basic things that should be looked at before assuming the worst. And, it’s good to know, if needed, you are able to replace your ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, dependent on the model. First, let’s review some of the causes for an ice maker failure.

If your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice cubes it is usually means there’s a mechanical issue vs. an electrical issue. This can occur when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you could shift the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker will be jammed with something, including a chunk of ice. So, look to see if there’s ice or food blocking this part from working correctly.

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

Check the Control Arm

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

To check this, first unplug the fridge and move it out from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it’s plugged in correctly.

After that, remove all of the 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 in there out.

Once this is done, restore power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. After 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 could cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.

Unplug the freezer and locate the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the water line or just let the fridge sit without being on for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

There are some models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice over. In these situations, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.

If an ice maker is not making large 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 of the ice maker off and locate a simple dial that has plus and a minus signs. To do this, 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?