Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Elroy Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair service in Tennessee, including services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the best inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury most people not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated components that will go wrong with them.

Like with any appliance repair, there are a few basic things that should be looked at before thinking the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s review a couple of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

When the ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting it it is usually a mechanical problem versus an electrical failure. This can occur when moving food around in the freezer unit, you accidentally shift the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker can be jammed with something, possibly a piece of ice. So, check to see if there is anything blocking this from working correctly.

Before starting the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that the ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer might put the switch into the off position. If the the switch is clear, then there could be something stuck inside of the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

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

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

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

Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid component a few seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you have cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker problems that may cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.

Unplug the fridge and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the fridge sit turned off for a few hours and wait until the water line is thawed.

There are some models that have a water filter that can clog or ice over. For these cases, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen line.

If your ice maker is not making large enough pieces of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a standard 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?