Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Boulder Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Boulder, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the most convenient inventions of all time. This is a little luxury a lot of people not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not have a lot of parts that can go wrong with them.

As with any repair, there are a few basic things that need to be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at some of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.

If the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical issue. This occurs when moving things around in the freezer unit, you could shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can be blocked with something, even another piece of ice. First, look to see if there’s anything blocking this part from operating the right way.

Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This is done by flipping the control arm down. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer may put it into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there could be ice stuck inside of the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

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

To check this, unplug the refrigerator and slide from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in the right way.

Then, remove any ice that’s inside of the ice maker itself. This can be done by pouring in a small amount of water to help to get any ice that’s in there out.

Once this is done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the problem.

Check for Frozen Lines

Other ice maker problems that may cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.

Unplug the refrigerator and locate the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and then get a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the fridge sit shut off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.

Some models that have a water filter that can clog or ice over. For these situations, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced line.

When your ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there is a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a simple knob that has plus and a minus signs. For this process, 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?