Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Prime Parma Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Parma, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Ice makers are possibly one of the most convenient inventions of all time. This is a little luxury many people certainly not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of complicated parts that might go wrong with them.

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

If an ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting it it is usually a mechanical failure opposed to an electrical failure. This happens when moving things around in the freezer unit, you could accidentally shift the control lever up or down. Most of the time the ice maker will be jammed with something else, possibly a piece of ice. First, check to see if there is something blocking this part from operating properly.

Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the metal control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer can put it in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there could be ice jammed inside the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

When the control is down and there is ice but it is not ejecting it, this could be an electrical or mechanical problem. This is going to need a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we have to inspect the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.

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

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

Once complete, turn on the power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is completely full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you’ve solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

More ice maker issues that may cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is a pretty simple problem to fix.

First, unplug the refrigerator and find the shut off valve. Shut the water off and get a hair dryer to heat up the water line or let the refrigerator sit without being on for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.

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

If an ice maker is not making big enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover off and locate a basic control that has plus and a minus signs. For this process, 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?