Why is My Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working?

Midwest Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair service in Minnesota, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:

Refrigerator ice makers are one of the best inventions of all time. An ice maker is a little luxury most people might take for granted. Ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of complex parts that might cause issues.

As with any repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, depending on the model. First, let’s discuss some of the reasons for an ice maker failure.

When your ice maker is making ice but it is not dispensing the ice cubes it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical failure. This can happen when moving things around in the freezer, you jam the control arm up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker might get jammed with something else, possibly a piece of ice. First, look to see if there’s anything blocking this from operating the right way.

Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This can be done by pulling the control arm down. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer might put it into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there may be food or ice jammed inside the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.

Check the Control Arm

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

To check this, first unplug the refrigerator and slide it out 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 connects the ice maker into the freezer unit. Ensure that it’s actually plugged in correctly.

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

Once done, 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 engage and fill the mold. When the mold is full, wait around 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve solved the issue.

Check for Frozen Lines

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

Unplug the fridge and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then 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 brands and models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice over. For these situations, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the iced line.

When an ice maker isn’t making big enough pieces 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 off and find a simple knob 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?