Lee’s Summit Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Lee’s Summit, including services to fix ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:
Ice makers are perhaps one of the best inventions of all time. An ice maker is a little luxury many people not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of parts that will go wrong with them.
As with any repair, there are basic things that need to be looked at before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace your ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the model. First, let’s discuss a couple of the reasons for an ice maker not working.
When the ice maker is making ice but it is not dispensing it it is usually a mechanical problem vs. an electrical failure. This occurs when moving things around in the freezer unit, you could shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can get blocked with something else, even another chunk of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this from working the right way.
Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is on. This is done by moving the control arm down. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer can put the switch into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there may be food jammed inside of the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
If the control is down and there’s ice but it is not ejecting it, there could be a mechanical or electrical issue. This is going to require a bit more diagnosing. Ready to proceed? First, we need to inspect the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.
To inspect this, unplug the refrigerator and pull it out away from the wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it is actually plugged in properly.
Then, remove all of the ice that is in the ice maker. This can be done by adding a small amount of water to help get any ice that is inside of there out.
Once complete, restore power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. After 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 any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines have been blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.
First, unplug the freezer and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the refrigerator sit turned off for a few hours and wait until the line is thawed.
There are some models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice up. For these cases, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced line.
When an ice maker is not making large enough pieces 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 find a basic dial that displays plus and a minus signs. To do this, 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?