Ace Alhambra Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Alhambra, including professional services to fix ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker issues below:
Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the best inventions of all time. This is a small luxury most people certainly not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t have a lot of components that could go wrong with them.
Like with any repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before assuming the worst. And, remember, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s review a few of the reasons for an ice maker not working.
If the ice maker is making ice but it is not dispensing it it is usually means there is a mechanical issue vs. an electrical issue. This happens when reorganizing things around in the freezer unit, you could shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker will be jammed with something else, even another piece of ice. First, look to see if there’s something blocking this from working properly.
Before starting the steps of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This is done by flipping the metal control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer might put it in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there may be food jammed inside of 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’s not dispensing it, this could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This will require some more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from behind the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the freezer contents.
To inspect this, first unplug the freezer and slide it out from the wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the connection on the back of the inside of the freezer unit. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s plugged in the right way.
After that, remove any ice that’s inside of the ice maker itself. This can be done by adding a small amount of water to help get ice that is inside of there out.
Once this is done, restore power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid component a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. When the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have cleared the issue.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker failures that could cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy fix.
First, unplug the refrigerator and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and then get a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the freezer sit turned off for a few hours until the water line is thawed.
There are some brands and models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice over. In these cases, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen water line.
When an ice maker is not making large enough cubes of ice, there’s 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 control that displays plus and a minus symbols. 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?