S.O.S. Santa Barbara Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Santa Barbara, including professional services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker issues below:
Refrigerator ice makers are one of the greatest inventions ever. This is a little luxury most people not appreciate. Ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated parts that can go wrong with them.
As with any repair, there are some 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 fridge, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a couple of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.
If an ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical failure versus an electrical problem. This occurs when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can get blocked with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this part from working properly.
Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, check that the ice maker is on. This can be done by moving the control arm down. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit might put the control into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there might be something 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’s not ejecting it, there might be a mechanical or electrical problem. This will need some more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the back of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.
To check this, first unplug the refrigerator and pull away from the wall. Turn off the water supply. Locate the connection on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in correctly.
Then, remove all of the ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be completed by pouring in a bit of water to help get ice that is in there out.
Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a fewseconds to react and fill the mold. After the mold is 100% full, wait around 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve solved the issue.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker problems that will cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.
First, unplug the freezer and find the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the freezer sit without being on for a couple of hours until the line is thawed.
Some brands and models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice over. For these situations, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen line.
If your ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there is a problem with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover off and locate a basic dial that displays 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?