Choice Hawthorne Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Hawthorne, including services to fix ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:
Refrigerator ice makers are one of the greatest inventions of all time. This is a small luxury most people might take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not have a lot of components that will have problems.
Like with any repair, there are some basic things that need to be looked at before thinking the worst. And, it’s good to know, if necessary, you are able to replace your ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, depending on the model. First, let’s discuss some of the causes for an ice maker failure.
If your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice it is usually a mechanical issue vs. an electrical failure. This happens when moving food around in the freezer, you jam the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can be jammed with something else, including a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there’s anything blocking this from operating correctly.
Before starting the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is on. This is done by moving the metal control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving things around in the freezer unit can put the control into the off position. If the the switch is clear, then there could be something 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 might be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to require some more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the back of the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the freezer contents.
To check this, unplug the refrigerator and move away from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve 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 is plugged in the right way.
After that, remove all of the ice that’s in the ice maker. This can be done by pouring in a little water to help get any ice that is in there out.
Once this is done, restore power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours to see if you have solved the issue.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker failures that will cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.
First, unplug the refrigerator 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 shut off for a couple of hours until the line is thawed.
There are some models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice over. For these cases, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.
When an ice maker is not making large enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the top part of the cover off and locate a simple dial that displays plus and a minus symbols. 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?