Elite Bloomington Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Bloomington, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:
Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the most convenient inventions of all time. This is a little luxury a lot of people certainly not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of parts that might have problems.
As with any appliance repair, there are basic things that should be looked at before thinking the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace the ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s discuss a few of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.
When the ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting it it is usually means there is a mechanical problem vs. an electrical issue. This happens when reorganizing food around in the freezer, you push or pull the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker can be blocked with something, including a piece of ice. So, look to see if there’s anything blocking this part from operating properly.
Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is on. This can be done by moving the metal control arm down. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer may put the switch in the off position. If the control arm is free, then there might be food or ice jammed inside of the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
If the control arm is down and there’s ice but it’s not dispensing it, there might be a mechanical or electrical issue. This is going to need some more troubleshooting. Ready to get started? First, we need to inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.
To check this, first unplug the fridge and move from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the water supply. Locate the valve on the back of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer unit. Be sure that it’s actually plugged in correctly.
Next, remove all of the ice that is in the ice maker itself. This can be accomplished by adding a little water to help get any ice that’s in there out.
Once complete, turn on the power to the refrigerator and then turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a couple of seconds to engage and fill the mold. After the mold is full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the issue.
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 could be blocked with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.
Unplug the freezer and find the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the fridge sit without being on for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.
Some models that feature a water filter that can freeze or ice over. In these cases, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen line.
When an ice maker is not making big enough cubes of ice, there is a problem with the ice maker settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a simple dial that displays plus and a minus signs. To do this, you may need a flat head screwdriver.
ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES
- Refrigerator Noisy
- Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working
- Refrigerator Not Cooling
- How Does a Refrigerator Work?