Five Star Yakima Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Yakima, including professional services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:
Refrigerator ice makers are perhaps one of the best inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury most people might take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that don’t have a lot of parts that might go wrong with them.
Like with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s review a couple of the reasons for an ice maker failure.
When your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical failure versus an electrical problem. This happens when shifting things around in the freezer unit, you accidentally shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker might be blocked with something else, possibly a piece of ice. First, look to see if there’s ice or food blocking this part from working the right way.
Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, check that your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by flipping the control arm in the down position. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer unit might put the control into the off position. If the the switch is free, then there could be something jammed inside of the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
When the switch is down and there is ice but it’s not dispensing it, this could be a mechanical or electrical issue. This will need some more troubleshooting. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from the rear of the freezer when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.
To check this, unplug the fridge and pull it out away from the wall. Turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve on the back of the inside of the freezer. Essentially this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s plugged in the right way.
After that, remove all of the ice that’s inside of the ice maker itself. This can be accomplished by adding a small amount of water to help get the ice that’s inside of there out.
Once this is done, turn on the power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. Once the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve solved the problem.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker problems that could cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple fix.
First, unplug the fridge and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and then get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the refrigerator sit without being on for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.
There are some models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice up. In these cases, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.
If your ice maker is not making big enough pieces of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a simple knob that displays plus and a minus signs. 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?