Next Noblesville Appliance Repair provides refrigerator repair in Noblesville, including services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker problems below:
Ice makers are perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever. This is a small luxury most people not appreciate. Ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of parts that can go wrong with them.
As with any repair, there are basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you are able to replace an ice maker without replacing an entire fridge, dependent on the model. First, let’s take a look at some of the reasons for an ice maker failure.
If your ice maker is making ice but it is not ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical issue versus an electrical failure. This occurs when moving things around in the freezer, you shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker can get jammed with something, even another chunk of ice. So, look to see if there’s anything blocking this from operating the right way.
Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, check that the ice maker is on. This is done by moving the metal control arm down. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer can put the switch in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there might be food or ice jammed inside the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
If the control is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, there could be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to get started? First, we must check the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from the rear of the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.
To inspect this, first unplug the fridge and move from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the valve on the back of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it is plugged in properly.
Next, remove any ice that’s in the ice maker itself. This can be completed by pouring in a bit of water to help get any ice that’s inside of there out.
Once done, turn on the power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It may take the solenoid a few seconds to react and fill the mold. When the mold is full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you’ve solved the issue.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker failures that may cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is an easy issue to fix.
First, unplug the freezer and locate the shut off valve. Shut the water off and get a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the freezer sit shut off for a couple of hours and wait until the water line is thawed.
There are some brands and models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice up. For these cases, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the iced line.
When an ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there’s a problem with the settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover of the ice maker off and find a standard 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?