Rapid Richmond Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Richmond, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker failures below:
Ice makers are one of the best inventions of all time. This is a small luxury a lot of people might take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not have a lot of complicated parts that might go wrong with them.
As with any repair, there are a few basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you can replace the ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s review a couple of the reasons for an ice maker failure.
If your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice cubes it is usually a mechanical problem versus an electrical failure. This can occur when shifting things around in the freezer unit, you shift the control arm up or down. Most of the time the ice maker can get jammed with something, including a chunk of ice. So, look to see if there is anything blocking this part from working correctly.
Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by flipping the control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving things around in the freezer can put the control into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there could be ice jammed inside the ice maker or it’s not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
If the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not dispensing it, there might be a mechanical or electrical failure. This is going to need some more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we need to check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from behind the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.
To check this, first unplug the fridge and pull it out from the wall. Then, 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. Ensure that it is plugged in properly.
Next, remove any ice that is inside of the ice maker. This can be completed by adding a bit of water to help to get any ice that is in there out.
Once complete, restore power to the fridge and turn on the ice maker. It might take the solenoid a fewseconds to react and fill the mold. After the mold is full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have solved the problem.
Check for Frozen Lines
Other ice maker problems that may cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.
First, unplug the fridge and find the water shut off valve. Turn the water off and grab a hair dryer to heat up the line or just let the freezer sit shut off for a few hours and wait until the water line is thawed.
Some brands and models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice over. For these situations, finding the water filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.
When your ice maker isn’t making big enough cubes of ice, there’s a problem with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover off and find a simple control that has 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?