EZ Whittier Appliance Repair is experienced in refrigerator repair in Whittier, including professional services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker issues below:
Ice makers are possibly one of the best inventions ever. This is a little luxury most people might not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not feature a lot of complicated components that could go wrong with them.
As with any appliance repair, there are basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, remember, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s review a couple of the reasons for an ice maker breaking.
If your ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually means there is a mechanical problem vs. an electrical issue. This occurs when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you shift the control lever up or down. Often the ice maker can get jammed with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there’s anything blocking this from working the right way.
Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, check that the ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the control arm down. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer may put the control in the off position. If the the switch is clear, then there might be something stuck inside of the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
When the control arm is down and there is ice but it’s not ejecting it, there could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to get started? First, we need to inspect the electrical connection. This could become unplugged from the rear of the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.
To check this, unplug the fridge and move away from the kitchen wall. Turn off the freezer’s water supply valve. Locate the connection 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’s plugged in the right way.
After that, remove all of the ice that’s inside of the ice maker. This can be done by adding a bit of water to help to get ice that is inside of there out.
Once done, restore power to the fridge 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 4-5 hours to see if you’ve cleared the problem.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker failures that might cause your ice maker to not make ice are frozen lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is an easy fix.
Unplug the refrigerator and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then get a hair dryer to warm the water line or just let the fridge sit without being on for a few hours and wait until the line is thawed.
Some brands and models that feature 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 iced water line.
When an ice maker isn’t 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 knob that displays plus and a minus signs. 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?