Best Boca Raton Appliance Repair offers refrigerator repair in Boca Raton, including professional services to fix ice makers that are not working. Learn about some common ice maker problems below:
Refrigerator ice makers are perhaps one of the best inventions of all time. This is a little luxury many people certainly not appreciate. Refrigerator ice makers are simple machines that do not feature a lot of complex components that might go wrong with them.
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 an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s review some of the reasons for an ice maker not working.
If the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice it is usually a mechanical problem versus an electrical problem. This can occur when moving food around in the freezer, you could push or pull the control lever up or down. A lot of the time the ice maker can be jammed with something else, including a piece of ice. So, look to see if there’s anything blocking this part from working the right way.
Before starting the process of clearing out the freezer, be sure your ice maker is turned on. This can be done by flipping the control arm down. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer might put the control in the off position. If the the switch is free, then there may be food or ice stuck inside the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
When the switch is down and there’s ice but it is not ejecting it, this could be an electrical or mechanical failure. This will need a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to proceed? First, we need to check the electrical connection. This could be unplugged from the back of the freezer or refrigerator when shifting or moving the food in the freezer.
To inspect this, unplug the refrigerator and slide away from the wall. Then, turn off the freezer’s water supply. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what connects the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it is actually plugged in properly.
Next, remove all of the ice that’s inside of the ice maker itself. This can be done by adding a small amount of water to help to get any ice that is inside of there out.
Once this is done, turn on the 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 100% full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have solved the problem.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker issues that could cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is an easy issue to fix.
Unplug the fridge and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the freezer sit without being on for a couple of hours and wait until the line is thawed.
There are some models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice up. In these situations, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the frozen line.
When an ice maker isn’t making big enough pieces of ice, there is an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover of the ice maker off and locate a basic knob that has 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?