Santa Maria Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Santa Maria, including services to fix broken ice makers. Learn about common ice maker issues below:
Refrigerator ice makers are possibly one of the best inventions of all time. This is a little luxury a lot of people might take for granted. Ice makers are simple machines that do not feature a lot of complex parts that can have problems.
As with any appliance repair, there are some basic things that should be reviewed before thinking the worst. And, it’s nice to know, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the model. First, let’s discuss a couple of the causes for an ice maker breaking.
When the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing the ice it is usually means there is a mechanical failure opposed to an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting food around in the freezer unit, you could accidentally push or pull the control arm up or down. Often the ice maker will get blocked with something, possibly a chunk of ice. First, 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 on. This is done by pulling the control arm in the down position. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer unit might put the control into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there might be food stuck inside the ice maker or it is not receiving a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
If the control arm is down and there is ice but it is not dispensing it, this could be an electrical or mechanical problem. This is going to require a bit more troubleshooting. Ready to begin? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from the rear of the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the food in the freezer.
To check this, first unplug the fridge and move it out away from the wall. Then, turn off the water supply valve. Locate the valve on the rear of the inside of the freezer unit. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s plugged in the right way.
Next, remove all of the ice that is inside of the ice maker itself. This can be completed by pouring in a little water to help get any ice that is in there out.
Once this is done, restore power to the fridge and then turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid component a few seconds to engage and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait 4-5 hours or so to see if you have solved the problem.
Check for Frozen Lines
Other ice maker problems that could cause your ice maker to not produce any ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be blocked with frost. This is an easy issue to fix.
Unplug the fridge and find the water shut off valve. Shut the water off and get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the fridge sit turned off for a couple of hours and wait until the water line is thawed.
Some brands and models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice up. In these situations, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the frozen water line.
If an ice maker isn’t making large enough pieces of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the top part of the cover off and locate a basic knob that displays plus and a minus symbols. To do this, you could need a flat head screwdriver.
ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES
- Refrigerator Noisy
- Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working
- Refrigerator Not Cooling
- How Does a Refrigerator Work?