Achieve Dearborn Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Dearborn, including services to repair broken ice makers. Learn about some common ice maker failures below:
Ice makers are perhaps one of the best inventions ever. An ice maker is a little luxury many people take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that don’t feature a lot of complex parts that could go wrong with them.
Like with any repair, there are a few basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, it’s good to know, if needed, you can replace an ice maker without replacing the entire refrigerator, depending on the brand and model. First, let’s review a couple of the causes for an ice maker failure.
When the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t ejecting the ice cubes it is usually a mechanical problem vs. an electrical failure. This occurs when shifting things around in the freezer, you might accidentally shift the control switch up or down. Often the ice maker will get blocked with something, including a chunk of ice. First, look to see if there is ice or food blocking this from working properly.
Before beginning the steps of clearing out the freezer, be sure the ice maker is turned on. This can be done by pulling the control arm down. Sometimes, moving food around in the freezer can put it into the off position. If the control arm is free, then there might be food stuck inside the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
When the control is down and there is ice but it is not ejecting it, this might be an electrical or mechanical problem. This will require some more diagnosing. Ready to get started? First, we must inspect the electrical connection. This can become unplugged from behind the freezer when shifting or moving the freezer contents.
To inspect this, first unplug the fridge and pull it out away from the kitchen 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 plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Be sure that it’s plugged in properly.
Next, remove all of the ice that is in the ice maker itself. This can be completed by pouring in a bit of water to help to get 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 couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is 100% full, wait around 4-5 hours to see if you have solved the problem.
Check for Frozen Lines
Other ice maker problems that will cause your ice maker to not produce ice are frozen water lines. The water lines might be clogged with frost. This is an easy problem to fix.
First, unplug the freezer and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and grab a hair dryer to heat up the water line or just let the refrigerator sit turned off for a couple of hours until the water line is thawed.
Some brands and models that feature a water filter that can clog or ice over. In these situations, locating the filter is the first step. Then repeat the same process that was done for the iced water line.
When your ice maker is not making big enough cubes of ice, there is an issue with the settings. To adjust the the ice maker settings, take the top part of the cover off and locate a simple dial that has plus and a minus signs. 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?