How To Ice Machine Repair

Expert advice on how to repair a refrigerator ice maker that doesn't make water ice or doesn't piece of work at all. Also helps you lot fix an ice maker that is frozen upwards or does not eject ice. Includes how to replace an water ice maker.

Troubleshooting and repairing an ice maker are jobs that do-it-yourselfers can handle with a fiddling chip of guidance.

Hand holding a glass under an ice maker. — Ice maker non working? Try these easy fixes! ©Don Vandervort, HomeTips

The most mutual problem with an ice maker is that information technology doesn't make water ice. Other problems include an ice maker that won't end making ice or freezes up. Here we begin with the most common trouble—the ice maker stops making water ice.

How to troubleshoot an ice maker that isn't making ice:

Make sure the bail wire above the ice tray is in the downwards position. When information technology's up, it shuts off the ice maker.
Check the h2o supply line beneath or behind the refrigerator. Be sure it isn't kinked and is supplying water.
Be certain the little fill tube that fills the ice tray isn't frozen. If it is, melt the icy tube with a hair dryer.
Expect for ice in the ice mold and make certain the motor that turns the ice ejection arm is working.
Check the tap valve that connects the supply tube to the water pipe.
Check the solenoid. For more detail about this and all of the higher up steps, see below.

Hometips Logo

Homeadvisor Logo

Find a Refrigerator or Freezer Repair Pro Nearly You lot

How An Water ice Maker Works

Simply before diving into dealing with water ice maker problems, let'southward look at how an ice maker works so you lot'll have a better understanding of what might exist wrong.

Diagram showing the components of a freezer ice maker, including the solenoid, inlet, and shut-off arm. — Diagram of an ice maker's parts.

An ice maker receives h2o through a small, i/4-inch water supply line that runs from the refrigerator to a water pipage (or a water filter).

The water supply line leads to the water fill valve in the refrigerator, which is controlled by an icemaker thermostat. The fill valve sends water through a fill tube into a mechanized ice maker assembly that includes an water ice mold. This is where the water freezes. Browse replacement parts on Amazon.

When the water freezes, the thermostat shuts off the water supply via a solenoid. Adjacent, it turns on a heater to slightly warm the cubes so they volition release from the ice mold. So it turns on a modest icemaker motor that rotates the water ice ejection arm. The ejection arm pushes the ice cubes out of the mold and into the ice collection bin. Consequently, the water fill valve turns on for a few seconds to fill up the ice mold again, and the bicycle repeats.

When the ice collection bin is filled with ice, the ice raises a bond wire, shutting off the ice maker unit until the ice level in the bin drops.

Ice Maker Does Not Make Water ice

If the water'south route is blocked or the solenoid doesn't work—or if the bond wire is lifted—the water ice maker won't brand ice. (Also notation that your home's h2o force per unit area may not be strong enough to serve an water ice maker.)

Here are a few steps you lot can take to become your ice maker working.

Hand holding setting the bail wire of an ice maker to the OFF position. — Make sure the bond wire above the ice drove drawer is not locked in its upper position. This shuts off the water ice. ©Don Vandervort, HomeTips

Make sure the bail wire higher up the water ice tray is in the down position. When it is locked in the upper position, information technology shuts off the ice maker.
Check the h2o supply line. If the ice maker doesn't make ice simply you can see the arm swing into motion and y'all hear a buzz for almost ten seconds, the h2o valve is request for water that isn't arriving. This means the valve and the solenoid are probably okay, but the h2o supply is not.

Be sure the water supply line isn't kinked backside or beneath the refrigerator (1/four-inch copper tubing is much better than plastic fill line to prevent kinks). Find the water close-off valve behind the refrigerator or under the sink, turn it off, unscrew the copper line from the back of the refrigerator, put the copper line in a bucket, turn on the valve, and come across if water pours out.

An water ice maker tap valve and copper tubing are used to connect to a water piping. Check price on Amazon

iii Check the tap valve. A bad tap valve—the lilliputian device that connects the ice maker's h2o supply tube to the water pipe—may crusade the problem where the water ice maker's supply tube connects to the water pipe.

If necessary, replace the inlet valve and the tap valve. For the tap valve, use the blazon that requires you to drill a 1/4-inch hole (equally opposed to the "self-piercing" type). Y'all can purchase an ice maker connection kit and do this yourself, or phone call a repair person or plumber to install an inline water filter when replacing the valve.

4 Bank check the solenoid. The water line attaches to a solenoid at the back or bottom of the refrigerator and and so travels to the water ice maker. The solenoid may exist defective or may not be receiving power.

Replacement solenoid for an ice maker. — Replacement solenoids are available online. Check toll on Amazon

Unplug the refrigerator first. And then you can effort removing the sediment screen within the solenoid and flushing it with water to clean it, and at the same time you can audit any seals or diaphragms to ensure that they are audio. You can buy a replacement solenoid on Amazon for about $25—it'south held in place by iv screws.

Here is a video that's quite helpful for troubleshooting why an water ice maker isn't working:

Ice Maker Does Not Turn Off

If your water ice maker doesn't plow off (it keeps making ice) even when the water ice bin is full:

Lift the bail wire to close off the ice maker, and remove the ice bin. Using a screwdriver if necessary, remove the ice maker, clean it thoroughly, and then reinstall it.
If the problem persists, consider replacing the ice maker and valve. You lot can practise this yourself, as discussed below, or accept an appliance repair person do it. With this blazon of problem, you can take it repaired, merely it's frequently wiser, easier, and less expensive to replace the unit entirely.

Ice Maker Repair: Ice Maker Frozen Up

If your ice maker has frozen upwardly, take the following steps to thaw information technology out:

Unplug the fridge or turn off the excursion breaker that supplies ability to it. Remove the ice bin from the refrigerator and remove any loose ice from the ice maker.
Detect the fill up tube. This is a white condom-similar hose that delivers h2o to the ice maker. Pull downward the small metal prune off the housing that holds the fill tube (though not all ice makers have this prune).
Warm the hose and surrounding mechanism. To exercise this, you tin can train a hair dryer on the ice maker to cook whatsoever ice blocking the mechanism. But be very careful (sop up whatever dripping water with a rag) as electricity and h2o can present a serious gamble of electrical stupor. Also, be careful non to cook the plastic parts.
If you don't want to use a pilus dryer, you can soak the supply tubing with hot water, using a turkey baster and catching the overflow in a bowl. In some cases, information technology may exist easier to remove the ice maker than to thaw out the fill tube with the water ice maker in place.

Hometips Logo

Homeadvisor Logo

Find a Refrigerator or Freezer Repair Pro Near You

Ice Maker Does Non Squirt Ice

If your ice maker is producing water ice but does non properly squirt it, the problem is with the motor associates inside it.

Yous can buy an ice maker motor module on Amazon. Here is an like shooting fish in a barrel-to-follow video on how to replace an ice maker motor:

Almost Ice Maker Replacement

If the trouble isn't solvable or the blanket inside the ice maker mold is coming off on your water ice cubes, you'll need to replace the entire unit. You can find an assortment of replacements on Amazon.

Though the ice makers vary from 1 brand to another, most are like in design. For Kitchenaid, Maytag, Kenmore, and Whirlpool refrigerators, see this video:

This as well shows how to switch the bail arm wire from the old ice maker to the new one and how to alter the wiring harness if necessary.