Common Reasons Your Refrigerator's Ice Maker Isn't Making Ice
A fridge with an ice maker and water dispenser is a nice convenience, but the system has many mechanisms, and any one of them failing or underperforming could prevent your ice maker from making ice properly. Unless the ice making unit itself is broken, many of the common problems can easily be fixed by yourself with a little troubleshooting. There is a chance you may need to replace your ice maker or some other part, but you can still try to figure out which part specifically is causing the problem.
How Your Ice Maker Works
The ice-making process is actually pretty simple. Your fridge takes in water through an inlet tube, and the water passes through your water filter into the ice-making unit. When the ice trays are empty, the valve opens for a few seconds to fill the tray, then closes again. Once the ice cubes are frozen, the bottom of the tray heats slightly to ease the ice cubes out of the tray, and a mechanical arm pushes them out. At this point, the tray fills again and the process completes until the bin is full.
Check For Stuck Ice
If you aren't getting any new ice, first check to make sure the ice tray is empty. If for any reason the ice cubes are stuck in the tray, you won't get any more ice because the tray won't refill. This can sometimes happen even if the heating mechanism still works. In some cases the heater can make the problem worse. If the ice unfreezes, then freezes again before it is ejected from the tray, it can become very stuck
If the heating mechanism still works, you can fix the problem by taking a hair dryer and blowing hot air on the underside of the tray. Once the ice is sufficiently melted, you can push it out and clear the tray, which should refill by itself. If the heater is broken, you may need to hire someone to fix it or replace the ice maker.
Look For Frozen Water
If water has frozen inside the tubing or fill cup area, it will block any water from passing. If you have frozen water anywhere in your system, it's often caused by low water pressure or the inlet valve not working correctly. Test the water pressure coming from the wall first, then make sure there is nothing blocking the flow of water to the fill cup. It could be as simple as fixing your water pressure or cleaning out the inlet tubing. If this is the case, the only replacements you need to make are the tubing, which is relatively inexpensive.
Replace Your Water Filter
If you haven't replaced your water filter in a while, it could be extremely dirty and restricting the flow of water. This can be another cause for freezing in the tubing, but it could also simply be so dirty that not very much water is getting to your ice tray. Even if this doesn't end up being the problem, you should still replace your filter every few months.
For further assistance, contact professionals, such as those from Master Tech Mechanical.
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