It is certainly a luxury to have ice ready for you whenever you want it. Occasionally it happens where you have a nice glass of lemonade and go to get ice and there is none. It’s of course not the end of the world, but an inconvenience for sure. Unfortunately ice makers do sometimes fault and fail. It is, however, the reality of owning a refrigerator that has the added luxury of an ice machine. If your ice machine suddenly stops working, there are a few things that could be causing the disruption. Here are a few things you can double check before calling a repair person.
Sometimes the problem is mechanical or electrical rather than the water supply. This could be, for example, when you find ice that is inside the ice mold. This generally means that the machine isn’t receiving water. There are a few things that can cause this and some ways to fix it. If you are adding things into the freezer or clearing out the stuff you aren’t using, you may knock the control arm accidentally. This can then take it off the position it needs to be in and can stop the ice production. Luckily this is a quick and easy fix. All you need to do is find the control arm that you have knocked out of place and move it back to the correct position.
If, however, the control arm is in the correct position and the mold is still filled with ice, it could be something to do with the electrical connection, which means it is the motor or gearbox. This is still something you can look to fix yourself. To start, check all of the electrical connections and make sure they are seated correctly. Then you will want to pull the refrigerator out so you have access and switch off the water supply. After that you can turn off the power so it is safe for you to proceed. Find the quick release plug which is inside the freezer on the back wall. Then disconnect it and reconnect it. Make sure it is fully connected again before you move on.
Next, you will want to take away any ice that is in there manually. Add some hot water and the ice in the mold will be easier for you to remove. Turn everything back on and move the control arm in the refrigerator to off and then back on again. Wait for about 10 seconds and it should fill the mold with water again. Come back after about four hours and see if the ice has frozen and is ejecting. If it still is not working you will need to replace the motor or gearbox.
If your ice machine has stopped producing ice all together or if the ice cubes are smaller than they should be, this normally will indicate a clog in the supply line. In this case, be sure to reach out to an appliance repair company to service your machine.