Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working? How To Fix 6 common issues

Refrigerator ice maker not working? If your Ice maker just suddenly stopped working or it’s been a long battle, this article will cover most common issues for major brands and several specific issues.

In the old days, usually ice makers lasted for the average life of a refrigerator.

Read also: How Long Should a Refrigerator Last?

But now, manufacturers trying to “improve” and add more features to the ice makers, but in fact, we are getting ice makers with average lifespan about five years.

After that, more and more problems appear, related with mechanical or electrical parts of the ice maker.

In most cases, those problems relatively easy to fix and you can save hundreds of dollars by doing it yourself.

In this article, we will cover 6 most common issues when the ice maker stopped working, depends on the brand of your refrigerator. But let’s start with some specific issues.

Here is specific issues for some brands (we will discuss it further in the article) :

• Kitchenaid Refrigerator ice maker stopped working, due to Failed or Dirty Optic Sensor.
• Samsung Refrigerator ice maker not working, due to moisture accumulation and ice maker just frozen up.
• LG Refrigerator ice maker not working, due to failed electronic control board.

6 Common Issues When Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working Properly

• Malfunctioned Water Inlet Valve (more common)
• Incorrect Freezer Temperature
• Evaporator Coils Being Frosted Over
• Broken Freezer Door Switch (less common)
• Weak Water Supply Line
• Ice Maker Frozen Water Supply Tube

Malfunctioned Water Inlet Valve

When its time for the ice maker to fill up with water, it sends a signal to the water inlet valve to open.

But if valve solenoids failed mechanically or electrically, the valve will not open water line to the ice maker.

A mechanical failure could be caused by the buildup of mineral deposits, preventing the valve from opening.

An electrical failure caused by burnt valve solenoid coils.

To determine if the inlet valve has failed electrically, use a Multimeter to test the valve solenoid coils for continuity. If one or more of the coils test negative for continuity, the inlet valve will need to be replaced.

If you can hear humming sound coming from the inlet valve, but there no water coming out, that means valve solenoid being clogged up by calcium deposits.

Incorrect Freezer Temperature

The ice maker will not produce ice cubes efficiently if the freezer temperature is too high.

The temperature should be at least between 0 – 5 degrees Fahrenheit, -15 or -18 degrees Celcius or lower.

If the freezer temperature stays above 15 degrees Fahrenheit or -9 degrees Celcius, there is probably something wrong with the appliance’s cooling system.

This can be caused by accumulated debris on the condenser coils preventing the coils from properly dissipating heat.

Evaporator Coils Being Frosted Over

The evaporator coils being frosted over indicates a failure in the defrost system which is caused by a defective defrost thermostat, control board, heater or cold temp thermostat.

The failure of the evaporator fan motor to properly circulate the air inside the freezer or frosted over evaporator coils restricting airflow also might cause the ice maker to stop working properly, due to temperature increase.

Broken Freezer Door Switch

The door switch disables power to the ice maker.

When the refrigerator door is open a faulty door switch will prevent the ice maker from working even when the door is closed.

Its actually easy to check. Just push the door switch and if light in the freezer goes OFF, that means door switch is ok. If the light stays ON, switch is malfunctioned.

Weak Water Supply Line

To operate properly the water inlet valve requires at least 20 lb of water pressure per square inch.

To help determine this, shut off the water supply, disconnect the supply line from the inlet valve and hold the line over a bucket.

Turn the water supply back on and observe whether or not there is a strong flow of water coming out of the line.

A weak flow indicates a problem with the water line or the water supply valve.

Ice Maker Frozen Water Supply Tube

If supply tube is frozen, the ice maker will not filling up with water, even the inlet valve opens to let the water flow.

But there is another problem.

Usually, if you have frozen water supply tube to the ice maker, its indication of malfunctioned inlet valve.

It just sipping water back into the water line, due to buildup which is preventing solenoid from closing properly.

So, if you have a frozen water supply tube, you need to change inlet valve.

Some specific ice maker issues depends on the brand.

Kitchenaid, Whirlpool, Kenmore Refrigerator ice maker stopped working

Open the freezer door of your Kitchenaid, Whirlpool or Kenmore Fridge and if you will see this (see image below) ice maker control, that means your ice maker has Optic Sensor Board.

This Optic Board control level of ice in the ice bucket and also sending power to the ice maker.

Once it failed, it will not send power to the ice maker.

It is easy to check if everything OK with this control.

Open the freezer and view the status led (right side)
2 BLINKS FOLLOWED BY 1 SEC. DELAY(REPEATED)
POSSIBLE CAUSES: The flapper door on the emitter is blocking the beam or the optics are faultly.

Press the emitter flapper to unblock the optics beam (left side)
2 BLINKS FOLLOWED BY 1 SEC. DELAY(REPEATED)
POSSIBLE CAUSES: The optics are faulty. Replace the emitter and receiver boards.

If the LED is on steady: The optics are working properly.
If the LED keeps blinking 2 times: The optics are faulty.

Samsung Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working

This is a common issue with thousands of ice makers being faulty and not able to make ice.

You can read about a lawsuit against Samsung about this issue here.

This issue caused by moisture condensation in the ice maker compartment.

There are some solutions for this on how to fix it, but it’s not working for everyone.

Here is an article on your website, how to fix this issue with Samsung Fridge Ice Maker.

LG Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working

Same thing with LG Ice Makers, sometimes this issue caused by faulty control boards or clogged inlet valve.

You can try to RESET ice maker( there is dedicated RESET button) and if it will make some ice cubes just ones and then stopped again, you need a new control board.

Please read this article on our website, how to fix your

LG fridge ice maker.

Read: How To Stop Ice Maker From Making Noise – Helpful Tips