People live without ice for months before calling, which is a shame, because a good share of these faults cost nothing at all to fix.
Start with the things that are free
- The shut-off arm or sensor. On models with a wire arm, it stops production when it is lifted. A bag of frozen food leaning against it does exactly that. On optical models, wipe the little windows on each side of the bin.
- The water filter. A filter past its service life halves output long before it stops it entirely. Six months is the usual interval, and less in the western suburbs where the water is hard.
- The supply valve. The small valve behind or under the refrigerator gets knocked closed when someone cleans behind the unit. Check it is fully open.
- The freezer temperature. An ice maker needs the freezer at about 0 degrees. Warmer than that and the harvest cycle never completes.
Then the real faults
A frozen fill tube. The most common genuine failure. Water freezes in the tube before it reaches the tray, so nothing arrives. On dispenser models a small heater keeps that tube clear, and when the heater fails this is the result. It is an inexpensive part.
The inlet valve. Either not opening, which gives no ice, or not closing fully, which gives a sheet of ice across the bottom of the bin. The second version is more common and it is caused by grit holding the seat open.
The module itself. The gearbox that rotates the tray and ejects the cubes. It fails as a unit and is replaced as a unit.
The complaint that is not a fault
Cloudy cubes are dissolved air, not a problem. Ice that tastes stale is nearly always a filter past its date or a supply line that has not moved in weeks. We will tell you that on the phone rather than book a visit you do not need.
Starting prices for each of these are on our pricing page. To book, call 847-941-0334.
