How Does an Ice Maker Function

Having an ice maker in your fridge, when it is working, is very convenient. It is a time saver allowing you to have access to ice without having to make it yourself. There is no worse time to forget about making ice than when you have company over for a cold beverage that requires ice in the drink. If you found that your ice maker is not working, you are probably wondering how you can fix it yourself. But first, you must understand how it functions to know what has malfunctioned.

How Does an Ice Maker Work?

Before the ice maker was invented and placed in a fridge, we used to have to fill ice molds with water, freeze it, and empty it while repeating the process until we had sufficient amounts of ice made. The fridge ice maker uses a similar process but is automated.

Your ice maker must be connected to power and water to be able to produce ice properly. Make sure that your fridge is plugged in and is connected to a water line. Once both are hooked up properly, it can begin the process of automatically making your ice. The first stage is the electrical signal that is sent to the water valve to begin filling the ice mold with water. The ice mold is contained in the freezer so it automatically begins to freeze the ice cubes. When the thermostat reaches -12 to -15 degrees celcius a signal is sent to the heating coil to stop the freezing process.

The heating coil begins to heat the mold to loosen the ice cubes and the ejector blades are then activated to push out the cubes into collection tray. This cycle repeats until the ice in the collection tray reaches the shut-off arm. This indicates to the ice maker that the tray is full and the process stops until the ice no longer touches the arm where the process repeats itself.

This process uses multiple different stages that are moving and stationary. If your ice maker has stopped working, it can be a results of any of these parts malfunctioning.

Why is My Ice Maker Not Making Ice?

As previously stated above, there are multiple moving and stationary parts to your ice maker. There can be a simple reason to why your ice maker has stopped working or there may be a part that has broken.

Common Reasons Your Ice Maker has Stopped Making Ice:

1. Freezer temperature is not low enough
2. Water filter needs to be replaced
3. Frozen or clogged water lines
4. Thermostat is broken
5. Broken or faulty water line
6. Broken ice motor
7. Shut-off arm is flipped up which turns the machine off

If you shut off arm is properly in place, it is likely that a part is faulty and must be replaced. Call in one of our technicians to get your ice maker back up and running.