Top 3 Reasons Why Your Frigidaire Ice Maker Is Not Working

Is your ice maker spitting out puny, deformed ice cubes that practically melt before you can get them in a glass of your favorite beverage?

If so, read on. Beginning with the most common and ending with the least likely cause, this blog article, and the one following examines six of the top reasons why your ice maker is on the blink.

Freezer Temperature Set Too High

If the temperature setting for your freezer is set higher than 15 degrees, it is no wonder that your ice cubes are coming out undersized. In order for your ice maker to function properly, the freezer temperature needs to be set anywhere between 0 (zero) and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. That would be -18 to -13 degrees Celsius for those who use the metric system.

It is possible that no one changed the freezer setting and that dust and debris have naturally collected over the condenser coils reducing its ability to dissipate heat and that would definitely warm up your ice maker’s ability to manufacture ice cubes that don’t melt as soon as you take them out of their container.

Frosted evaporator coils indicate a failure in the defrost control system which includes the defrost control, heater, and thermostat.

Water Inlet Valve

The water inlet valve controls the amount of water that is sent to the ice maker tray and can fail either electrically or mechanically. The valves tend to collect mineral deposits which restrict the flow of water to the ice maker tray. Cleaning the valve will not solve your problem; the water inlet valve should be replaced.

Use a multimeter to see if the valve has failed electrically. Set the meter to the ohm setting and place each probe on the valve solenoid pins. If one or more pins tests negative, the valve needs to be replaced. For parts information, click here.

Low Water Pressure

The water inlet valve needs a minimum of 20 – 120 pounds of water per square inch (PSI) in order to function correctly. Follow the next three steps to verify if the water supply PSI is strong enough to push water to the ice maker tray.

Turn off the water source and disconnect the water supply line from the water inlet valve and hold the line over a bucket.
Turn the water back on and observe if there is a strong stream of water shooting out of the water supply line.
If the water flow is weak, there is either something wrong with the water supply line or the water inlet valve.

Stay tuned for the next blog article which will include three more helpful tips to solve your dysfunctional ice maker. If this or any other repair is beyond your capability, you might need the assistance of a professional appliance repair person.

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