XT Appliances · Warren
No ice or no water from the refrigerator door
Slow water with small cubes is usually an old filter, no ice and no water together point at the inlet valve, and one without the other points further along.
Ice and water share most of their path. House water comes through a valve at the back of the refrigerator, usually through the filter, then splits. One tube runs through the door to the dispenser and the other runs to a fill tube above the ice maker. The first question is which one stopped, because the answer tells you whether to look upstream or further along.
Both stopped, or just one
Slow water at the door together with small or few cubes, and a filter more than six months old, is a clogged filter. The inlet valve tends to be all or nothing, so a trickle points at the filter rather than the valve. Replace it first. If the flow comes back, you're done.
No ice and no water at all, with the supply valve open and a fresh filter in, points upstream at the inlet valve. It feeds both lines, so both stop together.
If only one side stops, the valve is doing its job and the fault is further along. Water at the door but no new ice, with the ice maker switched on, usually means the ice maker itself has stopped cycling because of its motor, its gears or the thermostat on the mold. Ice in the bin but no water at the door often means the line through the door has frozen. A frozen fill tube does the same thing to the ice maker: you may hear the valve try to fill with nothing arriving, or the cubes come out short and spill. A freezer set colder than it needs to be is a common reason lines freeze.
Nothing at the door
If pressing the pad gives you nothing at all while the ice maker keeps filling the bin, the water supply is fine. The switch behind the pad or the paddle linkage has failed, so the fridge never gets the signal to send anything. When only ice won't come out and the bin is full, the motor that pushes ice out or the flap in the door chute is the more likely part.
Our technician confirms water reaches the ice maker and runs it through a test cycle, then tests the inlet valve or the dispenser switch depending on which side stopped.
What it usually turns out to be
- Cleaning or upkeepClogged water filterAn old filter chokes the flow to both the dispenser and the ice maker. The water trickles, the cubes come out small or few, and the filter is past six months.
- Cleaning or upkeepFrozen water tubeThe tube to the door dispenser or the fill tube over the ice maker can freeze solid. One side stops while the other works, and you may hear the valve try to fill with nothing coming through.
- PartWater inlet valveThe valve feeds both the ice maker and the dispenser, so when it fails both stop together. No water even with a fresh filter and the supply valve open points here.
- PartIce maker moduleThe ice maker's motor, gears or mold thermostat can stop it cycling. Water still comes out at the door and the ice maker is switched on, but no new ice drops into the bin.
- PartDispenser switch or paddleThe switch behind the pad tells the fridge to send water or ice. Press the pad and nothing at all comes out, yet the ice maker keeps filling the bin.
Try this first
- Replace the water filter if it's more than six months old.
- Make sure the ice maker is switched on. Many have an arm or a switch.
- Check that the water valve behind the refrigerator is open.
- Check that the freezer isn't set colder than it needs to be, which can freeze the water lines.
Stop using it and call now if
- Water leaking behind the refrigerator
- Water near an outlet or wiring