If your ice maker isn’t making ice fast enough, your freezer might not be cold enough. Here’s how an ice maker works:
- A switch inside the ice maker control turns on the water supply, which is an electric water inlet valve on the back of the refrigerator.
- The water runs through a small tube in the back of the freezer wall and dumps into the ice maker cube tray.
- The ice cube tray must reach a preset, low temperature. There is a small thermostat attached to the tray which is sensing the temperature.
- When the temperature is reached, the thermostat allows power to flow through an electric heater on the bottom of the tray – this slightly warms the tray so the cubes will release.
- Once the tray is warmed, a small motor in the ice maker control begins to rotate a sweep arm, which pushes the cubes up and out of the tray.
- When the sweeper arm returns to its starting point, the switch inside the ice maker control turns on the water supply again and the entire cycle repeats until the ice bin is full.
Need ice more quickly? The easiest way to do this is to reduce the freezer’s temperature. Ideally, freezers should be set to between 0 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 to -15 C). When the freezer is colder, the ice freezes faster and the ice cube tray thermostat reaches its set temperature.
Something broken? RepairClinic.com has free troubleshooting information with symptoms for common ice maker problems. There, you’ll find information about the likely causes, the correct, recommended parts as well as how-to repair information. With your refrigerator’s model number, head to RepairClinic.com.
Related post: Three quick fixes for broken ice makers
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