Was it the ice maker? On two of these six, no.
When the ice stops, the ice maker takes the blame. Sometimes that’s right. Sometimes the fault is in the water supply, the freezer, or a seal next to it. We sorted six recent jobs by how much of the problem was really inside the ice maker. Every detail below is from the technician’s own notes and photos on that visit. Bills are approximate, within a few dollars, and names and streets stay out.
The ice maker was fine
An ice maker needs two things it can’t make for itself: water coming in, and a freezer cold enough to freeze it. In both of these jobs, one of the two was missing.
It stopped making ice because the freezer had stopped freezing
The owner booked online with a clear description: the freezer was cool but not cold, and the ice had stopped. The rating plate gives a production date of November 2014.
The technician confirmed a sealed-system failure at the compressor. The ice maker was never the fault. We replaced the compressor assembly and the filter drier. That meant recovering the refrigerant, purging the system with nitrogen, brazing the connections, then pulling a vacuum, recharging and leak-testing. The last step on the job sheet was to let the freezer pull down to temperature and confirm the ice maker started producing again.
Bill: about $1,010
Someone had already cleaned the condenser. The water still wasn’t getting through.
By the time we were called, someone had cleaned the condenser hoping it would bring the ice back. It didn’t. The technician confirmed the coil had been cleaned recently, then looked at the water side. Water wasn’t reaching the ice maker, and his write-up names the likely cause as the water valve and the main water valve.
We replaced both valves to restore water flow to the ice maker. The ice maker itself didn’t need a part.
Bill: about $390
The ice maker, and something next to it
These two needed the ice maker dealt with, but not only the ice maker. The bill depended on what else was replaced or cleaned alongside it.
A dead ice maker, a new gasket against frost, and a coil matted with lint
It was booked as a Sub-Zero whose ice maker had stopped. It is a column pair: a 601F/O freezer column, which holds the ice maker, and a 601R/O refrigerator column.
The technician found the ice maker dead, not working at all. We replaced the ice maker assembly and the water inlet valve. On the same visit we fitted a new door gasket, to keep the seal tight and head off frost before it started, and cleaned the condenser coil. His photo of the condenser shows the coil and the copper drier packed with lint.
Bill: about $2,175
Two ice makers in one fridge, two different faults
This LG makes ice in two places: a regular ice maker in the door, and a Craft Ice maker in the freezer drawer that makes round ice balls. The owner, who bought it in June 2020, booked online because neither one was working properly.
They turned out to be separate problems. The door ice maker’s water line was spraying water, and the technician cleaned the line out thoroughly. No part was needed there. The Craft Ice maker had failed outright, and we replaced it.
Bill: about $590
