Maybe you’re so impressed by the convenience of your refrigerator’s automatic ice maker that you’ve never stopped to ask yourself how the ice maker works. Hey, who can blame you? After all, making ice the old-fashioned way is a pretty small inconvenience, but an inconvenience nevertheless—if you’ve ever opened up your freezer to find that the ice trays weren’t refilled by the last person who emptied them (and you’re therefore out of ice), then you probably have a great appreciation for having ice come out of your freezer automatically.
But even though an automatic ice maker is a fairly straightforward invention, it’s important to have an understanding of how an automatic ice maker works so that if anything goes wrong, or it suddenly stops making ice one day, you can pinpoint where the likely breakdown in the process is.
An automatic ice maker requires three important elements: electricity, water, and freezing temperature. Electricity kicks on the water supply valve, sending water into the ice maker’s tray, which are then frozen by the sub-freezing temperatures in the freezer. Here’s a detailed explanation of how that works, plus a look at how faulty plumbing could potentially affect your ice maker’s ability to function properly.
The Water Supply to the Back of Your Fridge
Most refrigerators with automatic ice makers on the market today use a water supply line. In the past, some refrigerators were built with water tanks on the back that needed to be refilled manually, but you don’t see these too often anymore.
The water supply to your fridge is sent from your home plumbing through a supply line that connects to your refrigerator’s inlet valve. This inlet valve also gets an electrical signal. When it’s time for a cycle of ice making to start, the electrical signal sends volts of electricity to the water inlet valve so that water can flow in. Ideally, the water supply will come through the valve at a pressure of approximately 20 to 120 pounds per square inch (PSI).
The water goes into the freezer’s internal ice molds. Once these ice molds are filled with water, the freezer kicks on to approximately 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) and turns the water to ice. Once the ice is solid, a heat coil will loosen the ice cubes from their mold. The ice cubes will then be pushed out of the mold by an ejector knife either into a collection tray where they can be either scooped out manually or dropped from a spout into your glass at the push of a button.
How Faulty Plumbing Can Hinder Your Ice Maker
There are plenty of problems that could go wrong with an automatic ice maker — the temperature might not get cold enough, for example, or the electrical signal might be delayed. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus on problems that can be caused by faulty plumbing.
If your ice maker suddenly stops working, it might be because not enough water is coming through the supply valve. This indicates one of two common problems: Either there’s a problem with the water pressure, or your supply valve is blocked.
Determine whether the water pressure is too low
To determine whether the water pressure in your icemaker is too low, you should start by turning off the water supply. Then you will need to disconnect the line from the water valve and hold the line over a sink or a bucket. When you turn the water supply back on, water will start flowing out of the line. Pay close attention to the flow of water. If the flow of water is strong, this indicates that there’s no problem with your water pressure. On the other hand, if the flow of water is weak, this could mean you have a bad water line that isn’t supplying water property. Low water pressure will often result in ice cubes that are too small. If there’s a problem with the water supply, you should have your plumbing inspected.
On the other hand, if you have good water flow, the problem is likely that your inlet valve is blocking water from coming in. Your valve is either clogged or defective. Some people will be confident in their ability to remove the valve and clean it out themselves, but because the valve is easily damaged, your better option is to replace the valve altogether.