--- title: "Common problems — Ice Maker Guides | IceMakerRepair.center" description: "What your ice maker is telling you when the bin stays empty, the cubes come out small or hollow, or the door dispenser whirs and drops nothing at all." url: "https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/common-problems/" --- Why the ice maker is doing that # Common problems guides. What your ice maker is telling you when the bin stays empty, the cubes come out small or hollow, or the door dispenser whirs and drops nothing at all. ## Common problems, guide by guide. Read these when the ice has changed: the bin sits empty, the cubes come out as thin shells, or the door dispenser hums and gives you nothing. Every guide opens with the evidence in front of you, with the bin pulled and a flashlight on the mold, and ranks the likely reasons from the one we find most often to the one we find least. [All 18 guides](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/) 6-minute read ### [Why the ice maker stopped making ice: bin, switch, cold or water](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/why-the-ice-maker-stopped-making-ice/) A raised arm, a scoop in the bin, an ice-off icon, a freezer above 0°F or a mold that never gets water, in the order worth checking before any part is blamed. 5-minute read ### [Why ice cubes come out small or hollow, and what the shape says](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/why-ice-cubes-come-out-small-or-hollow/) Reading shells, stunted crescents and shards, timing the dispenser with a cup, and finding the filter, valve, kink or reverse osmosis tank that shortens every fill. 5-minute read ### [Why the door dispenser won't give ice when the bin is full](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/why-the-door-dispenser-wont-give-ice/) Locks and Sabbath settings, cubes fused into a block, a jam in the chute, a flap frozen shut and an auger turned out of line, followed through from the bin to the glass. ## Why the ice maker is doing that. One complaint can have four separate starting points. An empty bin under a freezer ice maker with a wire arm, inside the sealed box of a door ice maker, in an undercounter clear-ice model or in a countertop nugget maker each calls for a different first look, and the guides take them side by side. Water is usually part of the story, and now and then it reaches the floor. For that case the opening lines of each guide put safety first: turn the supply valve off, keep away from outlets, and cut power at the breaker only when you can reach the panel without standing in water. [Not sure where to start?](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Why the ice maker stopped making ice: bin, switch, cold or water When an ice maker stopped making ice, check four things in order: whether it thinks the bin is full (a raised arm, a pushed-back paddle, ice heaped under the mold), whether it has been switched off, whether the freezer is near 0°F, and whether water reaches the mold at all. ### The short answer Why ice cubes come out small or hollow, and what the shape says Small or hollow ice cubes almost always mean the mold gets too little water per cycle, because the fill valve opens for a set time and low pressure delivers less in that time. ### The short answer Why the door dispenser won't give ice when the bin is full When the dispenser won't give ice but the bin is full, look at the path the ice travels: a control lock or Sabbath setting, a door not fully shut, cubes fused into a block in the bin, a jam in the chute, a flap frozen shut, or an auger that was turned out of line when the bin was removed. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop. [What repairs cost](https://icemakerrepair.center/cost/) 1. 01 Water traced from the valve to the mold 2. 02 A number before the work 3. 03 Everyday ice maker parts already on board 4. 04 Filled, frozen and dropped in front of you ## The problems these answer. Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking. [All 17 problems](https://icemakerrepair.center/problems/) Problem ### No Ice Coming From the Ice Maker 7 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Ice Clumped or Frozen in the Bin 5 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Ice Maker Fill Tube Frozen 5 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Nugget Ice Maker Not Making Nugget Ice 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about common problems. ### Which ice problems need attention today, and which can sit for a few days? Water spreading across the floor, water inside a cabinet or wall, and a breaker that keeps tripping are same-day problems; turn the supply off before anything else. An empty bin, shrinking cubes or a dispenser that stays silent can wait for an appointment while a bag of store ice covers the gap. ### Are these pages written around a particular make? No. They start from the symptom and the kind of ice maker, and they quote a maker's own help page only when a specific figure or instruction needs one. ### What is useful to fetch before starting on one of them? A flashlight, a measuring cup, a towel and the model and serial label, which sits inside the compartment or on the unit's frame. Almost every check here needs nothing else. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/) Ice maker checks an owner can safely make ### [Troubleshooting](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [How to reset and test an ice maker, and read what the cycle shows](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/reset-and-test-an-ice-maker/) - [Thaw a frozen fill tube safely, then stop it freezing again](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/thaw-a-frozen-fill-tube-safely/) - [Find and check the water supply valve that feeds the ice maker](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/find-and-check-the-water-supply-valve/) Keeping the ice maker out of trouble ### [Maintenance and prevention](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [Changing the water filter on time, and what a late one does to the ice](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/changing-the-water-filter-on-time/) - [Cleaning and descaling an undercounter ice maker](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/cleaning-and-descaling-an-undercounter-ice-maker/) - [Keeping the ice bin clean, from freezer drawers to countertop baskets](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/keeping-the-ice-bin-clean/) Keeping water, wiring and ice safe ### [Water, power and clean ice](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [Ice After a Boil Water Notice: What to Dump, Flush and Replace](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/ice-after-a-boil-water-notice/) - [Water From the Ice Maker Near an Outlet: The Safe Order of Moves](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/ice-maker-leak-near-an-outlet/) - [When to Throw Out the Ice in the Bin, and When It Can Stay](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/when-to-throw-out-the-ice/) Deciding what ice maker to keep or buy ### [Choosing and comparing](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [Nugget, clear or crescent ice: what each kind of ice maker gives you](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/nugget-clear-or-crescent-ice/) - [Repair the ice maker or replace the whole assembly?](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/repair-the-ice-maker-or-replace-the-assembly/) - [Undercounter ice maker: gravity drain or drain pump?](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/undercounter-ice-maker-gravity-drain-or-pump/) Water lines, first ice and a unit left alone ### [Installation and setup](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/) - [The Water Line Behind an Ice Maker: Tubing, Valve and Pressure](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/water-line-for-an-ice-maker/) - [First Ice After Installation: How Long, What to Throw Away, What to Check](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/first-ice-after-installation/) - [An Ice Maker in a Vacation Home: Closing Up and Opening Again](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/ice-maker-in-a-vacation-home/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Common problems — Ice Maker Guides | IceMakerRepair.center](https://icemakerrepair.center/guides/common-problems/)** **[Book a visit with IceMakerRepair.center](https://icemakerrepair.center/schedule/)**