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A hand holding a small measuring cup of water above the empty mold of a white freezer ice maker, the ice bin set aside on a folded towel inside the open freezer drawer of a lived-in US home kitchen.

Troubleshooting

How to reset and test an ice maker, and read what the cycle shows

To reset an ice maker, use whatever the model provides: a test button held until it chimes, a power cycle at the plug or breaker, or the arm or switch turned off and back on. Then watch the cycle: the mold should empty and the valve should hum and refill it. A reset does not fix a warm freezer or a closed valve.

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At a
glance.

A reset makes the ice maker run through its harvest cycle while you watch, so you can see whether the motor, the ejector and the water valve each do their part. Used that way it gives you real information; pressed at random it can flood the mold.

Read the whole guide

Test button hold timeUp to 10 seconds, until it chimes

Samsung's instruction; most models need the bin removed to reach the button.

Length of a test cycleAbout 30 seconds to about 6 minutes

Samsung gives the short time for freezer ice makers and the long one for those in the fresh-food side.

Power cycle2 minutes off at the plug or breaker

Samsung's figure; a countertop Opal is unplugged for 3 to 4 hours instead.

Press it onceNever repeatedly with water or ice in the tray

Samsung warns the mold can overflow or the ice can jam.

What a reset actually does, and when it is worth it

Every ice maker runs a loop: fill the mold, wait until it is cold enough, heat the mold slightly to release the cubes, sweep or twist them out, check the bin, fill again. A reset or test starts that loop immediately instead of waiting for the next scheduled cycle. It clears a controller that has stalled partway through, and, just as usefully, it shows you which step of the loop is failing.

It cannot make a warm freezer cold or open a closed supply valve. Samsung puts its reset fifth in its own troubleshooting order, after freezer temperature, the seal around the ice compartment, the on/off setting and a clear bucket. Before you reset an ice maker, rule out those four, or the test will only confirm what you already could have seen.

Source: Samsung — Ice maker is not working — Reset is step 5 after temperature, seal, on/off and a clear bucket; hold Test up to 10 seconds; power cycle 2 minutes; test takes about 6 minutes in the fresh-food compartment and about 30 seconds in the freezer, ending with the valve filling the mold

Three ways to reset, depending on the model

The method depends on the maker and the age of the ice maker, and the manual is the final word. Most household ice makers use one of the three below, and many accept more than one.

A test button on the ice maker itself

Many current ice makers have a small, recessed test button on the housing. Samsung places it on the right-hand side of ice makers in the fresh-food compartment and side-by-side freezers, and at the front underside of bottom-freezer ice makers, with the bucket removed to reach it. Hold it until you hear a chime, which Samsung says can take up to 10 seconds. If there is no chime but the ice maker moves, the test has started anyway.

Cutting the power for a set time

Where there is no button, or it does not respond, a power cycle clears the control. Samsung's instruction is 2 minutes unplugged or off at the breaker, then another try. Whirlpool gives 1 minute unplugged for a dispenser that has ice but will not deliver it. GE's countertop Opal needs much longer: 3 to 4 hours unplugged. For a built-in or undercounter unit whose plug you cannot reach, use the breaker, and only from a dry spot.

The arm or the switch, off and back on

Older freezer ice makers with a wire arm have no button. Raising the arm until it clicks and lowering it again after a minute makes the ice maker check again whether the bin needs ice. A rocker switch on the housing does the same when turned off and back on. Neither will force a harvest partway through a cycle; for that, these models rely on time and cold.

Close on a finger pressing the small test button on the side of a white freezer ice maker.
Close on a finger pressing the small test button on the side of a white freezer ice maker.

What a good test cycle looks and sounds like

Stay beside the open compartment with the bin out and a towel below the ice maker. Samsung says its test lasts about 30 seconds on a freezer ice maker and about 6 minutes on one in the fresh-food compartment, and should end with the water valve humming and water pouring into the mold. One chime means the ice maker passed; several chimes, Samsung says, mean it needs service.

  • The ejector arm or the twisting tray turns through a full circle and stops where it started: the motor and gearbox are working.
  • Any cubes in the mold drop out: the release heater or the twist is working.
  • A buzz or hum from the back of the unit followed by water running into the mold: the inlet valve opened and water reached the ice maker.
  • The motor turns but no water arrives: look at the supply valve, the filter and the fill tube next.
  • No movement and no sound after a power cycle: the ice maker or its control needs a technician.

Source: Samsung — Ice maker is not working — Reset is step 5 after temperature, seal, on/off and a clear bucket; hold Test up to 10 seconds; power cycle 2 minutes; test takes about 6 minutes in the fresh-food compartment and about 30 seconds in the freezer, ending with the valve filling the mold; Samsung — Reset the ice maker in the fridge compartment or side-by-side freezer — Test button on the right-hand side; one chime passes, several chimes mean service; do not press Test repeatedly with ice or water in the tray

Checking by hand when there is no test button

GE offers a simple check that splits a no-ice problem in half. Pour about 4 ounces of cold water into the empty mold, slowly and evenly so it stays in the cavities, then close the freezer and wait 2 to 3 hours. If the water freezes and the cubes end up in the bin, the ice maker can freeze and harvest, and the problem is the water getting to it.

If the water freezes but the cubes stay in the mold, the harvest side has stopped: the motor, the release heater or the control. If the water does not freeze at all in that time, the freezer is too warm and no ice maker part is to blame. Pour carefully; a spill runs down behind the bin and freezes onto the auger or the drain below.

Source: GE Appliances — Icemaker does not fill with water — Pour about 4 ounces of cold water into the icemaker mold and wait about 2–3 hours to see whether it freezes and ejects

Mistakes that turn a reset into a repair

The reset is gentle; the problems come from repeating it or helping it along by hand. Each of these comes up regularly on service calls, and each one leaves more to fix than the original problem.

  • Pressing test again and again: each press can add another fill on top of water or ice already in the mold, and Samsung warns of overflow and jams.
  • Turning the ejector or the twisting tray by hand to help it along: it strips the small gears inside the motor housing.
  • Warming the mold with a hair dryer: the housing and the wiring nearby are plastic, and Samsung warns that heat damages the unit.
  • Resetting every morning for weeks: the ice maker keeps stalling for a reason, and the reset only hides it.

Source: Samsung — Reset the ice maker in the fridge compartment or side-by-side freezer — Test button on the right-hand side; one chime passes, several chimes mean service; do not press Test repeatedly with ice or water in the tray; Samsung — Frost forms in the freezer, refrigerator or ice bucket — Do not use a hair dryer to speed defrosting; it will damage the unit

Step
by step.

Five steps, in the order worth doing them.

01

Rule out the basics

Confirm the freezer is at 0°F, the ice maker is switched on and the bin is clear and fully seated.

02

Take out the bin

Remove the bin and lay a towel under the ice maker so water from the test does not freeze on the shelf.

03

Start the test

Hold the test button until it chimes, or cut the power for the time the manual gives, or raise and lower the arm.

04

Watch and listen

Note whether the mold turns, whether cubes drop and whether the valve hums and fills the mold.

05

Refit and wait

Put the bin back, close the door and give the ice maker a few hours before judging the result.

A parent and a child filling two glasses with ice from the door dispenser in a bright family kitchen
For the heart of your home.

Questions
owners ask.

Does resetting erase any settings on the panel?
A test button affects only the ice maker. A power cycle at the breaker can reset the clock and some panel settings, and on some models it brings back the factory temperature settings, so check the freezer setting afterward.
How often is it normal to need a reset?
Ideally never. An ice maker that needs one more than once in a while has a reason to stall, often a weak water supply, a bin that is not seating properly or ice building up around the mold, and that is what should be fixed.
The test ran perfectly but there is still no ice the next day. Now what?
A good test shows the parts can work while you watch. If normal cycles still fail, check that the freezer stays cold between door openings and that the valve is not freezing shut overnight, then book a diagnostic visit.

The problems
behind it.

Each has a page of its own: what it usually means and the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
An open bottom freezer drawer in a US home kitchen showing an empty white ice bin and the gray ice maker mold above it with its row of dry cube cups, a dispensing glass sitting unused on the counter. Problem

No Ice Coming From the Ice Maker

7 causes, cheapest first

 The control strip on the front of a stainless undercounter ice maker in a US home kitchen, one small amber indicator light glowing among dark ones, the symbols beside them blurred and unreadable. Problem

Ice Maker Light Flashing

6 causes, cheapest first

 The dispenser panel in the stainless door of a French door model in a US home kitchen glowing with a blurred, unreadable code beside a flashing ice symbol, an owner's manual lying open on the counter below with out-of-focus pages. Problem

Ice Maker Error Code

8 causes, cheapest first

When it needs
a technician.

The repairs on the right are where this guide ends when the checks do not settle it.

Diagnostic visit

A visit that traces the water from the supply valve to the bin and back out through the drain, and names the one part that stopped the ice before anything is ordered.

Ice maker control and sensor repair

The control board, the thermistors, the bin sensor and the wiring that decide when an ice maker fills, freezes and stops, tested and repaired when a light flashes, a code shows, a breaker trips or the ice never stops coming.

Ice maker assembly replacement

A new ice maker module fitted in the freezer compartment or the door compartment, after the water, the temperature and the bin sensor have been proved good, so the new part is not blamed for an old problem.

More in
troubleshooting.

The checks an owner can make on an ice maker without taking a risk, from finding the water valve and testing the fill to thawing a frozen fill tube, and the point where it is time to stop and book.

The whole section
Ice maker checks an owner can safely make

Thaw a frozen fill tube safely, then stop it freezing again

Telling a blocked tube from a dead valve, the power-off thaw that adds no heat, the shortcuts that crack plastic and wet wiring, and the slow fill that freezes it again.

 Ice maker checks an owner can safely make

Find and check the water supply valve that feeds the ice maker

Under the sink, behind the unit or below the floor; quarter-turn, multi-turn or saddle; fully open and dry at both ends, and closed in seconds when water reaches the floor.

 Guides

All 18 guides

Six sections, by what you are trying to find out.

Back to your everyday

Read it and still not sure?

Book with what you checked and the model number, and the technician starts where the guide stopped.

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