Ice Maker Has Stopped (Residential Built-In Units)
| Reading | Likely cause | Owner check | Price band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing at all: bin empty, no sound of filling | Ice maker switched off: the wire arm raised, or turned off at the controls | Lower the wire arm to its on position, or check the ice maker setting | Quoted after the diagnosis |
| A buzz now and then, but little or no ice arrives | Water not getting through: supply valve shut, line kinked, filter overdue | Confirm the house valve feeding the unit is open; note the filter's age | Quoted after the diagnosis |
| No ice, and the freezer itself feels soft | Freezer too warm to make ice; the fault sits behind the freezer panel | Leave a thermometer in the freezer overnight and note the reading | $270–$650Refrigeration fan or defrost system |
The bin has sat empty for days. The ice maker is switched off, short of water or sitting in a freezer too warm to freeze. Household built-in units only.
The first row is the quickest to settle. Many Viking built-ins hang a wire arm beside the ice maker: it rises and falls while ice is being made, and when the bin is full the arm itself switches production off. Nudged up by a bag of frozen peas, it stops everything. The fully integrated columns do the same job from the control panel, and their vacation setting switches the ice maker off along with it.
The second row is water. Viking notes that the ice maker’s valve buzzes when it opens whether or not water reaches it, so a buzz with an empty bin points at the supply: shut, kinked or starved. On the fully integrated columns a filter left too long cuts the flow.
The last row is the freezer, not the ice maker. Viking’s own first question for an ice maker that has stopped is whether the freezer is cold enough to make ice, and a soft freezer leads back to its fan or defrost system.
Where the water comes from, in Tacoma
An ice maker depends on the house as much as on the appliance. In an older North End or Old Town kitchen the line to the refrigerator will usually have arrived with a remodel, so the shut-off can be wherever the plumber found room. In the newer Northeast Tacoma and Point Ruston kitchens, fitted as the building went up, it was planned in from the start. Say which sort of kitchen yours is, and whether you can see a shut-off.
This page covers the ice maker inside a household built-in Viking refrigerator or freezer column, from a Fircrest remodel to a Lake Tapps house.
Owner checks, in this order
- Find the wire arm beside the ice maker. Down is on; raised until it clicks is off. Lower it gently and never force it past its stop.
- On models with no arm, check the ice maker is switched on at the control panel and that no vacation setting is running.
- Take out anything chilling in the ice bin. Viking warns that bottles or food left there can block the ice maker.
- If you can see the shut-off valve on the house line that feeds the refrigerator, make sure it is open. Do not pull the unit out to reach it.
- Stop there. Anything past these checks means panels off or gas and wiring, and that is the $89 visit from Viking Repair Tacoma: (206) 472-1140.
Asked about this one
How long should a newly installed unit take to make ice?
Viking allows up to two days from installation before the first ice, and says to tip the first three drawers of ice down the sink. A unit still empty after that, with the ice maker switched on and the water valve open, needs the diagnosis: Viking Repair Tacoma books it on (206) 472-1140.
Why are the cubes getting smaller?
Two likely reasons. Cubes left in the bin for weeks shrink and cloud over, which Viking's guide puts down to ice that is not being used; tipping out the old ice now and then settles it. Cubes that come out small from the start are short of water, and an old filter is one known cause.