The short answer
The honest ranking for ice failure on BRF models puts the water path first and the ice maker itself last. That inverts the brand-generic order, and the reason is the build: this platform freezes a small quantity in a small compartment, so a marginal cabinet temperature is a real cause here rather than a theoretical one.
What you observe
- Ice is made, but far more slowly than it used to be — Slow rather than absent almost always means the compartment is a little warmer than it was, not that the mechanism is failing.
- The cubes are small, hollow or misshapen — A partial fill. The water is arriving but not in the quantity the mould expects, which points at the supply pressure or a partly closed valve.
- The ice has fused into one block in the bin — Cubes that melt and refreeze together mean the compartment is riding warm between cycles, or the bin is being opened often in a warm room.
- You can hear the mechanism cycle but nothing drops — A harvest that runs without delivering points at a jam in the mould or at ice bridging in the bin rather than at the water path.
Causes, most likely first
- Water not reaching the mould — Ranked first on this family. A closed or partly closed supply, a kinked line behind the cabinet, or a valve that no longer opens fully will empty the bin without any other symptom.
- The compartment riding a little warm — Second, and the cause that most often hides. This platform freezes a small quantity in a small space, so a cabinet running a few degrees above where it should be will keep food cold and still not freeze ice at a useful rate.
- The ice maker mechanism or its heater — Last. The mould heater that releases each harvest, the motor and the control are all real failures, but on this family they are less common than everything above and they are the part of the job that needs the compartment opened up.
- A jam in the mould or bridging in the bin — Ice that has partly melted and refrozen locks the mechanism, and the harvest then runs against a block it cannot shift. It is common after a power interruption or a spell with the door left ajar.
Check in this order
- Check the supply tap and follow the line to the back of the cabinet — First because it is the most likely cause and the fastest to rule out.
- Check nothing is packed against the compartment vents — On a small compartment this is a frequent cause and it needs no tool at all.
- Empty the bin completely and look for a fused block at the bottom — Bridged ice both blocks the harvest and holds the arm up, so it can mimic two different faults at once.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Do not chip frozen ice out of the mould with a blade or a screwdriver: the mould heater and its wiring sit directly under it and a puncture there ends the ice maker.
Models in the BRF family — The models this page covers, as the product spine lists them. This family spans more than one stem, and the stem is worth confirming in the table before any part is ordered.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| BRF1600GIMB | black-decker:refrigerator:brf |
| BRF1600GIMS | black-decker:refrigerator:brf |
| BRF1600GIMW | black-decker:refrigerator:brf |
| BRF1800GIMB | black-decker:refrigerator:brf |
| BRF1800GIMS | black-decker:refrigerator:brf |
| BRF1800GIMW | black-decker:refrigerator:brf |
When to call
Call if ice stopped at the same time the cabinet started running warm: that is a cooling fault wearing an ice-maker costume, and it needs the cabinet diagnosed rather than the mechanism. Call also when a fill overshoots and freezes outside the mould, because that ends as water somewhere it should not be.
Other faults on this family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
