The short answer
An ice maker that has stopped is nearly always short of water, short of cold, or switched off — and those three account for the great majority of cases before any mechanism is suspected. On a Criterion a water filter long past its life comes first, because a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is. The shut-off arm, the supply valve, the filter and the freezer temperature are owner work; the mould heater, the motor and the fill valve are not.
What it looks like from the front
- The bin stays empty and the mould is dry — No water is arriving: the supply, the valve or the filter.
- Cubes are hollow, small or misshapen — Partial fill, usually a restricted supply or a partly frozen fill tube.
- The mould is full of ice but nothing ejects — A mechanism or heater fault rather than a supply fault.
- NEAR MISS — Ice tastes stale but production is normal — That is a filter and storage issue rather than a fault.
The ranking
- A water filter long past its life — Top of the list on this brand: a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is. A blocked filter restricts flow enough that the mould is never properly filled, which shows as small or hollow cubes before it shows as none at all.
- A closed supply valve, a kinked line or a saddle valve barely open — Second most likely: The water line is behind the cabinet, and it is closed or crushed during cleaning, delivery and any plumbing work nearby.
- A freezer that is not cold enough to release ice — Third and the least likely here: Ice makers rely on the mould reaching a set temperature before they harvest, and a freezer running warm simply never gets there. A store-brand unit is usually carried home and set up by the owner rather than by a delivery crew, and setup errors survive for years.
The order to work in
- Check when the filter was last changed and how fast the dispenser runs — A slow dispenser with a good supply valve points straight at the filter. Start here: on this platform it is both the most likely finding and the quickest to confirm.
- Pull the cabinet out and check the valve and the line — A crushed line behind the cabinet is one of the most common findings after a kitchen refit.
- Check the freezer setting and how firm the ice cream is — A freezer that is not properly cold explains an idle ice maker with no fault in the ice maker at all.
What an owner can safely check
- Replace the filter and flush the recommended amount of water through afterwards — Flushing clears air and carbon fines; without it the first litres are cloudy and the ice looks wrong.
About 20 min
- Open the valve fully and straighten the line so the cabinet cannot crush it — Leave a gentle loop of slack so the cabinet can be moved without straining the joint.
About 20 min
- Stop here if the next move needs a meter on live terminals — That is where an owner check ends and a service call begins.
Working safely on this machine
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Refrigerant is licensed work: oil or a hiss at the compressor means stop and call, and two people move a cabinet this size.
When to call a technician
Call when the arm is down, the valve is open, the filter is fresh, the freezer is properly cold and the mould is still not cycling — the module, its heater and the fill valve are behind the cabinet interior. One line to keep in mind while you wait: A refrigerator holds food safely at 40 °F (4 °C) or below.
Nearby pages
Scope of this page
This page covers Criterion refrigerators as a class, not one family or model line. There is no per-model page under this one today. Where one appears it is linked from this block and it is the page to trust for a specific cabinet. Deliberately not here: wiring colours, resistance values, torque figures and part numbers, which differ between families.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
