What you are looking at
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. The reason the shut-off arm or switch left in the off position heads the ranking on a Criterion is simple: a machine that has just been installed or moved is far more likely to be reporting its setup than its age, and setup faults appear immediately rather than gradually. 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. The order below is written for a unit that is new, newly installed or recently moved; a machine that has run in the same spot for years ranks differently.
Signs that fit this page
- Ice has frozen into one solid lump in the bin — Slow use plus a warm spell, or melt and refreeze from a defrost problem.
- The bin stays empty and the mould is dry — No water is arriving: the supply, the valve or the filter.
- NEAR MISS — The whole freezer is warm — Start with the cooling page; ice production is one of the first things to stop when a freezer is struggling.
Why it happens, in order
- The shut-off arm or switch left in the off position — Ranked first here: a machine that has just been installed or moved is far more likely to be reporting its setup than its age, and setup faults appear immediately rather than gradually. Every ice maker has a wire arm or a switch that stops production when the bin is full, and it is very easily left raised or switched off after cleaning.
- A freezer that is not cold enough to release ice — Ranked second: Ice makers rely on the mould reaching a set temperature before they harvest, and a freezer running warm simply never gets there.
- A closed supply valve, a kinked line or a saddle valve barely open — Ranked third, and last: The water line is behind the cabinet, and it is closed or crushed during cleaning, delivery and any plumbing work nearby. What feeds a machine changes when the machine changes rooms, so on a recent installation the taps, drains, vents and outlets are the first suspects.
The sequence that saves time
- Look for a wire arm above the bin, or an on-off switch on the module — An arm in the raised position is a complete explanation and needs no tools. It goes first because on a recently installed or recently moved unit this is what the move breaks, and it costs nothing to rule out.
- 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.
- 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.
The checks you can do yourself
- Lower the shut-off arm or switch the module on and wait several hours — An ice maker takes hours rather than minutes to produce its first batch; do not judge it too early.
About 10 min
- Set the freezer colder, clear the vents around the ice maker and wait a day — Give it a full day before judging the change, and keep the door openings short in the meantime.
About 15 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.
Read this before you start
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.
The line between DIY and a callout
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.
Nearest pages of this class
The limits of this page
This page covers Criterion refrigerators as a class, not one family or model line. No family- or model-specific page exists beneath it yet; when one is published it will be linked here and it will outrank this page for a named model. 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.
