The short answer
A Hotpoint refrigerator ice maker that has stopped is a water-path problem before it is an ice-maker problem. Look in the tray first: a dry tray means water never arrived, which is a supply diagnosis, and a tray holding a solid slab means water arrived and the harvest failed. Those two observations send you down completely different paths.
Causes, ranked for this Hotpoint refrigerator
- Ice maker switched off or the shut-off arm raised — Why: It is free to check, it is common, and the arm is knocked upward by anything stored beside it, so this is eliminated before anything else.
- Water filter overdue or restricting flow — Why: A tired filter throttles the fill so the mould only partly fills, producing hollow cubes long before production stops altogether.
- Supply stop closed or the line kinked — Why: The stop behind the appliance is closed during other work and forgotten, and the line is easily pinched when the cabinet is pushed back into place.
- Frozen fill tube — Why: One short fill leaves standing water in the tube which freezes, so every fill afterwards lands on the plug and the fault compounds rather than recovering.
- Ice maker module, mould heater or inlet valve — Why: Last, because everything above imitates it for far less, and a solid slab rather than a dry tray is what actually points here.
What to check, in order
- look into the tray and note whether it is dry, holds water or holds solid ice. — Because: that single observation decides which of two entirely different diagnoses applies.
- confirm the ice maker is switched on and the arm lowered. — Because: it is free, it is common, and every later test is meaningless otherwise.
- test the water dispenser if one is fitted. — Because: water at the dispenser proves the supply and narrows the fault to the ice branch.
- check the filter age and look for a plug of ice in the fill tube. — Because: these are the two causes that starve the fill without stopping it outright.
Checks you can safely do yourself
- Look into the ice tray with a torch and record whether it is dry, holds water or holds solid ice. — Tools: a torch — Time: a minute
- Confirm the ice-maker switch is on and the shut-off arm is lowered, then wait for a fill attempt before concluding anything. — Tools: none — Time: several minutes
- Press the water dispenser, if fitted, and note whether the flow is strong, weak or absent. — Tools: a glass — Time: a minute
- Replace the water filter if it is overdue and purge several litres through the dispenser afterwards. — Tools: a replacement filter — Time: several minutes
- Check the supply stop behind the cabinet is fully open and the line unkinked, and thaw any plug in the fill tube with a warm damp cloth. Stop here: the valve and module need a meter. — Tools: a warm damp cloth and a torch — Time: the better part of an hour
Before you open anything
Safety
unplug-before-service freezer-0f
Kill power at the breaker before reaching behind the ice maker or removing a panel, and never clear ice with a knife, screwdriver or hot metal, since the fill tube and evaporator tubing puncture easily. Close the supply stop before disturbing any water connection, and have cloths ready.
Where the owner fix ends
Lowering the arm, changing the filter, opening the stop and thawing the fill tube are owner work. Call a technician when the tray fills and never harvests, since that is the module or mould heater; when the tube refreezes soon after thawing, which means the fill is short rather than blocked; and when the freezer is above the safe holding temperature quoted above.
Nearest pages of the same kind
Generalized information — what this page does not cover
family model
This page is generalized information about Hotpoint refrigerators and covers top-mount, bottom-mount and side-by-side formats together, whose ice makers, fill routes and dispenser arrangements differ. No family-level or model-level page exists in this reference yet; when one is published it will be linked here.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
