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Troubleshooting

Resetting the Ice Maker, and Why It Almost Never Is the Ice Maker

Do the three free checks first, because they are the answer far more often than a reset is. The water filter and its date: a cartridge past its life restricts flow, and that alone produces slow ice, small cubes and a taste complaint all at once. The shut-off valve behind or under the machine, or beneath the sink: a valve half closed during some other work years ago gives exactly these symptoms and nothing else. And the freezer temperature, measured with a thermometer between packages rather than read off the display, because an ice maker harvests on temperature and a compartment two degrees warm stretches every cycle. If all three are clear, the reset is a power cycle at the circuit for a full minute, with the ice maker switched off and back on afterwards where the model has that control. Expect the first two batches after any change to be small or hollow — that is air in the line and it clears.

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The full guide

Troubleshooting By Appliance Content Team Last checked 3 minute read

Fisher Paykel fridge ice reset: the three checks that come first

The reset is at the bottom of this page, deliberately. Almost every ice complaint has a cause upstream of the machine that makes the ice, and going straight to the module is how people end up replacing a working part.

The five conditions an ice maker needs Five links in a chain: the ice maker is switched on and the arm is down, the freezer is at about zero degrees Fahrenheit, water reaches the fill valve, the fill tube is clear, and the mechanism can turn and eject. Breaking any one of them stops ice production with no message on the display. ALL FIVE, EVERY CYCLE. BREAK ONE AND YOU GET NO ICE AND NO MESSAGE. 1 switched on, arm down the most common finding 2 freezer at 0°F above about 5°F it will not harvest 3 water arrives valve open, pressure adequate 4 fill tube clear one interrupted fill can plug it with ice 5 it can turn nothing jamming the ejector or bin any break here = the same symptom
The order in the checks below is not arbitrary: it works down this chain, cheapest and most common first.

:::

Check one: the filter and its date

If you do not know when it was last changed, change it.

A cartridge works by pushing water through a carbon block, and as it loads up the flow drops before the taste does. That single fact explains three of the four complaints on this page at once: slow ice, small cubes, and eventually a taste.

Fisher & Paykel fits a filter indicator for exactly this reason. Six months, or when the light asks, whichever comes first.

After changing it, flush a couple of gallons through the dispenser and expect the next two batches of ice to be small, cloudy or hollow. That is air in the line, not a failure, and it clears.

Three things that go wrong after a filter change Air in the line gives small or hollow cubes, or none, and clears once enough water has been drawn off. A cartridge not fully seated lets water bypass the filter and on some designs the interlock does not open at all. The wrong filter is the one that catches people, because plenty of aftermarket cartridges fit the housing without meeting the flow the ice maker needs. IT WAS FINE UNTIL I CHANGED THE FILTER — ALMOST ALWAYS ONE OF THESE. 1 · AIR IN THE LINE Small cubes, hollow cubes, or none. Draw off more water. Time does the rest. 2 · NOT FULLY SEATED Water bypasses it, or nothing comes at all. Take it out and seat it again, deliberately. 3 · THE WRONG FILTER It fits the housing. That is not the test. Flow is, and an ice maker needs all of it. The indicator is a timer, not a measurement — it counts months, not what has gone through.
Two of the three fix themselves within a day. The third fits perfectly and never will, which is why it is worth knowing the part number before the cartridge arrives.

:::

Check two: the shut-off valve

Under the sink, or behind or beneath the appliance where the supply line comes out of the wall.

A valve that was partly closed during some other plumbing work — years ago, by somebody who never thought about the refrigerator — produces exactly this set of symptoms and nothing else. Turn it fully open rather than assuming it is.

While you are there, look at the line itself for a kink where the machine was pushed back.

Check three: the freezer temperature

Measured, with a thermometer between packages rather than against a wall, and not read off the display.

An ice maker harvests on temperature. It fills a mold, waits for the mold to reach a set point, and then ejects. A compartment two degrees warm does not stop that — it stretches every cycle, so you get less ice and it arrives slowly, on a machine that looks entirely healthy.

If the freezer is warm, that is the actual problem and the ice is a symptom of it.

Then, the reset

  1. Switch the ice maker off at its control, where the model has one.
  2. Cut power at the circuit breaker for a full minute. Not at the appliance's control panel.
  3. Restore power and set the clock and temperatures if they were lost.
  4. Switch the ice maker back on.
  5. Wait a day before judging it, and throw the first two batches away.

On many machines a harvest cycle runs shortly after power comes back — a motor turning, cubes dropping. Hearing that is useful information: it proves the module has power and can move, which points the search at the water side rather than the mechanism.

What a reset can and cannot do

It can clear a control that came back confused after a storm or an outage, which happens often enough here to be worth trying every time.

It cannot make water arrive that is not arriving, cool a freezer that is not cold enough, or clear a filter that is past its life. Those are the three checks above, and they are the reason the reset is last.

The fourth complaint: taste

Not a reset subject at all, and worth separating from the others.

In order: the filter and its date; anything strong and uncovered in the cabinet, because ice absorbs odor over days; and then the bin itself, which holds a smell long after its cause has gone — empty it, wash it, dry it and start again.

If a new filter and a washed bin do not fix it, the supply line is the next candidate. A long run of tubing that has not been used for a while can flavor everything passing through it, and that is a real job rather than a cleaning one.

The honest limitation

Ice is the one repair nobody can prove inside an appointment, because a machine takes hours to fill a bin.

What can be proved on the day is the fill and the harvest — that water arrives in the right quantity and that the module ejects. After that, anybody who tells you it is definitely fixed is guessing. What you should get instead is a clear description of what to expect by evening.

If it turns out to be a repair

Every job on this site is priced the same way: an on-site diagnostic first, the figure agreed in writing before anybody starts.

  • An ice bin pulled out of a freezer drawer and held in two hands, empty except for a scatter of frost in the corners, the open freezer bright behind it.
    Empty bin, or slow, or small

    Ice maker not making ice

    Four complaints that arrive as one: nothing at all, too slowly, cubes too small, or ice that tastes wrong. The first two things to check are the filter and the water pressure reaching the machine, not the ice maker.

    • The bin is empty and stays empty
    • Cubes have got smaller or hollow
    • Production has slowed over weeks
    What it usually means
  • An ice maker bin filled with cubes below the molds, seen from above inside a white freezer
    from $165

    Ice maker repair

    No ice, slow ice, cubes the wrong size, or ice that tastes of the refrigerator. Four complaints, four different repairs, and the first two things to check are the filter and the water pressure reaching the machine rather than the ice maker itself.

    • Filter age and water pressure before the ice maker
    • Fill valve and module tested separately
    • Taste and odor traced to the supply, not deodorized
    What this involves

Questions people ask about this

The cubes have gone small. Is the ice maker failing?

Almost never. Small cubes are how much water arrived, not how it froze — a partly closed valve, a filter at the end of its life, or genuinely low house pressure. The machine freezes exactly what it got. All three cost nothing to check, and a new module fed by a restricted line makes exactly the same small ice.

How long should I wait after a reset?

Give it a full day before judging. An ice maker takes hours to fill a bin, and the first batch after any interruption is often poor because the line is full of air. Discard the first two batches, then see what the third looks like.

Where is the shut-off valve?

Usually under the sink, or behind or beneath the appliance where the supply line leaves the wall. Look for a small valve on a narrow copper or braided line. Turn it fully open rather than assuming — half-closed valves are surprisingly common, and they usually date from some other piece of plumbing work.

There is a bad taste that a new filter did not fix.

Then look at the bin and the supply line rather than the filter. Ice holds odor long after the cause is gone, so an emptied and washed bin is the next step. After that, a long run of tubing that has not been used for a while can flavor everything passing through it, and that is a real repair rather than a cleaning job.

My machine has no ice maker switch.

Some do not, and on those the equivalent is the arm or the sensor that tells the machine the bin is full — on models with a wire arm, lifting it stops production and lowering it resumes. If the arm is stuck up, or a bag of frozen peas is holding the sensor's view, the machine has been told to stop and is doing exactly that.

Should I hear anything when it resets?

On many machines a harvest cycle runs shortly after power is restored, which sounds like a motor turning and cubes dropping. Hearing it is a good sign; it proves the module has power and can move. Hearing it and getting no ice points at the water side rather than the mechanism.

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Tell us the model number and what it is doing.

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This article is based on:

  • Official manufacturer documentation
  • Internal repair procedures
  • Technician repair history
  • Company quality standards
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