Why is My Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working?

Is the water dispenser on your refrigerator not working? If so, you can try to repair the problem on your own or call Chesapeake Appliance Repair for refrigerator repair Chesapeake, Virginia.

There are many reasons for the water dispenser in a refrigerator to stop working. Again, some of the reasons are going to sound a little strange. However, something as obvious as a power switch has been the reason in some instances. Be sure to inspect the obvious potential problems prior to moving forward with complicated refrigerator repair. Let’s start to tackle this appliance repair issue and see all of the causes we can come up with for a broken water dispenser on a refrigerator.

The cause of a broken water dispenser is commonly either an installation issue, a filter failure or frozen water lines:

Refrigerator Installation Problems

You just purchased a new refrigerator with a water dispenser, but it is broken. The water dispenser has to be hooked up to the home’s water line. That could be the cause of the problem.

If the brand new refrigerator is replacing a prior refrigerator that didn’t feature a water dispenser or ice maker, there is a chance that you do not have a functioning water line near this area. Most of the time a water line is usually run from underneath a house either in a basement or crawl space. You can purchase this type of water line at nearly any hardware store and they’re very simple for the typical homeowner to install. Usually they have include a water shut-off valve, which is necessary so that if you should need to relocate the refrigerator, you can shut off the water.

If there’s an attached water line, is the valve turned on? The valve handle must be lined up with the hose. And, is water going through the pipe you have installed to connect the water line? Obvious and basic questions, but items that need to be confirmed.

If you removed the refrigerator doors during installation it’s possible the water dispenser might not be plugged in. Review the manual to find the wire harness for that particular refrigerator. Ensure that it’s plugged into the refrigerator.

If the water line is connected, usually there’s air in it. So, lifting and lowering the dispenser lever on the refrigerator to get the air out of it is necessary.
Filter Issues

On some of the models, there are various filters. These filters can “expire”, clog or freeze. All of the filters are based on your model and type of refrigerator. If your filter is blocked it might cause slow filling or no flowing at all. It is suggested that your filter be replaced every 6 months. Replacing filters can be hard sometimes. If you run into problems, go online or call us and learn the proper method to change a filter.

One idea is to fill the water filter with water before installation. Typically the water filters can need a long amount of time to fill up, which might lead you to believe that the water dispenser is not working. You will want to read the directions if all else fails. To be certain it is not air caught in the lines, we recommend to depress the dispenser arm for around 5 minutes.

A frozen water tank could be the cause of the problem as well on some refrigerators. If the water tank is frozen it will leak onto the fresh food bins. Low amounts of food in the fresh food bins will cause freezing.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

• Refrigerator Not Cooling
• Refrigerator Noisy
• Refrigerator Ice Maker Not Working
• How Does a Refrigerator Work?