Why is My Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working?

broken refrigerator water dispenser

Is the water dispenser on your refrigerator broken? If so, you can try to solve the problem by yourself or call Direct Oceanside Appliance Repair for refrigerator repair Oceanside, California.

There are many reasons for the water dispenser in a refrigerator to not work. Again, some suggestions might sound a little strange. However, something as simple as an off switch on the refrigerator has been the cause before. Be sure to check the obvious potential issues before moving forward with complicated refrigerator repair. Let’s begin to cover this appliance repair problem and see what solutions we can come up with for a broken water dispenser on a refrigerator.

The cause of a water dispenser not working is usually either an installation issue, a filter problem or frozen water tubes:

New Refrigerator Installation Problems

You just purchased a brand new refrigerator for your kitchen with a water dispenser, but it is not dispensing water. The water dispenser has to be connected to the water line. That could be the problem.

If the new refrigerator is replacing a previous refrigerator that didn’t include an ice maker or water dispenser, there’s a possibility that you do not have a water line near this area of the kitchen. Most of the time a water line is commonly run from underneath a house either in a basement or crawl space. You can acquire this line at nearly any home repair store and they are pretty simple for the average homeowner to install. Usually they have come with a water shut-off valve, which is important so that if you need to relocate the refrigerator, you can shut off the water.

If there’s a water line, is the valve on? The valve handle should be lined up with the hose. And, is there water running through the pipe you have installed to connect the water line? Simple and questions, but things that have to be checked.

If you had to remove the doors during installation the water dispenser might not be plugged in. Review the owner’s manual to find the wire harness for the particular model of refrigerator. Check that it’s plugged into the refrigerator.

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

On some of the household refrigerators, there are different filters. These filters might “expire”, become clogged or freeze. All of the filters are dependent on the style and type of refrigerator. If the filter is blocked it will cause slow filling or no flowing at all. It is recommended that your filter is changed every 6 months. Changing filters in a refrigerator can be challenging. If you run into issues, go online and find the proper method to change a filter.

One recommendation is to fill the filter with water prior to installing it. A lot of time the water filters will take a long amount of time to fill, which might lead you to assume that the water dispenser is not working. You will want to read the owner’s manual if all else fails. To ensure it is not air caught in the lines, we recommend to depress the dispenser arm for about 5 minutes.

A frozen water tank might also be the reason for the issue as well on some refrigerators. If the water tank freezes it will leak onto the food bins. Small amounts of food inside of the fresh food bins will cause freezing to occur.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES