Why is My Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working?

broken refrigerator water dispenser

Is the water dispenser on your refrigerator not working? If not, you can attempt to repair the issue by yourself or call Yates Appliance Repair for professional refrigerator repair.

There are several reasons for a water dispenser in a refrigerator to stop working. Again, some of the reasons could sound a little strange. However, something as simple as a power switch has been the culprit before. Be sure to inspect the more obvious potential issues before proceeding with refrigerator repair. Let’s begin to cover this appliance repair problem and see all of the solutions we can come up with for a broken water dispenser.

The cause of a water dispenser not dispensing is commonly either an installation issue, a filter failure or frozen water lines:

Refrigerator Installation Issues

You just bought a new refrigerator for your kitchen with a water dispenser, but it is not working. The water dispenser has to be hooked up to the water line. That could be the issue.

If the brand new refrigerator is replacing a previous refrigerator that didn’t have an ice maker or water dispenser, there’s a chance that you don’t have a functioning water line running to this area. A water line is usually run from underneath the house either in a crawl space or basement. You can purchase this line at just about any home repair store and they are pretty easy for the typical homeowner to install. Usually they have include a water shut-off valve, which is important so that if you need to relocate the refrigerator, you can shut off the water.

If you have 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 that you have used to connect the water line? Obvious and basic questions, but things that have to be accounted for.

If you removed the doors during installation it is possible the water dispenser may not be plugged in. Review the manual to see the wire harness for the particular refrigerator. Check that it is plugged into the refrigerator.

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

On some of the popular refrigerators, there are different filters. These filters could “expire”, become clogged or freeze. All filters are dependent on your style and brand of refrigerator. If your filter is blocked it will cause slow filling or no flowing period. It is recommended that your filter should be changed every 6 months. Replacing filters can be hard sometimes. If you have issues, go online or call us and learn the right process to replace a filter.

One idea is to fill up the water filter with water prior to installation. A lot of time the water filters will need a long amount of time to fill up, which could lead you to believe that the water dispenser on the refrigerator is not working right. You should read the manual if nothing is working. To be sure it’s not air caught in the water lines, we recommend to depress the dispenser arm for about 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 could cause freezing to occur.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES