Common fault
Why has my ice maker stopped making ice?
Short answer
Read the cubes first, because anyone naming a part before that is guessing.
Why that is usually the answer
Short, hollow or half formed means the mold is not getting the water it was built to fill with, and the causes run in this order: cartridge, supply pressure, inlet valve screen, fill tube starting to ice. Nothing at all from a freezer that is otherwise cold is the opposite end of the machine, where nothing is harvesting, which puts it on the module, the thermostat that triggers it, or its motor. The two repairs are unrelated, and the wrong one changes nothing you can see.
Where it usually turns out to be
Ice demand in South Orange County is seasonal in a way that hides the fault. A cartridge and an inlet valve that coped perfectly through the winter get found out in July, when the bin is emptied several times a day and the machine that seemed fine in March is suddenly turning out short cubes. So the first move is to measure supply pressure at the valve rather than take the machine's word for it, then check cartridge age and pull the fill tube for ice, and only then look at the harvest side.
Undercounter ice machines are a separate animal and they live in the worst possible spot for one. They reject heat forward through a narrow grille, usually into a cabinet run with no clearance behind it, and a condenser closed up with dust, or with salt in the houses near the harbor and the pier, will halve production without the machine reporting a single fault. If output has dropped by half rather than stopped altogether, that is where we start.
If that matches what yours is doing, say so when you call — it decides which parts come on the van.
The appointment booking was easy, the technician arrived promptly, and my freezer works perfectly now. Clear communication all around. Dependable Sub-Zero repair service.
The fridge side kept drifting warm every afternoon and came back fine by morning, so I had half convinced myself I was imagining it. He came out the same day, pulled the lower grille and showed me the fins crusted white with salt off the harbor. Cleaned, and it has held since.
Called on a Sunday night about water pooling under the built-in and someone actually picked up. Next morning he found the drain iced shut, cleared it properly, and put a level across the cabinet because it had tipped forward over the years. Ran the dispenser before he left.
Appliance down in Orange County?
Tell us the brand and what it is doing — we can usually name the likely repair before we arrive.
Questions
Answers before you call
Does the salt air near the harbor and the pier really change what breaks?
It changes what fails first. Marine air lays salt on the aluminum condenser fins, which corrode and close up from the inside, so a coil that looks clean passes a fraction of the air it was built for. The refrigerator side, with less margin, drifts each afternoon while the freezer carries on. Grille screws seize and fan hubs hum. Inland the coil only gets dusty.
Can you work on a built-in without pulling it out of the cabinetry?
Nearly always. The condenser is reached through the lower grille, and the evaporator and its fan sit behind an interior panel. With stone counters, custom panel fronts and tight island runs, dragging a column forward risks the surround and the flooring more than the fault does. A unit comes out only when the fault leaves no other way, and you are told first.