If you only use your ice maker for 2-3 drinks per day, you probably haven’t noticed how long it takes for your ice maker to make ice. It seems like there’s always ice in there, right? But as your demand increases, you may be scratching your head wondering why your ice maker isn’t filling up as quickly as you expect. The good news is that if your ice maker isn’t making enough ice, the problem could be fixed with a few small tweaks.
How long does an ice maker take to make ice?
Bear in mind that your refrigerator’s ice maker is not a super-hero. The ice maker will only produce a certain amount of ice in a given time. The amount of time it takes to make 1 tray of ice is called a Cycle. During the ice maker’s cycle, the ice tray is filled with water, the water is frozen, and the ice cubes are dumped in the ice bin.
How Much Ice Does an Ice Maker Make / Day?
A really good refrigerator ice maker will produce 8 to 10 cubes every 90 minutes. In this case, your ice maker should cycle around 16 times each day yielding around 130 cubes in a 24 hour period. This estimate will vary depending on the ice tray size and actual cycle time of your specific machine.
Typical Ice Maker Capacities
Typical refrigerator ice maker will produce from 3.5 to 6.6 lbs per day.
Typical refrigerator ice makers will hold from 4-11 lbs per day.
How Many Cups of Ice Does an Ice Maker Yield Per Day?
A full glass of ice takes about 10-12 ice cubes. This means that your refrigerator ice maker will produce enough ice for about 6-8 glasses during a 24-hour cycle.
In other words, if you fill 6 glasses of ice for drinks with your guests, you’ve depleted your ice maker’s daily capacity. It will take another 90+ minutes to produce enough ice for just 1 refill.
If you still feel your ice maker is not working at full efficiency, you need to diagnose the problem. Here is a list of quick checks before you call a technician of help:
Common Icemaker Issues
1. The water pressure is too low. The water pressure coming into the refrigerator’s water line must be sufficient to properly fill your ice maker tray. If your home water pressure isn’t supplying at least 40 psi, ice production could be delayed or halted.
2. The refrigerator water filter needs to be changed. The water filter can become clogged, which restricts the water supply into the ice maker. Your refrigerator water filter should be changed every 6 months.
3. The ice maker is off. This might sound like an obvious point, but your ice maker may be in the off position without your knowledge. The feeler arm can get stuck in the off position, which will cause your ice maker to stop functioning after the bin is filled.
4. It’s too warm to freeze the ice. Check the temperature of your freezer. The temperature must be 0 degrees F for your ice maker to properly make ice.
5. The door is not properly closed or is frequently opened. Similar to #4, if the door is left ajar or continuously opened, the temperature of the freezer will not be cold enough to produce ice.
If you still haven’t identified the issue with your refrigerator ice maker, contact your local refrigerator repair technician for a full diagnosis and repair.
