KBRC36FTS07 KitchenAid Refrigerator - Water dripping into front of ice tray and ice clumping at rear

[AppliancePirate]

Model Number

KBRC36FTS07

Brand

KitchenAid

Age

6-10 years

My KBRC36FTS07 has had an issue since we moved into this house a year ago where the ice bin tends tends to form clumps at the rear of the pull out ice tray. For a while I thought it was that we were just always grabbing ice from the front and the constant opening of the freezer drawer was slowly melting them together. A few weeks ago I noticed water dripping and freezing onto the top of the ice tray edge (right above the left rail it sits on - see photo). I started putting the pieces together and now assume water was actually somehow getting into the ice tray. I thought I saw a crack in the ice mold, so I purchased a replacement ice mold from you guys (great service btw!). I knew the lining was going bad anyway because I've seen a few pieces of the coating end up in our ice tray over the last few months and only recently figured out it was coming from the mold after spending some time on these forums.

Well, I have the whole freezer area disassembled and to my disappointment I don't see any cracks in the mold itself. I filled it up on the counter to test and the underside is dry as a bone. So I'm assuming I have an issue with the amount of water going into the ice mold? While dissembling everything, I was able to see where the leak at the front is coming from (see attached photo where the ice mold meets the icemaker assembly). There was a slow but steady drip coming from there while I was working to fully remove the assembly. With no cracks in the mold itself, I have to assume water is getting over the round cutout the plastic arm sits on at the front of the icemold and dripping down?

Any ideas on what I should be looking at or further testing to confirm my issue? I do see the water fill adjustment screw on the right side of the icemaker. I've thought about reassembling with the new ice mold and trying to reduce the fill level but I'd hate to spend 2 hours putting this all back together only to have to take it all apart again. Fortunately, I have a basement refrigerator so while an inconvenience I can make do if there's another part I should be ordering.

In my research, it looks like possible things to further investigate would be the water valve properly closing/filling with the correct amount of water or replacing the entire ice maker assembly (which I believe comes with the ice mold? but appears to be out of stock at the moment). Any thoughts on what I should be doing next to get this resolved?

PS - We've always had to manually turn off the ice maker using the on/off switch once the tray filled up otherwise it would overflow. Well, with everything out of the way the metal bar that is supposed to turn the ice maker off wasn't attached to the icemaker (it's completely missing - no idea what happened to it and/or if it's related to my issue). Can you help me with a link or part number to that piece as well?
Thanks!

 

[rickgburton]

We don't recommend repairing those style ice makers. It's cheaper in the long run to just replace it.

Whirlpool WPW10277450 Icemaker (AP6018435) - AppliancePartsPros.com

Note: The icemaker does not include the harness or the shut off arm., WPW10277450 / AP6018435 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

 

[AppliancePirate]

Thanks - I'll order that new part from you guys. Am I right in understanding that comes with the icemold as well? Also - could you help me with the shutoff arm I need for this model? I can't find it for the life of me. Thanks!

 

[rickgburton]

It's the complete ice maker, ice mold and shut off arm included.

 

[AppliancePirate]

Ok great! It says shut-off arm not included but I guess that's just a typo in the description. Thanks again for all your help - I'll come back to mark this solved once I get the new pieces from you and it all installed.

 

[rickgburton]

Sounds good. Keep us posted. If the bail arm doesn't come with the new ice maker it just pulls out of the rear cup and then pulls out of the power module.

 

[AppliancePirate]

Sounds good. Keep us posted. If the bail arm doesn't come with the new ice maker it just pulls out of the rear cup and then pulls out of the power module.

I finished installing the new icemaker yesterday at 5pm. Freezer was reading 0* by 9pm. It's 9am the following day and I have no ice...

Bail arm is down in the "on" position and the ice maker switch is also in the "on" position. I feel like I should have ice by now...

Is it normal to still not have anything? I don't see/feel any water in the mold so I'm fairly confident it hasn't tried to start a new cycle yet.

Did I get a defective unit or can it take this long? The old unit was making ice so I don't think there is an issue beyond the icemaker component. Would it be impatient of me to jump T & H and see if the units rotates and fills the mold at the end of the cycle or should I give it another 6-8 hours?

 

[rickgburton]

I usually tell everyone to wait 24 hours . Those style ice makers start slow but pick up after 24 hours

 

[AppliancePirate]

Hi Rick - thanks for continuing to follow along!

Sadly, I have now crossed the 24 hour mark with no ice and an empty ice mold... Where do I go from here?

 

[rickgburton]

The old one was working, correct? You just unplugged the old one and plugged in the new one? Did you need to replace the bail arm? It sounds like you got a bad new ice maker.

 

[AppliancePirate]

The old one was working, correct? You just unplugged the old one and plugged in the new one? Did you need to replace the bail arm? It sounds like you got a bad new ice maker.

Correct - the old one was working. I just had that drip/ice clumping issue I mentioned up above and the ice mold was peeling so you suggested just buying a whole new icemaker unit. I did that and all I did was unplug the harness from the old icemaker and connect it to the new. I was missing the bail arm on the old unit (which is why it always overflowed ice). I purchased a new bail arm as well and connected it to the new icemaker after I had it all bolted in. Flipped it down to the "on" position and turned my icemaker switch back "on".

Sounds like I should call in and get a replacement going?

 

[rickgburton]

Sounds like a bad ice maker. Take the white cover off the power module and locate holes "L" and "N". Check for 120 VAC. Did you have any trouble with the bail arm? If you lift it up does it have a definite off position?

icemaker switch back "on".

What switch?

 

[AppliancePirate]

Sounds like a bad ice maker. Take the white cover off the power module and locate holes "L" and "N". Check for 120 VAC. Did you have any trouble with the bail arm? If you lift it up does it have a definite off position?

What switch?

The bail arm went on pretty straight forward. I just clipped in both ends. When I raise it there is a clear stop where it stays raised which I assume is the off position. And then I can drop it back down to the on position.

I will check for voltage now.

I just called in to their customer support and was told to jump T & H to see if it goes into harvest mode. They are also telling me to check for 120 at the water inlet valve but I don't think I got the best person on the line...she didn't seem happy.

I'm attaching a photo of the switch to the left of my ice bin that allows me to turn ice production on/off. Thanks!

 

[rickgburton]

I've been working off a schematic for a similar model KBRC36FMS01 It doesn't show that switch. So let me see if I can locate the tech sheet for that model. Don't listen to customer support. There's no point in jumping "T" and "H" if you don't have 120 VAC across "L" and "N". You can't check for 120 VAC at the water valve because the fill cycle is at the end of a harvest cycle and at the moment you don't have a harvest cycle.

 

[AppliancePirate]

Ok - so with the freezer door switch taped closed (the freezer light turns off) I tested L and N and I'm not reading any voltage. Obviously no surprise but jumping T & H didn't initiate a cycle but again I wouldn't have expected anything different given I'm not seeing 120. They are sending a replacement ice maker. Although, I'm not sure if not seeing 120 at L & N indicates a different problem...

Also - I hope you tell me how to get you your favorite bottle of whatever once this thing starts dropping ice!

 

[rickgburton]

They are sending a replacement ice maker.

It won't do any good. If you don't have 120 VAC at that ice maker it won't be there for the replacement ice maker...lol. It must have something to do with your installation of the new ice maker. The old one worked so it had 120 VAC. Check your wire harness connection on the ice maker.

 

[AppliancePirate]

It won't do any good. If you don't have 120 VAC at that ice maker it won't be there for the replacement ice maker...lol. It must have something to do with your installation of the new ice maker. The old one worked so it had 120 VAC. Check your wire harness connection on the ice maker.

Ok - let me pull this thing back apart. When I get it disassembled, can I check for 120 at the harness where it goes into the icemaker? Any idea which wires/pins that would be? Maybe I can trace L and N back. Most of the videos I see the harness has a plug at the ice maker end as well as to the back of the fridge. But on mine, the harness comes through a grommet at the back so I never even unplugged that side. Hard to believe I messed "plugging something back in" but then again perhaps not surprising lol. All I can think of is maybe when I moved the icemaker around to get it out of the fill tube I messed with wherever the harness goes on the other side of the grommet on the back of the fridge.

Such a pain with these pull out drawers because you can't even see the ice maker. Door and rails need to come off but I'm sure you know all about that.

 

[AppliancePirate]

Well... I took everything back apart and nothing seemed loose/improperly seated. I checked for power at the harness (black and white wires) and I'm not getting anything there. There is also another plug that drops into the rail assembly that I removed for better access to the ice maker but I'm not sure what it does (see attached picture). Anyway - it has a 6 wire connector and I also checked for power on the white and black at that plug and didn't get any voltage.

So...what did I do? Is there a fuse somewhere I blew? The fridge and freezer seem to otherwise be working just fine. My wife is giving me 24 hours before I have to call someone in lol. Guess she likes ice cubes more than me...

 

[rickgburton]

OK, you need to hold the light switch in when checking the voltage. Access the main control board and measure the voltage across P6-5 (black) and P5-4 (white) This is supply voltage to the ice maker.