RC22KN-3BW (CS36A) Admiral Refrigerator - Instructions

I pulled the drive ring off of the icemaker and replaced it with the new part. Saved a $150 service call plus cost of part. It cost me a little over $11.00 and a repairman probably would have charged $30.

replaced the water valve - just precautionary with unit age.
Problem was ice tray coating was breaking down causing ice to stick during harvest cycle - refill would cause water to overflow to bin.

Removed bottom screw, loosen 2 top screws, lift ice maker up and lay over to expose wiring harness, unplugged, then reversed installation
Make sure fill tube in back of ice machine is positioned in fill trough

Recommend that on any installation use a commercial grade water filter system and change filters annually, this is the first repair because of that- unit is 18 years old

commercial refrigeration guy

had to saw off the shaft to get the yoke off and tap the holes for the 8/32 screws. all holes should have been tapped by the factory. Other than these problems, everything else went pretty good.

evaporator coils were frozen solid and air wasn't flowing across them

read all directions first, then consider which steps you'd like to take

in any case...
- check for blockages in the upper and lower air vents that allow air from freezer side to cool the fridge-side
- inspect that the fan in the freezer side is actually turning and not blocked


- if no blockages and air is flowing between the sides...

- unplug the unit
- remove all goods from freezer and fridge
- remove freezer side racks
- remove rear panel on freezer side using philips screwdriver (note that the ice-cube tray motor housing must be freed by removing its screws. it can be pull out a bit to get to a single screw holding the top of the rear panel in place)
- allow the evaporator coils to evaporate all ice off, checking the drain pan under the fridge frequently - accelerate the process using a hair dryer or paint stripper (heat gun)
- disconnect the white wires from the connection block located about 2/3 of the way up the rear wall and check resistance using an ohmeter (see specs on back of fridge on circuit diagram)
- if you get a very high resistance reading, the heater element is likely broken. if so...
-- remove the 2 metal shields located horizontally across the evaporator coils (behind them are the two series-connected defrost heater elements)
-- visually inspect the elements - if they are discolored green or black, remove and inspect more closely (most likely they are blown, just like a light-bulb filament that shows black on the glass)
-- if you see nothing, remove them anyway (since high reading) and check connectors
-- replace them (likely only $30 to $75, depending on type)

- if coils seem ok, or if not suspect, check the defrost thermostat WHILE IT IS STILL IN A WORKING/COLD FREEZER.
- get the defrost thermostat into a coil chamber (other freezer or bucket of ice?) and check resistance using an ohmeter. It must be WELL-BELOW 40F to test it. When it is truly immersed in cold (as it would be in a working freezer), test the resistance. it should be 0-ohms when <<40F and some much higher resistance (>200KOhms) when > 40F.
- if not, replace it

-lastly, if neither the defrost heater elements are bad nor the defrost thermostat is bad, open up the defrost timer
-- the defrost timer is located in the fridge side, likely with the fridge thermostat knobs/controller
-- it is a 5-pin part that cannot be repaired. If all else is checked, most likely the defrost element is never coming on because the timer is not turning it on

I did not do the repair yet, there is no schematic on how to route the hose; also no description of how to do the routing/connections.

Loosen the screws on the sidewall (don't take them all the way out and drop them on the floor as I did) and remove the screw from the bottom bracket. Change out the electrical wires and the wire level sensor that does not come with the new unit. Put the new one in place and give it some time to cool down and make ice ( don't be impatient like I was and think the new unit was bad or that you replaced the wrong part)

I took out 1 screw , unplugged the icemaker and lifted it out and installed the new one and had ice in no time at all. can't get much easier.

Just kept working on it.

Followed the online PartSelect video instructions and it was very helpful. The ice maker has to cycle through before it starts making ice so don't be alarmed when nothing happens when you first hook it up.

Merely remove the front bottom screw that attached the ice maker to the refrigerator
Lift the ice maker gently off of the 2 top screws
Unplug the icemaker wiring harness from the back of the refrigerator, and remove
Snap off the end of the maker and remove the keeper for the wire arm
Remove the wire arm and install on new maker
Unplug the wiring harness from the old maker and plug into the new one
Plug the harness into the refrigerator, slip the new maker over the top screws, with the water feed tube inserted into the maker
Install bottom screw into the bracket that holds it in place.
This took less than 5 minutes.

Removed old ejector arm and installed new part.

Remove bottom screw loosen 2 top screws unplug connector from back of icebox. Lift up and pull forward. Swap front cover full bucket stop bar and wire (plugs in) reinstall 10 minute job

the diagnosis was the most difficult step.. and trusting that the one visible nut was the only thing holding it on.. (there are 2 other clips that you need to use a little force on to detach). remove the ice maker (one nut, 2 clips, detach plug).. then remove the 3 screws holding on the 'face' , pry face off, you will see where the 'contact' has burned/melted/worn away. replace unit. 80% of the time, this is the problem (according to my research)

First had to remove baskets and door from freezer. Removed three screws; removed old ice maker; Attached new ice maker with three screws; removed arm from old ice maker and placed in the new ice maker. Replaced door and baskets

Since it was an older appliance I decided to replace the whole ice maker assembly. I carefully disassembled the old one and then installed the new one. piece of cake.