TRI16K (P7803238W) Amana Refrigerator - Instructions

After unplugging the appliance I needed to thaw a large ice buildup off the evaporator cover panel before I could even remove the panel. The freezer being on the lower part of the appliance has the evaporator mounted vertically and it was 100% encapsulated in rock hard ice. It took over an hour to thaw the ice and collect all the water with a shop vacuum, since the condensate pan began to overflow.
One thawed, I checked all wiring for good connection, checked heater, defrost thermostat, timer unit with multimeter. The defrost thermostat checked out fine after putting it into another freezer for a 15 minute cooldown, but I noticed a crack in the seal and suspected internal moisture and decided to replace that part. A simple plug in of two leads to the new part after clipping it to the evaporator, replacement of the panel, and the appliance was up and running problem free.
A workbench disection of the old part confirmed my assessment, it had internal rust and water and had failed causing the defrost cycle failure.

The refrig seemed warm so I checked the temp of some liquid with a thermometer. Readings were above 60 degrees and I knew food would spoil soon. I vacuumed the dog fur off the cooling coils underneath the machine to see if that would help. Nope. I realized cold air from the freezer was not reaching the refrig. The fan was working but no cold air was coming out. I figured a blockage either in the air duct from the refrig or in the return duct to the freezer. I didn’t see any blockage in the refrig section. I took everything out of the freezer and removed the back wall. The cooling coils were completely frozen solid with frost. Being a frost free machine, I knew there were heaters that were controlled by a timer that melted this frost away periodically and that this cycle was no longer working. I found a schematic on the web, maybe your site, and educated myself on the heater circuit. The circuit consisted of a timer, thermostat near the coils, and a cal rod heater all wired in series. The timer was easy to get to and being a mechanical device I figured it must be the culprit. I ordered one online. I checked its operation and it worked fine. Realizing time was short, I hot wired the cal rod around the thermostat and rotated the timer to its heat position. The frost melted quickly and I put the freezer back together and ordered a thermostat. I canceled the timer order. When it arrived, I installed the new thermostat and it has worked fine for the past month. A little colder than usual as I don’t yet have the settings back to where they were. I have checked the operation of the old thermostat. It’s supposed to close at 30 degrees and open at 45. I have done a continuity check on it by putting it in the freezer, letting it cool down, take it out, let it warm up and it seems to work fine. So I have doubts if I really solved the problem. Wire connections were tight and not corroded. Maybe the timer was hung up on debris that I freed by cycling it. I don’t think this is the end of the story.

Part received was what I needed. There was one issue--the 'feed' opening to receive water and direct it into the ice tray was a side feed and what I needed was a back feed. That means I had to do some exchanging of parts to make it work. That exercise took more time that the actual installation.

Replacing the icemaker is pretty simple. Three screws, an electrical connector. Hardest part is getting to the icemaker since the freezer is below the refrigerator.

, to remove the inlet tube holder/guide gadget thingee: (1) remove the three Phlipscrews from the motor end of the housing. (2) pull the housing straight off the end. (3) remove two Philips screws in deep holes that hold the ice tray onto the motor housing. (4) this frees the ice tray assembly, which you have to pull out, freeing the rotating blades, from which (5) you slide the sxle out of the middle of the inlet-tube thingee, so (6) you can then remove the inlet gadget from the ice tray.

You then reverse these instructions to reassemble with the correct inlet gadget. The tricky part is the front cover that hides the ice-tray from view. That cover has a couple of ears that have to fit into mating holes in the motor housing before you replace the two deep-hole Philips screws that hold the tighten the ice-tray assembly back onto the motor housing.

So it's too bad they don't see the ice-maker assembly with all the knock-outs inplace, so you can knock out the one you want. Other than that, it would have been no more trouble than other people have reported in working in the tight space inside the freezer compartment.

I read the previous repair story and agree with the author that the screw behind the front piece was difficult to remove and re-install. If I had a magnetized nut driver I think it would have been easier. There were no installation instructions so I relied upon the repair experiences. The other two screws came out easily and I found the harness release easily and the harness was easy to reinstall.
I am not a good handyman but was able to install the new ice maker

installed replacement ice maker kit. 1st removed power. next loosened 2 upper phillips screws. then removed lower phillips screw and lifted and removed old ice maker. released wiring connector and pulled entire unit out of freezer. then i reversed the procedure to install the old unit. check youtube for instructional videos.

Ice maker assembly required disconnection of the wire harness at the back of the freezer and the removal of 3 hex nuts. The assembly did not come with a new wire harness nor the rigid wire attached to the hinge that can be raised to stop production of ice. The wire harness was easy to disconnect from the old assembly by pressing in on a tab. The rigid wire attached to the hinge simply required pulling straight out of the hinge-hole (no need to twist, slide, or perform other contortions...it does require significant force to remove, but it does pull straight out). It was simple to attach it to the new ice assembly. Reinstalled the 3 hex nuts and wire harness plug and was good to go....after waiting several hours! I was worried at first because the unit did not immediately fill with water after I plugged the fridge back into the wall socket. However, after the freezer was cold enough, the water did run and I had my first ice dump within about 3 hours of finishing the installation. We have good ice again, and Partselect has excellent pricing and awesome delivery! I received the unit the day after ordering, and I had only paid the basic shipping! Thanks Partselect! Jeff

There are basically three screws that hold the unit in place on the inside of the freezer. Removing them is relatively easy, and the unit is replaced with the same three screws. You do have to use the formed metal wire from your old unit, so don't throw it out! You also have to use the wiring harness from your old unit.

Pop off six mounting screws and the ground screw. Remove the fan blade and reattach. Reinstall. Save yourself big bucks.

Removed the old icemaker and installed the new one. The first one we ordered lasted about 4 weeks and pooped out. Parts Select was very nice and gracefully sent another in two days time. This one has been installed and is working fine...Hope it stays that way.

Thanks...Ron Norwood

Replaced ice maker but now water valve wont work

Instead of the ice maker unclipping from the wall after one 1/4" screw being removed from the bracket, I had to remove three of the 4 Phillips head screws from the ice bucket slider below the ice maker and swivel it down to allow the ice maker bracket to clear. The two 1/4" screws holding the ice maker to the wall at the top had to be removed and then the ice maker could be pulled away from the freezer wall. The rest of the instructions went according to the video and went well.

I made use of instructions for other users, see 'My ice maker has been shedding.....' and they were very helpful. The one problem not covered - the instructions that came with the new icemaker said to 'remove the bearing and inlet from the old icemaker and install in the new icemaker', but gave no instructions for how to accomplish this.

The old inlet has a square opening in the back and a u-shaped knockout in the side. The new one has a round opening in the side and square knockout in the back)

After several attempts to remove them, I gave up and used the new inlet with the knockout removed. I did not attempt to cover the side opening and it worked fine that way - no leaks.

It's self-explanatory. The procedure is obvious; it's just a little difficult. The only hard part is attaching the mounting brackets to the fan. If you can't tighten the mounting bolts, loosen them and reposition the brackets. You might end up mispositioning them at first, because they are hard to reach.