RC20FH-3AW Magic Chef Refrigerator - Instructions

Having watched the Maytag technician perform this same repair a few years ago, I was sure I could do it myself! The take down was quite easy. The actual repair was a little more difficult, as there isn't much space to work in. Others have posted their procedures and mine was no different, so I won't repeat what has already been said, other than to add that when I installed the heater assembly, I dropped a length of string ( with a small nut on the end for weight) down the inside of the cabinet alongside the evaporator, and tied the wiring to the string and pulled it through to the top. That metal flange and those fins on the evaporator are very sharp! I'm not comfortable working in gloves, so if you are, I suggest you wear them... The thermostat was simple 'plug and play'! The refrigerator/freezer is working fine now. Thanks to y'all at PartSelect for your prompt shipping of the parts that I ordered.

Pull box out ""unplug box"" empty frezer including storage baskets,place ice maker in off remove ice cube box, do not remove ice maker, useing nut driver loosen side rail screws about 1/4"slide basket rails in or out and pull to center of box should slip off screws, remove light bulb cover & bulb, remove 4 screws holding ice worm drive motor "" hold "" will fall it is atached to a electrial plug un plug and lay aside,unscrew back panle screws 4 left 4 right on back cover, " remove hiden screw at top center of back panel and pull up and pry out at bottom silde out downwerds,remove cross plates one center one bottom these hold defoster bars, unwind wires center defroster bar somewhat difecult bottom one just slide down unplug from panel at top behind where ice cube drive was located, replace new defroster assm reasemble defroster bars into cross bars wind in & plug up new wires behind cooling fins being carefule not to cut or nick wires of bend cooling fins replace screws,wires are 1 small plug 1 large,reinstall back panle top center screw first don't tighten aline side screw holes replace side screws then tighten top screw. Replace drive motor being sure to conect,replace bulb,bulb cover,side railes,bens,ice cube box & put ice maker lever in on poss. Plug box in weight 8 to 10 hours with box set at mfg 's starting settings. Should work like a charm.

I removed the cover that protects the freezing tubes, they were frozen solid,used my heat gun to melt away the ice, being very careful not to burn any wires. Then I removed the old heating coils,connected the new ones, replaced the cover and I was done. The thing that took the most time was melting the ice, you cant do it in a hurry because you may burn wires

removed back sheet from inside of freezer unit. removed upper and lower coil brackets. undid clips and replaced coils. reattached wires to top , replaced back sheet.

Unloading the freezer and removing the back panel were the most time consuming aspect of this repair. Many models only have 4 screws, but this one has 9, and being a side by side it was a tight fit to reach them. Once defrosted we tested the thermostat, found it "dead", and ordered a new one. The part came within 3 business days. Installing it took minutes, since we had not permanently screwed in the back panel again. We didn't want to reload everything until we knew things worked properly, so we didn't put everything back right away. We thought we had further problems as the freezer got really cold but the frig still didn't get down to temp. Turns out we just needed to reinstall the fan shield which we'd taken off along with other parts to access and check the vents. The fan shield must be in place to direct the cold air into the vent to the refrigerator. Duh! It was an oversight that once caught made total sense! Now all works fine on this 20 year old Maytag side by side!

This review would not be helpful if limited to this part. So I will describe the whole repair. The ice maker was first receiving too much water. This resulted in huge cubes and water dripping out of the ice maker compartment. I tried reducing the amount of water using the valve to the supply line. But then the ice maker stopped making ice. I jumped to the conclusion that the solenoid water valve needed to be replaced. The new valve was easily replaced, but no water was delivered to the ice maker. I then went to the web site and saw that 87% of the time it was the ice maker itself that needed to be replaced. I ordered one and it arrived quickly. Installing it was easy although I might never had figured out how to remove the electrical supply line to the old unit if I hadn’t watched the video. After installation no water went to the ice maker tray.

I had read a review saying that the supply line had frozen where it went into the ice maker. To check out that possibility I removed the line from the solenoid valve and tried to blow air through it. No air would pass. So I removed the ice maker so I could get at the possible ice obstruction. I repeatedly inserted a knife honing steel which I heated and reheated in hot water. Finally I heard water dripping to the floor from the supply line which I had left detached from the solenoid valve. Then I hooked everything up and ice making proceeded nicely. If the solenoid valve ever needs replacing, I have a extra one.