10689489700 Kenmore Ice Maker - Overview

Took all the screws out of the plastic shroud that encloses the switch .There only four that I needed to remove, were the two in front where the switches that go,they go in horizontally and two in the back with large washers on them that hold the back to the top of the box that go in vertically.The switch was a snap ( make that two snaps ... Read more ) the wiring is almost self explanatory. then it gos back to the way you took it off. OH! and don't forget to turn the light bulb all the way back in to the socket , so the light will work after you take the time to install it yourself.I had the water supply line from under the box to the water dispenser in the door and the total bill on that was one hundred thirty seven and a hand full of change.Don't be afraid to do it yourself the savings is enough on one one item to make several months payments on a new one Randy the "Handy Man'

I removed the 2 screws on each side of the grid and disconnected the electrical plugs attached to the grid. I slid the broken unit out. I then carefully slid the new unit in making sure not to pinch any of the electrical wires. I replaced the mounting screws, plugged the 3 connectors back into place and turned the ice maker back on. I ha ... Read more d ice cubes within a couple of hours

I removed the cutter grid and unplugged the light bulb and wire heating plug ins. I slid the front cover plate off the cutting grid and loosened the screws on the front of the cutter grid and unthreaded the broken, top grid wire, leaving the bottom wire in place as it was in tact.
I then threaded the new wire through the cutting gri ... Read more d frame starting in the center and threading right and then left. While the threading was not difficult, the wire was easily kinked. The process up to this point was only 15 minutes or so.

Once it was completely threaded, I worked for a couple of hours trying to smooth and straighten the wire so that is was somewhat taut and straight enough to create symetrical ice cubes.
My frustration came in pulling on the wire from the center point to each outside ending point where it was to be wrapped around the screw and the screw tightened back down. The wire was fragile enough that it would break, by the time I was finished I barely had enough wire left to touch the screw let alone hook around the screw.
After 3 or four days of successful opperation, the grid quit cutting again. As I took it apart, it was obvious that the weight of the ice was enough to pull the wire, that was already too short, away from the screw. I refastened it again, but think it is unlikely to hold.
If it won't hold, I would be hard pressed to purchase another wire. I may bite the bullet and purchase the entire grid mechanism with the wires already installed. Even though the cost of the entire grid mechanism is $200 more than the purchase of another wire, it may well be worth the ease of installation!