KA Icemaker Saga May Be Over Soon

[rp2813]

I mentioned in another icemaker-related thread that our KA Artisan that's just approaching a year old has trouble getting the crescents from the mold and into the in-door bin without dropping a couple to the bottom of the freezer or onto shelves somewhere in between.

Service techs have been out here three times, the last visit on 6/11/09 when the entire icemaker was changed out. We still have the problem although not quite as bad as before. The last guy out (it has been a different tech each time) advised that we should contact KA directly to get their opinion if the problem wasn't resolved by replacing the assembly.

Today I called KA and was advised that within 48 hours I'll be getting a call back about replacing the entire fridge. OK by me. And I'm hopeful about KA doing the right thing. This isn't some cheapie machine and it should perform all of its functions correctly and for a number of years at least. I'll advise that I'm a repeat customer where KA fridges are concerned, and that the Superba we left behind at the other house never had a problem in the 5 years we owned it, including with the identical ice making system, and that I'll think twice about buying KA or WP in the future if they don't do right by me on this one.

Anybody have any experience with KA or WP doing a swap like this?

Ralph

 

[sudsmaster]

Good luck with that. It sounds like this is the most, short of a full refund, that KA can do.

I wish I had pursued the caved in door problem on my KA top freezer. Now that the sides of the cabinet have started caving in, a complete replacement is probably the only real solution. I will probably wind up replacing it and never buying Whirlpool/KA for a fridge again. Samsung seems to make a good french door bottom freezer ;-).

 

[rp2813]

Yeah, got a call from a guy named Jake at WP yesterday and he advised we'd been through enough with this issue so they'd be bringing out a new model KSCS25FVMS in 7 to 10 days. Our current fridge ends in FTMS so I'm guessing the alpha character "V" indicates 2009 instead of 2008. It's the same fridge otherwise.

I've been happy with all WP/KA fridges I've owned other than this one, and this one is not the one we selected off of the warehouse sale floor and we think it was returned once before. So now it'll be history and I'm hopeful that our icemaker issues will be over. Never had this problem on the Superba model we had at our other place with the same ice making system.

Ralph

 

[mixfinder]

Artisan Appliances without an artisan repairman

I am pleased for you. It isn't often a manufacturer will replace a machine. I was sad to see Kitchenaid offered up at Sears, Lowes and Home Depot. Not having a store specific service department is becoming more problematic for all of us. Your heart sinks as you watch a repairman take your $2,000.00 appliance apart, while referring to a book and then using a call center to field questions. Kitchenaid is a Whirlpool in drag, the wealthy relative of Sears and Roper. One door on a stainless Kitchenaid could not be disassembled for repair and when the ice maker sensor failed, it required a $750.00 door. It doesn't read well on the Kitchenaid site. Stainless shrouding has also caused issues with heat retention and circuit board failure in many ranges. My advice to anyone needing a repair on a Kitchenaid out of warrantee, is to find an older, seasoned repairman who can cross reference the parts from the other names the appliance is sold under and get you back on the road a bit cheaper.

 

[rp2813]

I also asked one of the techs if it was really no longer necessary to vacuum the condenser coils underneath the cabinet. He advised that the coils should still be vacuumed at least once a year, more often if you have indoor pets. Why would manufacturers be telling people they no longer need to vacuum the coils for any other reason than to sell another refrigerator when the unvacuumed one fails after several years of progressively less cooling power?

 

[sudsmaster]

The coils under my KA fridge are spaced very close together, it's pretty much impossible to get a vacuum tool in between them. The best I've been able to do is to vac the front side of them, which I suppose helps a bit. I've also run a coil brush down inside them but not sure that does much either.

Probably some people have damaged the coils by trying force a vacuum tool into them, so on average it might be better just to tell customers to leave them alone.

 

[rp2813]

Yeah Rich, I noticed on our Superba at the other place that the coils were configured differently than on previous fridges I've dealt with. No way to get past the front row of them. They are configured front to back rather than on top of each other. Like you, I vacuumed what I could without forcing the crevice tool anywhere else.

Ralph