Norcold Ice Maker replacement
I determined that my Norcold Ice Maker was going to have to be replaced. Shpping on the internet I found prices ranging from $175 to $200. Example After further research I determined that a Whirlpoo...
Forum Discussion
Replace Icemaker (Ice Maker, replacement, Norcold, 1201LRIM, 1200)
Just an update for any who follow, as I just finished replacing my icemaker in my Norcold 1201LRIM 4-door refrigerator. Removal is not difficult after defrost and removal of 3 pairs of screws. At that point the icemaker is dangling by its wiring harness. You have to remove the cover from the left end of the assembly to get at the catch to release the wiring connector from the unit. Then the icemaker comes free.
The coating on the aluminum ice tray mold was in bad shape. A few months ago a half round piece of the coating was turned out of the mold with the ice at the left end. We couldn’t figure out what it was, where it came from, or what its function could have been :h . Since then we have been fighting with water drips at the left end that created icicles and ice blobs in (and sometimes out of) the ice bin below. It seems, as someone suggested somewhere in these threads, that the delaminating of the coating might have fostered a wicking or capillary action that drew some water up and over the edge of the mold, but I don’t know.
For replacement, I considered the Supco RIM943, which has an all plastic mold supported by an aluminum base which is heated by the u-shaped heater element (thank you mikestock), but in the end and on the suggestion of the DW, I went with the Whirlpool 4317943 Ice Maker Assembly ($74, Amazon). This unit is an exact replacement, with a coated aluminum tray, except the water fill cup has a ½” dia. hole in the right side for water input in other fridge models. To make it work in the Norcold, it would have been easy to seal that hole with package tape over the hole on both sides, and there is a removable cutout at the back of the cup to accommodate the Norcold fill tube. However, the 431793 comes without its own shut-off arm (the wire bail), so you have to remove that part from your old icemaker to put it on the new one. To remove the arm, I had to take the old icemaker apart (3 screws, then 2 more screws--easy), so I removed the old water cup with the shut-off arm from the old and transferred them together to the new. Prior to reinstallation, on the recommendation of another poster, I drilled a hole in the cover to make the water level screw available if I needed to adjust the water fill level later.
Otherwise, if you need to adjust, you have to de-mount the icemaker to get the cover off, perhaps multiple times for trial and error success :S . I put a piece of tape over the drilled hole. The wiring plug in the fridge plugs right into the new icemaker.
I don’t know about the guys who say it’s a 10-minute job, but now I have a dripless icemaker and maybe when I have to do it again it’ll only take a half hour or so! :)
Just an update for any who follow, as I just finished replacing my icemaker in my Norcold 1201LRIM 4-door refrigerator. Removal is not difficult after defrost and removal of 3 pairs of screws. At that point the icemaker is dangling by its wiring harness. You have to remove the cover from the left end of the assembly to get at the catch to release the wiring connector from the unit. Then the icemaker comes free.
The coating on the aluminum ice tray mold was in bad shape. A few months ago a half round piece of the coating was turned out of the mold with the ice at the left end. We couldn’t figure out what it was, where it came from, or what its function could have been :h . Since then we have been fighting with water drips at the left end that created icicles and ice blobs in (and sometimes out of) the ice bin below. It seems, as someone suggested somewhere in these threads, that the delaminating of the coating might have fostered a wicking or capillary action that drew some water up and over the edge of the mold, but I don’t know.
For replacement, I considered the Supco RIM943, which has an all plastic mold supported by an aluminum base which is heated by the u-shaped heater element (thank you mikestock), but in the end and on the suggestion of the DW, I went with the Whirlpool 4317943 Ice Maker Assembly ($74, Amazon). This unit is an exact replacement, with a coated aluminum tray, except the water fill cup has a ½” dia. hole in the right side for water input in other fridge models. To make it work in the Norcold, it would have been easy to seal that hole with package tape over the hole on both sides, and there is a removable cutout at the back of the cup to accommodate the Norcold fill tube. However, the 431793 comes without its own shut-off arm (the wire bail), so you have to remove that part from your old icemaker to put it on the new one. To remove the arm, I had to take the old icemaker apart (3 screws, then 2 more screws--easy), so I removed the old water cup with the shut-off arm from the old and transferred them together to the new. Prior to reinstallation, on the recommendation of another poster, I drilled a hole in the cover to make the water level screw available if I needed to adjust the water fill level later.
Otherwise, if you need to adjust, you have to de-mount the icemaker to get the cover off, perhaps multiple times for trial and error success :S . I put a piece of tape over the drilled hole. The wiring plug in the fridge plugs right into the new icemaker.
I don’t know about the guys who say it’s a 10-minute job, but now I have a dripless icemaker and maybe when I have to do it again it’ll only take a half hour or so! :)
