KEMS308SSS05 KitchenAid Microwave Oven Combo - Overview

Part No. PS11766760
Ignore the other repair comments on this page!!! The new replacement part can no longer be put into place as simply as the original bracket. This is a r3eplacement part with a modified design. Significant parts of the microwave (MW) must be dismantled in order to provide access for insertion of the new part. This is confirmed by notes at other web sites which provide this part. My approach also required cutting/drilling holes into sheet metal panels.

Kitchenaid/Whirlpool must have realized that the original part is inherently weak at the point at which it is supported at the ceiling of the MW. The replacement part is a good option from a strength standpoint, but a horrible one for ease of insertion. The original is a single ceramic piece. The replacement part includes a metal clip which holds the top stem of the ceramic bracket from the top ("roof") side of the MW. Getting at the top of the MW cavity is the difficult part. One needs to pull the entire built in oven from its location and remove at least the control panel from the front of the unit.

It took me 3-4 hours one day to see how to install the replacement part. I failed since I unexpectedly found that there are two sheet metal panels above the MW cavity which need to be removed in order to access the slot through which the bracket stem must be inserted. Maybe somebody else can think of a way to remove the metal panels, but I could not do it so I put the MW back together again.

After this failure I considered trying to repair the original part again (this was the second time it had broken). The first repair broke when the conventional heating element was used in the MW. This option might again be an interim solution so I went back to trying to install the new replacement part.

This time it took over 3 hours to remove the control panel, several wiring units, a transformer, and several side and top sheet metal panels. Each removal step was preceded with a photograph of the item to be removed so that everything could be put back as they were originally located. After all of this work it was determined that the MW would have to virtually be totally dismantled in order to access the bracket slot at the top of the MW cavity. There were simply too many items on top of the sheet metal panels to allow for bending the panels up to access the necessary slot in the oven ceiling.

Fortunately, my wife asked why I didn't consider drilling through the existing sheet metal panels at the top of the MW. Had she suggested that earlier in the dismantling, it would have saved hours of work.

After reassembling the side panels I drilled access holes through the two sheet metal panels over the top of the MW oven. Certainly one needs to be careful in measuring the location for such holes. The holes were to be rectangular, developed by drilling multiple holes around the perimeters of the final "holes." The two sheet metal panels are about 3/4" apart and the lower panel is about 3/4" above the MW oven cavity. After drilling out the holes (about 1/2" x 1") I successfully found the desired slot in the oven ceiling. Then the drill cuttings needed to be cleaned out with a vacuum cleaner - including inside the MW oven.

Inserting the replacement part was not trivial. One needs to hold the ceramic part in the oven, with the heating element in its proper place on the bracket, and then simultaneously place the metal clip onto the stem which has been inserted through the slot at the top of the MW oven. Long tweezers are handy for putting the clip into place. Then the fun begins. Somehow the metal clip must be pushed down onto the ceramic stem. This is a trial and error task with various long blunt tools used to try and push the clip down while not pushing it off to the side. Somehow I got the clip onto the stem and the part was finally in place.

Another hour (+) to re-assemble the MW and push the oven back into the cabinet and the job was finally done.

btw, the only reason it was relatively easy to pull the oven out of the cabinet (and push it back in) was that we have two office chairs at home (without arms) which come up to about the right height for having the oven sit on the chairs. Adding some 2x4's on the seats of the chairs brought it to exactly the right height. The wheels on the chairs also helped. Given the weight of the oven, removing and replacing the oven unit is not a trivial task and one needs to be careful at all times.

There were several observations I made about the new replacement part which also "froze me in my tracks" early in this project. That is why I kept thinking of ways in which to repair the original part more effectively than I had done previously. The problem is that the ceramic section of the replacement part is not the same size as the original. It holds the heating element higher against the ceiling of the microwave and the horizontal section which holds the heating element is shor

Removed and replaced above named parts, rewired.Be sure to tighten all nuts that secure wires. I believe this is what caused the problem.

This was easy and I'm glad I didn't go to the trouble and expense of hiring an appliance repair person. I'm reasonably handy, but I really have no experience in this kind of repair. I'd like to mention that the part I ordered arrived in just two days and it was exactly the right part, so I was very pleased in that regard.

After turning off the circuit to the wall oven and confirming that the power was off, I had to remove the oven from the wall in order to access the wires and connections in the back. Normally, this wouldn't have been necessary because usually the broiler element can be disconnected from the clasps that connect it to the electric source by simply unscrewing the defective element from the roof of the oven, pulling gently on the connection ends from inside the oven cavity in order to "pull out" an inch or two of the electric source wires and the metal clasps that accept the "male" connecting ends of the broiler element. Once the a bit of the wire and the metal connecting clasps are exposed and able to be held with pliers, the element can be disconnected from the connector clasps by simply pulling on the prongs of the element (hard).

But in my case, one of the metal connecting clasp for one of the wires had melted, presumably when the element burned out, and that clasp could only be accessed and replaced from the back of the oven. Also, I would imagine that the wires and clasps could "slip" back behind the unit when they're disconnected if that's not done carefully. However, removing the wall oven was pretty easy for me -- even as a one-person job. I just put a tall table in front of it and slid it out so that it rested on the table.

If you have to replace a metal connector clasp, they're inexpensive and available in the electrical departments of hardware/home stores.

In my case, there's a metal panel at the back of the oven that had to be unscrewed and removed so that I could access the areas where the electrical source wires connect through the back wall of the oven to the broiler element. This was just a matter of removing a few screws and then removing the metal panel.

Once the metal panel at the back of the oven was removed, I was able to replace the melted connection clasp by using a wire cutter/stripper and then pliers to secure the clasp on the end of the exposed wired by deforming the clamp with the pliers. Once that was done, I simply removed the screws that held the broiler element to the top of the oven cavity, disconnected the remaining three clasps that connect the element to the source wires (the fourth clasp was the one that had melted and that I'd replaced), removed the defective element, inserted the four "male" prongs of the broiler into the four clasps that connect them to the source wires, replaced the metal panel at the back of the oven, screwed the new element back into the top of the oven, slid the oven back into the wall cavity, turned the circuit back on, crossed my fingers, and everything worked like a charm.

I saved a money, but more importantly (for me) I saved a lot of time that I would have had to have spent waiting around for a repair person.