Kohler steam generator float switch repair part 1

[@RealFrankyDog]

I want to thank you for making these videos. It’s the only place on the internet I could find where someone was trying to repair their kohler steam generator themselves and they gave me the courage to take mine apart after months of no error but also no steam. Since our water is so hard I just expected to have to descale the tank. I was right that there was all sorts of Limescale coating and a pile of lime fragments but I also noticed the heating coils looked bad. Still I filled the tank with boiling vinegar water mix and left it for a day. After draining it I could see the Limescale significantly decreased or gone but with a better look at the heating coils they looked really bad. Still I hooked it up and no steam. So then I figured I needed new heating coils but I thought you said in your video that they don’t sell parts. Eventually I went to the kohler website and saw they sell the heating kit for around $80. Just installed it by taking the old heaters out and putting in the new ones. The smaller old coil was completely broken in one spot and the larger old coil was split in many spots with one split only connected narrowly. Put it all back together, confirmed no leaks, power on and immediately got steam like it were brand new. I’ve hesitated getting it fixed fearing I’d have to spend a lot of money on plumbers and the. I just assumed it would break in a year and I’d have to do it all over again. Now I know how I can descale hopefully before the coils corrode but even if that happens I know I’ll be able to fix it myself. More owners need to know they can maintain and fix these units pretty easily.

[@nkrump]

I found this very helpful. Thank you.

[@87Blkjack]

How did you get the float detached from the solenoid tee?

[@davaoklahoma9610]

Bit of a long shot but...in one of these you commented you had found some after market parts for some pieces, is that information you can share? I had a contact break on my coil, looking to just replace it. Mine is the same year as yours.

[@dmeares7062]

I have one, love it. But with no error messages it blows the breaker. I think that this might be beyond my ability to mess with. Thanks for the video.

[@highdesert9]

If it's blowing the breaker without a code I would pull the unit as see what's shorting out. I had a similar situation where one of the leads to the heating element burned off and it caused the breaker to trip. I was able to tig weld a new bolt onto the end of the one that burned off and put it back into service. You could at least find out why the breaker trips even if you can't to the actual repair.

[@dmeares7062]

Since my warranty is long up, I'll give this a try. Kohler is too busy to answer my call so now I wait for email response to my problem. I am working on the last video of this set. I had opened the external covers to look it over, but had no idea what the parts were doing. I especially liked the diagram and explanation of the purging process.