I replaced my fridge ice maker a few years ago because part of the circuitry burned out. The replacement has also now burned out (though not nearly as badly). For reference, the burned part is supposed to hold onto the end of a copper peg that leads to the heating element (which melts the ice slightly so it can be popped out of the mold).
It seems silly to spend $60 on a new one when it’s just $0.05 worth of copper that needs replacing. Is there a safe way to fix this? Unfortunately, I can’t just solder the connection because it is enclosed when assembled. For reference, those tabs aren’t just fouled, they are burned completely through. My first thought is to pull out the whole trace, solder on new tabs (not sure where I’d get the material), and put the trace back in.
What is the resistance of your heating element and what is it supposed to be? If it is lower than it’s supposed to be that can cause it to draw more current than that connection is rated for.
Resistance is 52 ohms. Element says it’s a 260 W element on 115V, so it’s designed for 2.26 amps, which would be 51 ohms. Thats gotta be within spec.
I still would not do this but I will admit it’s possible that it’s just a bad/poorly designed connection causing this failure. If you had gotten to it before it had burned up maybe shimming between the tabs and the plastic would help tighten the connection. I do not have a good source for the electrical connectors that you need for this repair or a strategy for removing the trace to help with the solder.
I have used jlcpcb.com when building my own circuits with great results tho and they might have a connector that works for you or AliExpress.