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.

  • Barbecue Cowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    3·
    19 days ago

    Above could be right though. If you can find a fridge ice maker that has lasted more than a few years without needing repairs, we all need to know. The failure here may be the ‘safety’ feature and continuous functionality may have been an at best minor concern.

    I’m always wary of working on heating elements, don’t over engineer it if you try to fix it and it could just be arcing like you suspect… but just remember that the wear/increased resistance on other items leading to that burned out contact may have contributed to that specific piece failing and you maybe should be thankful that it failed.

    • Soapbox@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      19 days ago

      I have a 2003 Kenmoore fridge that came with the house that won’t die. Ice maker works perfect. No repairs needed in the decade I’ve had it.

      • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        1·
        19 days ago

        I’ve found that the ones that deposit ice into a glass for you aren’t very durable because they dont always seal completely, leading to icing on parts of the mechanism, which ends up freezing everything solid, and puts a lot of strain on the parts. This one is dead simple, so it should be pretty durable, but here we are.

    • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      19 days ago

      Yeah, I suppose it would be different if this was the heating element of something that only gets used under supervision. There doesnt appear to be any kind of fuse, unless there’s one on the fridge side upstream of the ice maker.

      Maybe I am better off replacing it and just keeping this one around for spare parts (I’m wishing I had done that when I replaced the first one).