What if you cannot get thermistors for Whirlpool Kenmore Refrigerator? Use 5k and 10k in parallel.

[WCelsiuss]

When repairing my Kenmore refrigerator, I was wondering if the thermistors were good and needed a quick replacement. 

The nominal room temperature  resistance of Kenmore and Whirlpool thermistors is 2.7kOhm, and they are somewhat rare to find.. The ones used in Samsung are 5kOhm and are more standard. Finally, most of thermometers use 10kOhm thermistors, they are cheap and widely available (for instance, here: https://www.amazon.com/KOKISO-Thermistor-Temperature-Stainless-Conditioner/dp/B0B4WZVSF3) or here (https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Thermistor-Sensitive-Temperature-Conditioner/dp/B07LGKS8HY). They are sold in packs or can be harvested from different equipment.

We know that parallel connection of two resistors reduces the resistance by half, and parallel connection of four reduces it 4 times. 

Thus, one can use two 5kOhm Samsung thermistors in parallel to replace one Kenmore / Whirlpool thermistors, or 4 10K in parallel to do the same. Having several thermistors instead of one may be even advantageous if they are placed in several spots of the refrigerator chamber - they will average temperature in these spots. You can also tie them together with sticky tape or glue them in the spot where failing thermistor resided. 

There is a small error (because 5/2=2.5kOhm vs 2.7kOhm) from such replacement, but this error will be ~1 degree and is smaller than the difference of temperatures in different zones of the refrigerator. 

[16345Ed]

On 12/5/2023 at 1:18 AM, WCelsiuss said:

Having several thermistors instead of one may be even advantageous if they are placed in several spots of the refrigerator chamber - they will average temperature in these spots.

Where are you going to put them and how are you going to wire them?

I can’t remember ever having trouble finding a whirlpool thermistor. What’s the part number?