Installing Defroster Heater without clips - Risks/Concerns?

[cluelessYVR]

Hello all,

The defroster heater on my fridge has died and the replacement I was shipped from F&P does not match what is installed on my fridge.

Yesterday I had defrosted the fridge and got to the old heater before I finally opened the box of the new heater and saw that the part they send me didn't match the dead one (old one is U shape, new one L shape). As the new heater will not install to the same clips I am wondering what my concerns are with installing the heater? From what I understand I just don't want it touching anything plastic? Is it on if it contacts evaporator fins or tubes? I'm thinking to get it into position and use baling wire (steel wire) or some meal clips to hold it into position.... seems like it should work? Has anyone done something like that? Also, since the old one is U shaped and new is L shaped I'm thinking to leave the old one in place (just cut its wires) so heat will transfer from new to old up along the sides and not just one side and bottom. 

When I contacted them they informed me it's just the correct 'updated' version for my fridge and that 'only our highly trained technicians know how to install it'. They did not include any clips or instructions for the installing the part (PN 81898001). When I check reliable appliance pats I see that they have a kit 818980P that looks more like what I have but I'm now stuck with this $150 F&P spare part that I want to use. 

 

Sorry for the slightly long message, to distill it into a few questions: 
* Can someone confirm there isn't some secret rocket science to this? 

* Can someone confirm that all I really need to do is hold the defroster in place securely and ensure it is compatible with the fridge (should be), and does not touch anything that could melt / burn. 

* Is trying to force this part they sent to work a bad idea and I should I just try to return the F&P part and get the 3rd party kit? 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

I would say they sent the wrong element - I've never seen an element that goes from one side to the other be replaced with one like the new one you received.

Will the wire connectors even reach to the connectors of the new element with both wires on the same side?

If you do decide to use the new one - DON'T use bailing wire!!!!  Go to a hardware store and find some aluminum wire, (I can't see on your original one that is installed but usually that style uses two 1/4" wide aluminum straps that wrap over the lower evaporator tubes and under the element to hold it in place in a slot in the fins between the two lower evaporator tubes.

[cluelessYVR]

William, thank you for the response! 

I ended up ordering 304 stainless steel metal zip-ties for holding it in place; I was looking at aluminum wire as well but the zip-ties came up and seemed even more secure. 

I was 100% sure they had sent the wrong one as well but I sent them all the information I put here and they responded with a phone call to say it was definitely the correct part and this one superceeds the old U shaped part (PN matches). The wiring harness looks like it should just barely reach..... I guess I'll give it a go this weekend, luckily I didn't break all of the clips when taking it apart last time (hopefully the remaining two survive the weekend).

Quote

(I can't see on your original one that is installed but usually that style uses two 1/4" wide aluminum straps that wrap over the lower evaporator tubes and under the element to hold it in place in a slot in the fins between the two lower evaporator tubes.

This is correct and why I was concerned using this part.... Also why I was thinking to just leave the old one in place and secure the new one to old (tightly) to get some good heat transfer between the two. 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

19 hours ago, cluelessYVR said:

Also why I was thinking to just leave the old one in place and secure the new one to old (tightly) to get some good heat transfer between the two. 

You don't need heat transfer from the new element to the old - these defrost elements don't work on the basis of heating the evaporator coil itself the the raising heat melts the ice/frost off the evaporator coil.

The stainless ties will be lot better then baling wire, (it's not going to rust out), but I don't know about how stainless will interact with the aluminum evaporator tubes, (possible electrolysis between the two metal - and don't pull them to tight, you don't want the sharp stainless tie edges to bite into the soft aluminum tubes).

If using the stainless ties and the old coil is still attached well to the evaporator tubes it might be best to loop the stainless ties over the old defrost element to hold the new on in place instead of looping the stainless ties over the aluminum evaporator tubes like the original aluminum ties are.

Edited September 28 by Budget Appliance Repair

[cluelessYVR]

Well, William, you no doubt have a very keen eye.... the wires were not long enough to reach the plug. My hope, after discovering this, was to install the new coil on the RHS rather than LHS of the evaporator but then I realized that there is no ground point on the RHS. 

 

I could have cut the old wires and made an extension but that seemed too extreme to me (fire risk as this isnt a 12v system afterall). I made it as far as removing the old heater this time and closed the fridge back up. At least I've learned to access the evaporator very quickly. I think I will have to call F&P to see what their repairman does. They really should not be selling this as a replacement part. I'm a mechanical engineer on the product side and superseding a PN with a non-backcompatible part (and selling it as a replacement) blows my mind.

P.s. Good catch on the galvanic corrosion potential, I had not considered that at all. 

[cluelessYVR]

Well, William, you no doubt have a very keen eye.... the wires were not long enough to reach the plug. My hope, after discovering this, was to install the new coil on the RHS rather than LHS of the evaporator but then I realized that there is no ground point on the RHS. 

 

I could have cut the old wires and made an extension but that seemed too extreme to me (fire risk as this isnt a 12v system afterall). I made it as far as removing the old heater this time and closed the fridge back up. At least I've learned to access the evaporator very quickly. I think I will have to call F&P to see what their repairman does. They really should not be selling this as a replacement part. I'm a mechanical engineer on the product side and superseding a PN with a non-backcompatible part (and selling it as a replacement) blows my mind.

P.s. Good catch on the galvanic corrosion potential, I had not considered that at all. 

P.p.s. I swear I thought I had seen your signature said your name was William... now I'm not seeing a sig. Maybe I was confused, thanks either way! 

[J5*]

you have the wrong element plain and simple 

the U shape is for all the old evaps 

The L shapes are for the later evaps and have inbuilt clips for the element to hold 

also the U shape ones are a lower wattage so do a longer defrost cycle 

aside from that $175 wow

down in aus i buy generic ones which are $25 

 

give them a call with the fridge product code and you should get the right one 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

17 hours ago, cluelessYVR said:

P.p.s. I swear I thought I had seen your signature said your name was William... now I'm not seeing a sig. Maybe I was confused, thanks either way!

No, you're not confused - It's all in my signature.  My real name is Willam Burk - I have always gone by Willie

[cluelessYVR]

J5, I think you're definitely right about that... I'll have to call them again and try to convince them to let me send this part back (I've now opened the part) and figure out how to get them to send me the right one. 

 

Also, if you think $175 is bad for the part you should know that their technician quoted $175 just for the call out + $200 for labour to install the new heater.... What should have been 3hrs (for a first timer) has now dragged on over several weeks and lead to insane amounts of frustration. 

[cluelessYVR]

Well, finally got in touch with someone at F&P who knew their stuff and confirmed that I was sent the wrong part (probably miss-bagged). 

Annoying but at least the end is in sight. 

 

Thanks for all the help! 

[cluelessYVR]

Well, in case anyone was invested in my little adventure I got the new defroster heater installed (looked just like the old one!) and it worked! ...... For a few days. 

The two beeps went away shortly after plugging the fridge back in but now, about 3 days later, the two beeps are back. I assume this must be a control board issue or something else I can't diagnose myself. Will be calling F&P for their $175 callout afterall I guess. 

[J5*]

If you have a multimeter you can check 

remove the board from the back near the compessor 

theres a big plug 2 brown wires , thats the defrost connection , its also labelled on the board

you should measure a circuit from there to the defrost element  240v we are around 150 ohms , not sure what to expect for 110 but youll either see some ohms or zero or i should say nothing as zero ohms is a short circuit , nothing is open circuit 

if you have nothing then go back in the freezer an check your plug 

if you have a circuit then its a board issue and youll need a new board 

lthe new boards are different to the old  ones so its not a straight swap , you need to take care of all the plug connections 

Edited October 10 by J5*