aribert wrote:

The mullion (part between the refridge and freezer doors, only way
that I know this part's name is that I looked this part up on line)
has been sweating a lot lately and the existing small rust patch has
grown much larger. WHile removing the part to derust and paint it I
discovered a resistance wire heating element under this trim piece.
Ohmed it and confirmed that the wire lacked continuity. By
progressively scraping off tiny patches of insulation along the wire I
discovered the failed area. How do I splice it. The wire is very
small in diameter and it appears to be wrapped around a fabric core,
plastic outer insulator. THere is not enough wire there to twist
together. I'm inclinded to believe that I can not solder the wire.
Would I be able to crimp the wires? What happens locally when there
is a discontinuity in the wire diameter? Will this end up being a hot
spot where the wire is inclined to break again in the near future?


If you can get the replacement heater, that would be the safest thing.
This heater will
be exposed to cold and condensation inside the refrigerator, and you
wouldn't want it
grounding out and zapping somebody or starting a fire.

If you can't get it, or it is outrageously expensive, you could probably
fix it with
some sort of crimped connection. Maybe two crimped butt splices with a
length
of copper wire between to make up the shortage. Then, I'd wrap the
spliced area
with some kind of high temperature insulating tape. The fabric core may
be fiberglass.

If you cut out too much of the resistance element, it is going to run
much hotter
than before, and fail again soon.

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago, where the mullion and the
entire
roof of the refrigerator compartment was sweating all over the food. I
tore it
apart a couple of times, and finally decided I would tear the whole fridge
apart, as it would have to be replaced if I couldn't fix it. It turned
out all the
styrofoam insulation around the frost-free coils, which are enclosed in a
compartment between the refrigerator and freezer comaprtments, were totally
saturated with ice. This thing looks a bit like a small picnic cooler. The
upper sheet is basically a flat piece of styrofoam, and it weighed about
10 Lbs! The bottom part weighed over 25 Lbs! I left them out in the summer
sun for a day, but they weren't getting lighter very fast. So, I put
them in
a garbage bag and hooked up a vacuum pump to drive out the water.
it took several days for each part to clear of the water, but the parts
weighed
just grams when I put them back in. The same frigde is still working fine!

Jon