Per von Zweigbergk wrote:
My rice cooker just failed.

It's given me many years of service, but now a component seems to have
suffered some kind of mechanical faliure. It's a rather standard model
with the typical Warm/Cook modes. The model, specifically is a Tanin
TR-2002A. (You won't find anything Googling for it, except maybe, in a
few days this Usenet post. :-)) Relevant data: AC 220 V, ~ 50 Hz 620 W.

The component was connected in series with one of the AC power inputs,
and measuring over the poles gives me 0 Ohm of resistance.

Could somebody please help me to identify the type of this component? I
suspect it may be a thermal fuse, but I'm not at all sure about the
values required. Then again, it might be something completely different,
and I'm not really sure about it.

A close-up image of the component can be found at
http://www.pvz.pp.se/stuff/riskokarkomponent.jpg (59.2 kB). The actual
size of the component is approximately 15 millimeters from end to end.

This looks like it is a crimp connection from the heating element to the
screw terminals of the 120/220 VAC input. Failures of this type are
common in resistive heating elements. The high current that passes
through the point of failure causes local heating (due to bends, local
impurities,etc.) which eventually, over many uses, causes a break.

Repairs for this are almost non-existent. Depending on what the other
side of the connections looks like (e.g. the rest of the heating
element) you may be able to use a crimp-style ring tongue terminal and
crimp it onto the end of the existing heating element. This assumes
there is enough room to move the element so that the ring terminal can
attach to the mounting screw. I've seen hardware stores that carry ring
tongue terminals that can accommodate #6 AWG. Note: if your heating
element is a rod with a thick coating on it, and the coating is flaking
off, the element is bad and beyond repair. Also, if you try to bend the
rod to make it attach to the screw connection, you will most likely
cause cracks in the coating, and the element will be useless.

The short story is that you probably should start looking for another
cooker. I doubt that you will find any direct replacement for the
element, which is what really should be done. Good luck
J