My replacement clothes drier thermostat’s blades are too wide for the leads running to it
fassbinder
| Posted in General Discussion on
I’m replacing a thermostat on my dryer.
I thought I was all set but when I went to attach the female leads on the two wires running into the thermostat I realized the blades on the thermostat are too wide (1/4″) and won’t fit into the female leads (3/16″).
Never faced this issue before. It’s an old dryer and this is the current GE replacement part.
Any ideas, other than cutting the small leads off the wires and attaching larger ones. It’s not real easy to reach and that might be a pain to do.
Thanks
Replies
You could make very short extension leads, being careful to insulate them properly. Or very carefully grind down the edges of the new terminals (assuming they're not also too thick in the other dimension).
I thought about grinding but that gets pretty close to the hole in the middle, which is much larger than the hole in the original.
I was thinking about making my own adapter but was hoping there was something like it already on the market.
Not sure what it would be called though.
The other alternative is to cut the ends off the existing wires, strip them, "tin" them if they are loosely stranded, and then bolt them to the lugs of the new switch, using a washer to be sure to tightly grip the wire.
grind'em down to 3/16, no problem
You only need to remove 1/16", I would reach for the Dremel with a carbide cutting disc.
Good luck.
I don't have a dremel. Also, I think the blades on the thermo are slightly thicker than the ones on the original one. The female wire leads were very tight as well, and located in a hard to reach spot. So grinding is going to wait for now.
Once I triple check that this thermo is the right one for my drier I think I'm going to construct the extensions I need....if I can locate the parts.
From a catalog I found: Waytek
the 3/16" (male disconnect) I need is a .187" width/.020 thick male lead, which would fit onto the 3/16" wire lead.
the 1/4" (female disconnect) I need is a .250" width/.032 thick female lead, which would fit onto the 1/4" thermostat lead.
the wire can be 22-18 or 16-14, whatever matches the existing wire to the thermostat.
I maybe should have posted this in the Electrical - HVAC forum. I think it's pretty odd that these fittings don't match. I'm not sure how common the situation is.
Thanks
I would put new connectors on the wires to match the thermostat, but I already have them and the tools to replace them with.
...how common...
Very common - I've even been known to simply nibble at the side of a wide spade lug with a pair of dikes. Thickness does not matter, just force it on if too thick or squeeze the female lug with pliers if too fat.
Now I'm thinking of getting a .250" piggyback adapter and trying to file down one of the blades and trying to fit it into the .187" female terminal at the end of the wire. That way I won't have to cut anything in case I find a better fitting thermostat in the future.
That sounds like a good idea.
The piggyback 'adapter' worked.
Although not very neat looking because the 'blades' I needed to trim down from 1/4" to 3/16" were not really blades as you would think. They were actually a sheet of brass folded over to meet the required thickness. So I had to be careful not to cut too far down it's length in order to keep it attached to it's base.
It works now though.
I did blow out a slug of lint from the vent pipe to the outside of the house. My guess is that was the issue though I'll keep my eye on it while it runs.
Thanks for the input.