Flair RCIB-645 Speed Heat Switch/Burner Question

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RSTToole

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I am trying to figure out how to repair the speed heat burner on my Frigidaire Flair RCIB-645 range.

I assumed the switch was bad so I have a new Robertshaw 5500-228 & 229 Switch.

When I compare the figures on the new switch instructions, it looks like my old switch only uses 240 volts (figure 4 on the new instruction sheet)

Can I use my old burner if I just wire up the switch as shown on Figure 4?
Anything else I should check?
Randy in Boise
 
Is the Speed Heat switch currently installed in your range is larger the other ones and has screws to hold the wires on it's terminals rather than connectors? If it is, it hasn't been converted yet and there should be two hot wires (marked "L1"-"L2"-for 240V operation) and a neutral (marked "O1" for 118V operation) connected to it, the other terminals are "P" for the pilot light and "B" and  "R" for the wires that go to the burner.

With the range disconnected and with the burner drawer pulled to show at least the two front burners and locked in half-opened or fully-opened position, you can test the wires that go from the switch to the burner (those on the terminals marked "B" and "R"-see picture below) to be sure there's continuity in that part of the circuit. You should read something around 10-15 ohms if the burner is the original 118V and there should be no continuity with the drawer closed. If you read something like 35-45 ohms (I just checked 236V a 6" burner and it's 42 ohms), the Speed Heat burner was already replaced with a regular 236V burner (which is unlikely if the switch is the original type!). If there's no continuity, either the wires, the drawer safety switch or the burner are bad...  Flair ranges have safety switches in their drawers so the front burners can't be turned on unless the drawer is at least half-opened and the rear ones can't be turned on unless the drawer is fully opened. 

 

It's possible to replace it with a RobertShaw switch but some square-shaped models turn in the wrong direction (meaning the burner will be on High when the control is set on Low and on Low when set on High...). The numbers you provided show a square type switch that is supposed to work as a replacement for Frigidaire ranges so maybe it's correct...

I think the original-style replacement switches are also now made by Eaton/Robertshaw rather than King-Seeley-Thermos or Proctor as the original ones. These are rectangular and look similar to the original regular infinite switches (some are white instead of black). The original part number was 7521242 for the regular 236V 6" burner swith and it's the equivalent of the 6004-AF7 according to the chart in the link below.

 

But you'll also need to get a 240V burner to replace your 118V burner. If you want, I can trade you the 118V burner for a 236V. 

 

The old switch does use 240V for the initial "flashing" time to get the burner hot and then cycles on 118 volts. 

 

Maybe it would work with the 118V burner if you connect the neutral wire from the Speed Heat switch instead of one of the hot wires but I haven't tried it. I'm guessing the switch won't cycle correctly... You don't want to have 236V constantly going to the Speed Heat burner as it will be too hot and you'll burn it (or the contacts in the switch) quickly! Connected to 236V, these burners use 5000 watts and neither they or the switches are designed to work constantly under such a load!

[this post was last edited: 1/5/2014-00:39]


philr++1-4-2014-23-27-45.jpg
 
Speed heat switch and burner.

I checked the resistance of the element today. I measured from the wire terminals on the burner. It measured OPEN at this point. I guess I need to replace the burner now before I replace the switch.

Question? Should I put in a new switch and burner together and just rewire for only 120 v? If so, what burner do I need for the RCIB-645 range?

Or can I still get a speed heat burner? Can they be wired to operate only on 120 v. If so, which is the better option?
Randy In Boise
 
Finding a 118 V burner is harder than a finding 236V burner. If the burner went wrong, there are good chances that your switch has a problem too. Sometimes, these switches continue to operate at 240V after the initial flashing time. The burner can still work and cycle on and off very quickly after this (getting red after just a few seconds each time it cycles on). If this goes unnoticed for a while, the burner won't last long...

 

If the wiring is fine, replacing the speed heat burner with a regular one is fairly easy. There's just one neutral wire that goes to the Speed Heat switch that needs to be cancelled as it's not used on regular infinite switches. You need to install connectors on the other wires so they can connect to the new switch. 
 
Replace SPeed heat burner.

I see how to wire my new switch for 240 volts only. Now I just need to find a 6" 240 v burner that will fit my RCIB-645.

How do you get to the small screws that hold the burner to the sheet metal deck on top? There must be an easy way to get to these screws!

Keep in mind I am a newbie Flair owner

Thanks for your help so far!
 
You'll need to lift the burner up, remove the burner support and the drip bowl, get a short #2 screwdriver and reach the two screws directly under the top from the hole in the top. On other Frigidaire ranges with stainless trim rings, the screws are accessible from the top but on Flairs, you need to reach them from under.

Here's a picture I took of mine (I saw it needs some cleaning there!). 

philr++1-6-2014-09-22-18.jpg
 
Frigidaire SH Burners

If the SH burner shorts or if the control fails to change to 120 output fast enough the fuse link on the back of the SH switch blows and ruins the control. You can see the non-replaceable fuse link in Phil s reply #1, it is a thin metal strip running up and down on the right side of the switch. Some FD Flairs actually had a 20 AMP screw-in fuse in the control area to protect the element.

The SH switches are hard to find, the SH elements are still around [ they were all the same ] on the other hand there were probably 15 different SH controls that were used on FD ranges from 1955-about 1975 when this feature was discontinued in the US.

If you are going to use this range much you are usually better off converting to a regular 240 volt element and a regular infinite switch.
 
They are available on eBay, I also have some used ones. Just look for burners with 2 wire connectors, not those with 3 wires. The 3 wire burners could work too I guess if you have one of these on hand. Frigidaire used 3 wire burners wired in parallel with infinite switches on it's 8" deep well cookers in the late 1950s as this feature was about to be discontinued and they probably felt it was cheaper to add an extra wire and connector than having a new burner design with a lower wattage for an application they were about to abandon. 
 
burner $$

How much do you want for a used burner (6' 240 volt)

I am in Boise, Idaho zip code 83709

I also need a broiler element with the heat shield (p/n 6564357)
 
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