Need water heater for KDS57

[cnlmustard]

I've loved reading lots of stories on this forum, the old machines are great. It seems the Achille's heel on the KitchenAid KDS57 was poor wiring connectors, at least mine.
I got it from a neighbor, originally a portable with butcher top. It had been rarely used as a backup in restaurent, almost mint condition. I painted it white to match my kitchen.

Anyway the most recent wire connector burn was at the dual connectors of the water heater, pretty bad. It still shows good resistence but there's not enough metal left to reconnect, unless I try soldering.

Any idea on getting a replacement, I've tried the entire internet, incl. AppPartsPros, AppPartsNationwide, WhirlpoolParts, RepairClinic, Ebay, Amazon.

Original part # is A102874, replacement is 4160566.

I'd sure like to have hot water in there again!
Thanks for any help,
Kenny.

 

[combo52]

Fixing A Bad Terminal Connection

Soldering will not likely work for long if at all. You can often get a small buss type clamp that will allow you to connect a wire when the terminal is almost completely gone, if it is really to bad to fix I have good used heaters that I will sell, John.

 

[cnlmustard]

Will try Wednesday

Yes, we used to do that with what we called "kearneys" on HVAC compressor terminals when only the pin remained, but we had a little more room to put them than this. I need to remove it anyway and seal the washers, i'm guessing some minor water seepeage had to have caused it, they looked more rusted than burned.

Do you think Lowes would have these, I'm not entirely sure what you're calling Buss connectors, I'm an HVAC/R instructor.

Thanks for the offer, I'll let you know, and take a pic when I get it out!

 

[stevet]

connectors!

Interesting post.. Kearneys are what some guys call "Bug Nuts" what I think John is referring to are the connectors shown in the link. And yes, Lowes and Home Depot carry them. These are what you need. You should be able to get enough bend out of what is left on the element so they don't touch and then connect the buss connector to it.You can even put the original wire under the screw too and make one connection or use a hi temperature eye connector and stainless steel screw nut and shakeproof washer to connect the wire to the opening on the other end of the lug.

http://www.elecdirect.com/catalog/358b8a2d-9674-41c4-a1f0-be0f62144bdd.aspx

 

[cnlmustard]

Not a cakewalk

First, I just like the challenge of attempting this sort of thing, I've done it for years. Second, it was not anything near easy, for anyone thinking of doing this without years of micro-tinkering experiance.

Had to dremel off the remaining rusted terminal flats and squared off the pins to get a better buss setscrew base. I had the small buss connectors already, a smaller more workable type. I also had Kearneys about the same size, which I'd prefer because I've found them to be all but indestructable on projects. But trying to attach those without flipping the machine over would be all but impossible.

I still went with soldering the actual wires to the copper of the buss ends, to avoid another potential fail spot.

I used dielectric paste overall to stop corrosion, and threadlock on the setscrews. I coated the water washers with a thick layer of black RTV silicon and let em dry a day. Ran a couple rinse holds to make sure they weren't dribbling.

After that, just setscrewed the buss pieces onto the prepped ends. I feel like a dentist saving a rotten tooth on an old man. Hope he enjoys it!

 

[jetcone]

I hope the solder holds

those elements have to heat the water to 180 degrees. I would think brazing would be the way to go. Good luck and let us know how it holds out. But its nice to know John has spares!

 

 

[this post was last edited: 10/30/2013-13:40]

 

[fester]

solder vs brazing

I do high temp brazing (1600- 2000 deg.) all day everyday. That being said, some sort of brazing or silver solder may be the best bet, if the parent material can stand the heat. There are many different alloys available, so choosing the proper one should be a no brainer.

FEster13

 

[xpanam]

New heater element.

Hey Kenny if that doesn't hold. This is for sale on eBay.

http://r.ebay.com/XtBOqY

 

[combo52]

New KDS17 Heater

It may be a bad picture, but the one for sale looks like the dual terminals on the right side are screwed up.