Frigidaire Refrigerator Model FFHS2612LS0 diodes

[captainKKK]

Frigidaire Refrigerator Model FFHS2612LS0 Water Inlet Valve Diode Kit cost around $40 and is just two wires, each leading into a $0.25 diode which then exit into one wire. Does anyone know the type diodes used for controlling this water solenoid bank of three?

[redwire]

I looked at Frigidaire Refrigerator Diode Repair Kit 5303918287, 789911908505.
It's got three wires, two diodes inside. Seems to be an OR-gate such that the inlet-water main solenoid turns on if either the water dispenser is pressed OR the ice maker turns it on.

Just use a plain vanilla 1N5408 diode 3A 1,000V rated. A smaller 1N4007 1A 1,000V might work fine as well but solenoids have inrush current and not sure if it's over the 30A surge rating. It is likely the solenoid spike voltage is what is killing the original diodes or Whirlpool cheaped out.

Ultimate BY448 2A 1,500V $0.67 ea. at Digi-Key or Mouser.

I found this schematic but will check the diode's polarity...
edit: seems to jive with other wiring diagrams. To test, multimeter on diode-test and (+) to common lone tan wire, (-) to each single wire for each diode.

[captainKKK]

Thank you Redwire for your fine info. I am so glad you gave me just what I needed. I printed it out and will get the parts today. I been under that frig so many times. I am too darn old for this.

[sam_sam_sam]

Originally Posted by captainKKK

I been under that frig so many times. I am too darn old for this.

So am I

I would consider putting a fuse on each input to the diodes just for good measure
The reason I am recommending this is because of the fact that you have already had this failure already because on rare occasions these solenoid value coils short out and make a mess of things if the coil or coils look very discolored or warped change the coils

[stj]

interesting.
so is it a DC system, or is the diode just causing a half-wave 50% signal?
maybe the back EMF from the coils is killing the diodes.

[redwire]

People complain the diodes either go open-circuit or short or one guy had smoke but that seems strange.
Shorted diode: pressing the water dispenser, and water comes out of both the dispenser and ice maker tube.
Open (dispenser) diode: no water dispensed
Open (ice maker) diode: ice maker won't fill (it typ. runs for 8 seconds).

The water solenoids are driven by 120VAC mains, their common leg goes to Neutral. But the single inlet solenoid gets the 1/2-wave DC from this diode module. I don't know what controls them on the board(s), it looks like relays but Service bulletin advice is a little strange:
Water dispenser - yellow (dispenser) coil should have mains 120VAC, and the inlet solenoid (single valve) will have 54-78VAC.
Ice Maker - green (ice maker) coil should have mains 95-105VAC, and the inlet solenoid (single valve) will have 42-58VAC.

The voltage measurements are a big wonky? Fridge runs off 120VAC and ice maker gives 95-105VAC? It must have little triacs or something?
You'd think by now Whirlpool would know how to reliably turn on a solenoid lol. Putting diodes in a wiring harness is expensive and this affair goes for $40!

I think the back-EMF from the solenoid is damaging the diodes because they see two solenoid's worth of spike, there is one on each side. I've also seen a water solenoid kick back even more due to the water pressure kick on the pintle so they act like a generator and make an extra big pulse with the residual magnetism.

As far as current drain, the one should only draw under a hundred mA plus inrush. The original diodes must be cheap or only 400V or something.
For an appliance maker to add a snubber or MOV to stop surges, it's $0.25 and would break the piggy bank.

[CapLeaker]

Originally Posted by redwire

As far as current drain, the one should only draw under a hundred mA plus inrush. The original diodes must be cheap or only 400V or something.
For an appliance maker to add a snubber or MOV to stop surges, it's $0.25 and would break the piggy bank.

Well... these days the fuxers are even cheaping out on a 25 cent part. The unit just needs to survive the warranty period, end of story. They surely do not want it to last for 25 years. Other than that, they wouldn't make any money.

[redwire]

For not even $0.50 worth of diodes, this part retails at $40 and it's typically $250-350 for the callout. Whirlpool could do much better, it's not that hard.
Are they just making money selling diode harnesses?

I wonder if it's the same as the McDonald's McFlurry machines, the manufacturer Taylor Commercial Foodservice likes them being unreliable to keep their repair network making cash. Proven by Kytch Inc. who installed Raspberry Pi's for IoT and found a secret repair menu and firmware bugs in the cleaning cycle. The franchisees are tired of paying for repairs and losing money with the machines being down all the time. You can't make this stuff up.

Why the McFlurry Machine Company Just Got Hit With a Restraining Order and lawsuit story

[stj]

i'm surprised nobody took the McFuckery machine and moded it with an arduino!!

[sam_sam_sam]

Originally Posted by stj

i'm surprised nobody took the McFuckery machine and moded it with an arduino!!

I am surprise that no one has not done this already

[redwire]

"the (Kytch) devices breach a Taylor machine, “creates a potential very serious safety risk for the crew or technician attempting to clean or repair the machine," and that it could cause “serious human injury.”
Death by ice cream machine
Really strange to see how politics and corruption prevent an appliance from working decently, and it's all lawyers and courts that befuddle it.
https://www.wired.com/story/they-hac...arted-cold-war
https://www.wired.com/story/mcdonald...nternal-emails

For OP, have to see the original diode p/n to ascertain whether Whirlpool/Frigidaire/Electrolux is using weak parts on purpose. It looks like they slapped on an ice maker and water dispenser as an afterthought then did a bodge or kludge to wire it all up and ooops need diodes and ooops use the cheapest ones possible.

[sam_sam_sam]

The hole thing about only the manufacturer can repair your device is totally unacceptable crap I sorry but if I can avoid this kind-of crap I will

Unfortunately they are not the only refrigerator manufacturer who has done this crap as well meaning that they screw up the design and then have a fix for it but you can only get it from the manufacturer really

I once fix a refrigerator for some one ( this also had a switching power supply controller board failure that stemmed from an thunderstorm that the switching power supply regulator and bad capacitors) that the indoor water dispenser keep freezing up and would not dispense water anymore the manufacturer solution was to add a heater to the back of the door panel where the water dispenser was in the freezer door what a pain in the a** this was to do and what made it even worse was that the only recall service notice was on the manufacturer website site which you really had to dig through there website to find a solution for this issue really

This issue that McDonald’s with the ice cream machine BS I would have sued the manufacturer for this kind-a-of crap because this kind of crap needs to be STOPPED before this becomes common place

[CapLeaker]

Oyyy... that gets me going all right... I am just wondering which manufacturer and when they come out with a subscription based whatever appliance. Like the new Toyota's remote start only works with a subscription.
Now chances aren't looking bad for some idiot at some manufacturer to come up with the idea, that if you buy a fridge you need to subscribe to get ice or water out of the dispenser!?
So really... the manufacturer wants me to buy their crap (most of the stuff you buy these days don't hold up for long anyway) and have to buy a monthly sub to get basic features... Hell no!

[redwire]

To be clear, Whirlpool mega-corp has not locked people out of repairs, they are good in that you can get parts and wiring diagrams for them.

Taylor Food equipment is one keeping their monopoly on repairs, probably even giving kickbacks/racketeering to McDonald's execs, because the franchisees pay the repair bills and not them.
Biden's "Right-to-Repair" exec order from last summer, is hopefully at least going to rattle this monopoly on repairs crap.

Washing machines, dishwashers, refridgerators etc. are more and more computer-controlled and I think there is a need for some diagnostic standard like cars have OBD2. Add a serial port so we can see what is going on in the appliance.
Otherwise, it's an expensive board swap or guessing what sensor is cutting out. Would you pay monthly for this and the software?
John Deere has pissed off farmers doing this for their tractors and only getting repairs only done by Deere-authorized technicians. So much for changing the oil at home. These CEO's need to go.

[stj]

there is a running joke about tesla's,
you cant activate the cigarette outlet or open the ashtray without paying extra for the "smokers option" license.

[redwire]

Silicon Valley is all about the "subscription" monthly fees model. It's ridiculous.
Tesla upped their Full Self-Driving option, was $6,000 to $10,000 now $12,000 or $199/month. As if we're all made of infinite cash like Elon. Hopefully it won't run over a bunch of kids or crash or something.

For a refrigerator, extended warranty seems to be ~10-30% of the purchase price and these third-party warranty companies generally have fine print or go out of business, and you get burned.

[stj]

kids are safe, tesla's like to target police!

i think either the white/black paintjob or the flashing lights confuses the image processing software.
either way - tesla autodrive does target active police cars!!!!

[captainKKK]

I am not complaining about this fridge, after all it was purchased in 2005 and its not a daily problem. It just seems odd that at any moment, it can start peeing out the water dispenser and flooding the freezer with ice maker continuous over fill in the middle of the night because these diodes decide to give up the ghost.

[redwire]

That means it's likely the diodes are getting blown due to power surges.
Mains transients from lightning etc. (Texas!) or locally generated i.e. by the fridge itself.
Everytime the compressor stops there is a voltage spike and it could be taking out the ice dispenser/water dispenser diodes.
I can't see Whirlpool spending $0.25 on a MOV to protect things and they end up a liability because they can burn up if hit with a really big power surge.

If other electrical things at home are getting damaged, then I would look at some surge protection.

[captainKKK]

Maybe these would work: https://m.aliexpress.com/item/329455...1f925c5&gclid=