Thermistors are everywhere in appliances these days, and they’re a relatively common-fail item, so wouldn’t it be nice to stock a supply of them in your service vehicle to be used on any occasion?
Well, in order to determine how feasible that is, we need to answer a question: are all thermistors interchangeable?
The short answer is no. The long answer is that thermistors are not interchangeable brand-to-brand, but they can be interchangeable within the same brand, depending on the manufacturer.
Here’s an example. This table is from a Samsung refrigerator manual:
Compare that to this spec table from a Whirlpool manual.
It only gives a single data point (typical Whirlpool), but we can at least compare that to the Samsung table. While 25 C in this Whirlpool fridge corresponds, to 2,700 ohms, in the Samsung it corresponds to 5,039 ohms. That’s a big difference!
Speaking of Samsung, they’re one of those brands where, as a general rule, their thermistors are all interchangeable. The only difference between them is the harness, which can be clipped and spliced in a pinch. So if you work on a lot of Samsungs, it may be worth keeping a stock of Samsung thermistors for general use.
If you’re so inclined to keep Samsung thermistors on hand, then DA32-10109W is a good part number to replace any thermistor you find inside the box (thanks to Brother @Vance R for the recommendation).
Want to learn more about the underlying technologies present in all appliances and how to troubleshoot them? Click below to check out our Core Appliance Repair Training course right here at the Master Samurai Tech Academy.