FDE546RES1 Frigidaire Dryer Door switch wiring

[Melville]

Model Number

FDE546RES1

Brand

Frigidaire

Age

More than 10 years

I was replacing the belt on my ancient Frigidaire dryer (FDE546RES1.) The front panel slipped and all the wires popped out of the door switch. I have no idea what connects to what. There are three prongs which appear to be the same size (two on one side, one on the other.). There are three wires: red, blue and grey. The terminal on the red wire appears larger than the other two. What’s even more confusing is that there is a section of brown wire taped to the others but not appearing to connect to anything, terminal on each end dangling freely. Guessing what attaches to what just seems like a bad idea. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Dan O.]

I can not locate a copy of the wiring diagram (part # 131506800) for your model. There should be one on or in the dryer somewhere. It may be pasted to the rear of the control console or maybe folded up inside of it it. Try to locate it and post a photo of it here.

I looked up the diagram of a later version of that dryer (see pic). There may be some differences to yours so we can't totally rely on it. It does show different colour wires than you described. Maybe the brown wire on your model (to the light) was replaced with a red one some time in the past?

There are three prongs which appear to be the same size (two on one side, one on the other.). There are three wires: red, blue and grey. The terminal on the red wire appears larger than the other two.

I suggest you make sure of the terminal sizes. There are likely either 2 large, 1 small or 2 small and one larger.

Two of the wires will be used for power to the motor, the other goes to the light. When the door presses the switch closed, it switches power to the motor. When the door is not pressing the switch, power shifts to the light.

Someone should test the switch terminals for continuity when static and when pressed. Make note of which set of contacts shows continuity when pressed and when not. Try to determine the common switch terminal.

LINK > How do I test for continuity?

... or look closely to see if any of the switch terminals are marked "C", "NO" or "NC".


The wire that is not connected at either end may have been replaced once upon a time. If it's not connected at the moment, I'd disregard it for the time being.


Dan O.

 

[Melville]

Thanks for giving me something to go on! There are three prongs on the switch: two on the left, one on the right by itself. With the door open I get continuity between the prong on the right and the bottom left prong. With the door closed I get continuity between the prong on the right and the top left prong. The prongs themselves are identical, but the terminal on the red wire is slightly larger than those on the other two wires. Unfortunately I can not locate a diagram - it’s an old dryer I inherited and it appears to be long gone. Would the prong by itself on the right be the com? Would the red wire attach to that do you think? Again, thanks for your help!

 

[Dan O.]

There are three prongs on the switch: two on the left, one on the right by itself. With the door open I get continuity between the prong on the right and the bottom left prong. With the door closed I get continuity between the prong on the right and the top left prong.

Going my your description I believe the terminal you described as being on the right should be the "Common". If your dryer's wiring is similar to the diagram I posted, the blue wire would go onto that common terminal.

Also going by your description, the top left prong (terminal) should be the Normally Open contact where the gray wire would go if the diagram I posted is similar to your model.

The other wire would go on to the last switch terminal. (You could trace it to see if it indeed did go to the light.)

The prongs themselves are identical, but the terminal on the red wire is slightly larger than those on the other two wires.

I'm pretty confident you'd find there are 2 different terminal sizes on the switch, 3/16" and the other one 1/4" (which is considered the 'standard' terminal size) if you tried plugging the blue or gray wire onto all 3 of the switch terminals (with power OFF!) just to test the fit. Neither of those wires would plug onto the larger 1/4" terminal the red wire terminal should fit.



The different terminal sizes would usually be to make sure the wrong wires didn't get installed onto the wrong terminals.

Dan O.

 

[Melville]

It’s crazy but all three prongs are 3/16. Blue and gray can fit on all three. The three wires - blue gray and red are all taped together, but towards the end the red wire has been looped around and taped to the other two wires running in the opposite direction, obviously to set it apart. You had said two wires go to the motor and the third goes to the light - would it be normal to set the light wire apart from the other two? That would fit with the diagram you provided in which the brown wire (replaced by red on mine) went to the drum light.

 

[Dan O.]

It’s crazy but all three prongs are 3/16. Blue and gray can fit on all three.

Maybe the switch was replaced previously? What size terminals are on the brown wire hanging there?

You had said two wires go to the motor

No I didn't. I said the blue wire goes to the common terminal (according to the only wiring diagram I have). Power from it is switched to either the NC or the NO switch contact. When the switch is activated, power is switched from Normally Closed to the Normally Open switch contact (which is now closed) which leads to the motor (gray wire) to power it.

Look at the wiring diagram. It shows how the switch switches.

would it be normal to set the light wire apart from the other two?

The common is different than the other two. It is the input, the other two are power outputs.


DanO.

 

[Melville]

“Two of the wires will be used for power to the motor, the other goes to the light.” Apologies if I misunderstood that.

The terminal on the brown wire is also 3/16.
The wiring diagram you have is a later model than mine so you said you couldn’t be sure it’s the same, but the colors do match. The only difference is that your diagram shows a brown wire while I have a red wire. However, a section of brown wire has been taped to it, so it probably was originally brown.

I could connect the terminals according to the wiring diagram. My concern is that the red wire has been set apart from the gray and blue wires, which makes me question if it could be the common (not the blue), since that is different than the other two.

If I hook up the common wire to the wrong terminal, what kind of result am i looking at? The switch simply wouldn’t work, or would I short something out? Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Dan O.]

I don't know what would occur if the wire that is suppose to go to the common was placed elsewhere. It would depend on how the other wires were installed.

You can leave the wire to the light off if you want, and just don't use the interior light. I don't see how the red wire is going to be installed anyway if it's got the wrong size connector on it.


I've given you my opinion. Anything more definite would have to be done by someone on the premises and able to trace where the wires come from and are going.

Dan O.