Lakewood model 7101 oil filled electric space heater cord repair Technique

ID: 200007

Description: This is a step by step repair of a Lakewood...

Steps:

1. It took me a while to figure out how to get into the wiring area under this cover. Don't do anything with the plastic outer cover. At the bottom of the heater there is a plastic foot held on by two sheet metal screws. Remove these to access one sheet metal screw that secures the cover.
2. In normal use the cord usually wears out at the cord grip. That is what is covered here. If the cord is damaged in the middle, the entire cord must be replaced. Do not splice an appliance cord in the middle. This is dangerous. If only the plug is damaged it can be replaced.

3. After the screws are removed the sheet metal cover slides off to reveal all of the electrical connections. I could not get this to move until I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry half of the cover out of the folded metal that holds it. I was then able to easily slide it down and off. After breaking it loose.
4. A good thump on the top of the cover might get it to slide but be careful since the thermostat is fragile and mounted in the cover under the round knob. The plastic cover & switches may not survive heavy bumping. That is why I pried the cover loose.

5. Remove the HEYCO cord grip from the cover, using a small groove joint pliers and a screwdriver. There are three clips to push at once. Then pry this open to remove the wire.
6. HEYCO makes special tools for their connectors but these are very expensive and hard to find. Most of us po' folks use some combination of pliers and a tool to poke the third retainer. be careful not to break the grip.

7. Slit and remove the factory heat shrink, cut off the bad end of the wire. Strip 1/4" or less to just fit into the connectors. Pick two pieces of heat shrink that will fit over the connectors & a larger piece to fit over the entire splice. Position the shrink on the wires and crimp the connectors.

8. Slide the shrink tube over the two connectors, heat with the heat gun, then slide the larger over entire splice and heat until fully shrunk. This will provide double insulation to the splice. Be sure to connect the ribbed wire to the neutral or white wire and the smooth to the black.

9. Place the HEYCO grip over the wire with the larger flat side toward the plug end and squeeze down with the channel locks. Slide the cord down through the slot in the cover and push the HEYCO into the square hole.

10. The wire is now fixed. Insert the top of the cover in the rolled edges at the bottom and gently slide all the way to the top. Install the smaller screw in the center hole then install the plastic foot with the other two large screws. All done.

11. Hint: use a small magnetic bowl to hold the screws and other small parts.
12. The round thermostat knob is in the bowl but it is not required to pull this off to do this repair.