And now the dryer takes a dump....

[shoot-straight]

well stuff keeps breaking. Clothes dryer wouldn't turn on Xmas night.

To the Internet! Lots of videos on diy fixes. I'm really not a fix it guy, but hey I'm learning and now not afraid to dig in. Started with the easy and worked deeper. Hardest part was finding how to get into the damn thing. Checked start switch, door switch, then the thermal fuse, which was a PITA to get to. BINGO! No conduction. Ordered one online.

Fingers crossed that it's the problem, and that I can get this heap back together properly.

Is it just me or do all appliances suck nowadays? When our range crapped out at 5 years the Lowe's person said "oh the expected life of a major appliance is 4-6 years" what?!

 

[festerw]

Make sure you check the vent and test the thermostat before you run it with the new one or you could be buying a second.

 

[saewoody]

Way to trouble shoot. Hope it works out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[heat seeker]

Like festerw said, check for blockages in the airflow. The venting is a common problem, but also check inside the dryer itself for lint clogs. Mine had a lump of lint about the size of a brick in the passage between the drum and blower. The dryer came with the house, and obviously not been maintained. The improvement in drying time was stunning, as well as a real fire hazard removed.

That thermal fuse did its job - now you have to find out just why it died in the line of duty.

Also, I hope you have metal venting and not the plastic crap over a wire spring. Those are meant for cold air only, like bathroom fan vents. In the event of a dryer fire, the plastic melts, allowing fire and heat to escape, and releasing toxic fumes. Mine had the plastic junk, and I've seen quite a few like that. Be safe!

 

[shoot-straight]

There was a pretty big brick of lint in the machine I cleaned out. Gonna brush the pipe out.

 

[blades]

that brick in the machine is what likely caused the thermal fuse to go south-

 

[jatoxico]

Sounds like you found the culprit and in this case the new appliance came through from a safety standpoint. An older model may have just kept running until something bad happened.

On the other I have no problem saying new appliances suck. Little power glitch, the electronics fry and the entire unit isn't worth saving, ridiculous.

 

[maple1]

We have a 21 year old Kenmore that has been doing the funky off & on the past few months. It will start out fine then just stop all together part way thru a dry cycle. After waiting a few minutes it will fire back up again but usually need to do that a couple few times to get all the way through. Then again, it will sometimes go a couple weeks working A-1. After lots of googling, I think the motor is going bad. Or more exactly, the thermal overload circuit on it. Which means replacing the whole motor as far as I can tell. I did the whole tear apart & clean everything out thing - there was some in there, but pretty good considering it hadn't had a deep cleaning at all in those 21 years. You have to wonder about putting new parts on something that old - but then also have to wonder about buying a whole new dryer with hearing about how long new ones don't last these days....

 

[festerw]

I think it all depends on what dryer you buy. We bought an Amana when we moved into the house 12 years ago, it's nothing fancy just a timer control.

I had to put a new element in it 6 years ago and put a new belt and guides on at the same time for good measure.

As of today it's still running fine.

 

[blades]

at 21 years may or may not be able to get parts. took me for ever to dig up a gas valve on a 20+ year old Kenmore back in the 80's. Finally replaced in the late 90's

 

[heat seeker]

We have a 21 year old Kenmore that has been doing the funky off & on the past few months. It will start out fine then just stop all together part way thru a dry cycle. After waiting a few minutes it will fire back up again but usually need to do that a couple few times to get all the way through. Then again, it will sometimes go a couple weeks working A-1. After lots of googling, I think the motor is going bad. Or more exactly, the thermal overload circuit on it. Which means replacing the whole motor as far as I can tell. I did the whole tear apart & clean everything out thing - there was some in there, but pretty good considering it hadn't had a deep cleaning at all in those 21 years. You have to wonder about putting new parts on something that old - but then also have to wonder about buying a whole new dryer with hearing about how long new ones don't last these days....

Did you blow the actual windings of the motor out with shop air? Internally collected lint will cause the motor to overheat.

 

[maple1]

No, didn't do that. Hmm. My compressor hose might have reached it. I did put the vacuum cleaner to it and it didn't look all that dirty on the outside - not as dirty as I was thinking it would be. Next time it gets funky I might drag the compressor hose up there.

 

[fbelec]

going off then turning it back on to shut off again sounds like the timer. take a quick peek at it you might see a burn mark on it.

 

[shoot-straight]

Success! New fuse finally came. First thing first- checked it. All good. Installed that and the door so we could check and see it worked. All good!

Unbelievably, everything went back together pretty easy. No extra screws leftover.... that's always good.

The groan with this dryer is the connection. They only left me like an inch of pipe to connect my vent to. Regular hose clamp doesn't seem to hold or seal that well. No room to work either. I bought a short piece of 4" and tried to make a longer connection that would do better. Not much. What a pain. Looks like I have decent airflow.

Want to ditch the flex pipe and do a hard pipe down the road. That's the correct way to vent.

 

[heat seeker]

Success! New fuse finally came. First thing first- checked it. All good. Installed that and the door so we could check and see it worked. All good!

Unbelievably, everything went back together pretty easy. No extra screws leftover.... that's always good.

The groan with this dryer is the connection. They only left me like an inch of pipe to connect my vent to. Regular hose clamp doesn't seem to hold or seal that well. No room to work either. I bought a short piece of 4" and tried to make a longer connection that would do better. Not much. What a pain. Looks like I have decent airflow.

Want to ditch the flex pipe and do a hard pipe down the road. That's the correct way to vent.

With no parts left over how you going to build a new one?

 

[fbelec]

Success! New fuse finally came. First thing first- checked it. All good. Installed that and the door so we could check and see it worked. All good!

Unbelievably, everything went back together pretty easy. No extra screws leftover.... that's always good.

The groan with this dryer is the connection. They only left me like an inch of pipe to connect my vent to. Regular hose clamp doesn't seem to hold or seal that well. No room to work either. I bought a short piece of 4" and tried to make a longer connection that would do better. Not much. What a pain. Looks like I have decent airflow.

Want to ditch the flex pipe and do a hard pipe down the road. That's the correct way to vent.

that flex if it is a long run could be some of your problem. it has lots of resistance and will catch and hold a lot of lint which in turn will blow that temp fuse again. i was told by two pro's to clean a dryer vent hook up a leaf blower. any one try that? i've been doing it like a chimney

 

[heat seeker]

You could use the suction side of the leaf blower to suck the lint out from outside. That works very well with pellet stove venting.

 

[mtcox1791]

My father-in-law is appliance repair man. He told me to use leaf blower. I could not believe how much lint blew into the yard.

 

[shoot-straight]

Thanks will give it a go w the blower.

 

[fbelec]

does sound like a tim allen thing

 

[Sprinter]

Is it just me or do all appliances suck nowadays? When our range crapped out at 5 years the Lowe's person said "oh the expected life of a major appliance is 4-6 years" what?!

Sure seems that way, doesn't it? I think the KISS principle can go a long way. Avoid the stuff with pretty electronic controls and displays that are often unnecessary. They are often (not always) poorly designed and prone to failures. This is one mode of failure that is all too common:

Little power glitch, the electronics fry and the entire unit isn't worth saving, ridiculous.

We bought an Amana when we moved into the house 12 years ago, it's nothing fancy just a timer control.

Our washer/dryer from Whirlpool are probably at least 20 years old. I inherited them from my dad and they look new and never had a problem of any kind, but are basic models, and we try not to overload them, too.

There are exceptions, I'm sure.