Amana dryer usually heats; sometimes doesn't

[ted]

A few times a month my wife insists that our 10 year old Amana dryer is not drying the clothes. She always uses maximum, timed heat (not automatic).

I've climbed on the roof and cleaned out the vent and have taken the dryer apart to clean out the lint. In both cases, there really wasn't that much lint!

I have only one elbow, all rigid metal exhaust tubing about 20 feet long.

I'm at wits end and am thinking of buying a new dryer. The kicker is, that usually it heats just fine. I would think that if it's a thermostat or the heating element, it would just stop working.

I have tried venting it straight out the back into the garage (eliminating any tubing). It happens so eratically, I'm not sure this is the problem.

Any ideas?

Jeff

[mm]

Just because it doesn't work some times? Can't you just stop it and start it a few times until it does start to heat?

Maybe the problem will go away. Not on a dryer but I have had problems go away.

If the problem gets worse, you can still use the dryer while you look for a good buy on another one.

Maybe it is a bad connection? Not the same thing, but I've had an electric top burner on stove that sometimes had to be wiggled before it worked. It was that way for a couple years before it got so bad I bought a new connector for under 10 dollars. Although yours wouldn't use slip on connectors -- stoves do so you can remove the burners for cleaning or something.

When it's not heating and the regular tubing is on, check to see how much air is coming out the end. Check when it is heating to have something to compare with. Your wife can do this. I doubt it is the tube. You've had the same tube from the beginning, right. More importantly, you have the same tube when it works and when it doesn/t.

[nospamtodd]

Despite your cleaning the venting, it may just be too long. Length impacts venting performance. But your best bet is to disconnect the the venting at the machine and run the dryer that way, and see if your problem disappears. If it does, then you know you still have a venting issue.

If airflow is decreased, your element can overheat, and there is a safety stat in that area that cuts off heat until the element cools down. I bet that intermittent opening of that stat could be your problem.

Another thing you should check is the health of your power cord and outlet. Check the prongs for burning. If degraded, replace the cord and outlet. Also, take off the safety cover at the other end of cord at the machine, and check for burned wires at the terminal block.

[HeyBub]

Does this happen only when attempting to dry six wool blankets or 4 pillows? In other words, is the problem load-dependent? And how often does this happen? Once every ten loads, once a month, every other use?

If infrequent, tell the wife to suck it up, walk it off, be a man!

[mm]

For that matter, if any part of the outlet, plug, or cord is warm to the touch, that means there is a bad connection. A bad thing in itself and you'd be losing voltage.