Clothes dryer: repair or replace?

My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well. I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Reply to
Nil
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If you can DIY it is probably worth the fix. If you have to call a service guy, it will be $200+ and after all those years, I'd replace. It is time for the belt to go, or the motor, or controls. New models are marginally better. They are just a hot spinning tube with a little fan.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Many of the newer machines have fancy and expensive electronic controls but the basics are all pretty much the same.

No harm in looking inside but a 25 year old drier is probably not worth repairing.

If you get a new one, the no-frills variety are not terribly expensive. The old standard Sears Kenmore is $300 - $400

Reply to
philo 

On 05 Apr 2014, Ed Pawlowski wrote in alt.home.repair:

I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about

10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts, opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would work better and be cheaper to run.

Reply to
Nil

I've never seen a "partially dead" heater. If it's burned out it doesn't heat at all.

Reply to
sms

On 05 Apr 2014, sms wrote in alt.home.repair:

The heater in this dryer has two coils, and from the descriptions I've read from other people having similar symptoms, it sounds like one of the two coils can fail while the other continues to heat.

Reply to
Nil

Do you have a voltmeter? If so, you can use it to determine if voltage is getting to both coils or not. Just be careful, the coils probably operates on 240 Volts, the rotational motor probably runs on 120V. You don't say i f the temperature on high heat seems cooler than usual, but I would expeect that if the thermostat went bad, you would get too much or not any heat. You can always clip lead around the thermostat and see if the heat then get s as hot as it used to.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Nil:

Every dryer will typically have three heat settings; High, Permanent Press and Delicates. High typically uses a 160 to 165 degree thermostat. Delicates typically uses a 140 degree thermostat. Permanent Press uses the 160 to 165 thermostat, but it stops power to the heating element 5 or 10 minutes before the cycle ends so that the clothes cool down while tumbling to prevent them from getting wrinkles.

Try running your dryer on the Delicates cycle instead and see if the dryer seems to work better. If it does, it's very possible that the high thermostat needs to be replaced.

Reply to
nestork

it appears all new appliances are made on the super cheap, with beancounters running design. the fancy electronic controls are not only pricey to replace but unreliable.

If you can DIY repair you existing dryer your probably better off.

take the dryer apart and vacuumn and blow it all out with a air hose....

look for low spots in the vent line, a low spot can accumulate condensation water and block air flow.

my vent poipe is pretty long and accumulates lint that forms into pads that block te venting.

now that the weater is better I am going to pull it all down and either relace it or wash it out with a garden hose

Reply to
bob haller

Hi, Didn't clean out the inside the dryer?

Reply to
Tony Hwang

I have not finished the job, but there was a lot of lint behind the main screen on mine. I got to take panels off to get access.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

If it was clogged with lint, I'm guessing the high limit(over temp safety) has been clicking on and off on and off until it is worn out. There could also be a bad connection somewhere since 1/4" Faston connectors can and will go bad when subjected to continuous high current loads. The heating element is either good or bad not intermittent. That's a Klixon or connection problem. The main thermostats in conventional simple electric clothes dryers don't usually go bad and will outlast everything else but can still have bad connections. Do a little trouble shooting. When I was helping my late friend GB with residential HVAC work, there was always that customer who would say, "I think it's a bad thermostat." ^_^

Oh yea, check all the connections first. Look for something loose or burnt. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Since there was a lot of lint, it's likely a thermal cutout has been activated. These are known to go bad (or do the job they are designed to do). I'd pull the box apart, and check the thermal cutouts. They come in a kit of three, I think it is. Might be two. Replace all, if one is bad.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I doubt there is enough savings to be worth the cost of the machine. Thermal cut outs are a known problem, especially on lint clogged machine.

After the cycle, are the clothes warm when you take them out?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I was, and am, thinking that the electronic nightmare will be more expensive in the future to keep it repaired.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

LOL

When I was involved in politics, the organizer (or maybe a booklet) told us, When there are a bunch of chilren, don't give them all campaign buttons to wear. If you they'll wear them a bit and then stop. If you only give some of them buttons they'll wear them for days or weeks.

(Not that I've ever noticed anyone do this.)

Reply to
micky

I've been told that electric heaters are 100% efficient. Minus I guess if the cabinet is hot. My electric dryer is 35 years old, only dries for one person, but it's doing well. Original belt and everything else.

Don't forget possibly clogged output hose, output hose connection at the outside house wall, output path within the dryer, and lint filter.

Reply to
micky

We have one of the early water saver 1.6gal flush toilets. I must flush it a half dozen times because it chokes on my load of ready mix. New isn't always more efficient. o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

If you want to get rid of it, put it on the curb with a sign "Works like new, $100" - it'l be gone the first night.

Reply to
clare

It's hard to make an electric heater more or less than 100% efficient.

Reply to
clare

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