clothes dryer not hot

I'm assuming for the moment that it is an electricla problem. There woudl be an open if the element was bad, unless there is another way to get from A to B. Sometimes there are multiple paths to the same place. Is there a wiring diagram on the inside of the cover you took off, or anywhere?

When you don't know if there is an alternate electric path, the best thing is to disconnect one of the two wires from its post, and measure the wire only to the other post. You can also measure from the post only (with the wire disconnected) to the other post to confirm that there is an alternate path. The total resistance of two resistors in parallel is found with the formula 1/a + 1/b = 1/total . If, for example, b is infinite, the 1/a = 1/total .

But maybe all the elements are good and it's some other problem.

Before to measure voltage before measureing resistance at the same place. Don't want to burn out the meter, or yourself.

Keep close track of whether the dryer is plugged in or not.

That wiring diagram would give an idea what they are. One might be temp sensor, that opens if it gets too hot, or a dampness sensor if you have that feature on your dryer.

BTW, my washer and dryer are 27 years old and working fine. I only do laundry for myself, but still, when they are 37 years old that will be like 18 years for two people.

Reply to
mm
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For the first 10 or 20 years of my repair "career", starting about age

8, that's mostly what I did. Take something apart and put it back together and it works. I never knew why in most cases.
Reply to
mm

It tells me that the dryer is not the problem, its an open circuit to one of the hot legs, either in the wiring to the dryer or at the circuit breaker

Reply to
RBM

In addition to the fact that it is likely a cheap and easy fix, a DIY for many people, you may find that it works much better than it has for years. You may have been running on half power 120V for some time.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

don't you hate that? I know I do.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Usually not for the element and all that.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Yeah, the element is usually in the rear. I've changed one on a Speed Queen Commercial Dryer that I bought used. That dryer lasted about 37 years before the steel drum split apart. I called about a new drum, and gave them the model number, and they asked for the "rest of the model number" and when I told them that was it they were quite amused. Interestingly, most of the parts were still available, and often the same as the current production.

It's not a hard job to change it, but you have to get back there. 17 years old is not that old for a dryer.

Reply to
SMS

The good thing is that everyone thinks you're a genius! I fixed my father-in-law's TV by taking the back off and putting it back on. I suspected a bad relay for the on-off switch, as I've seen this before, but whatever was wrong it's been working for about five years now.

Reply to
SMS

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