Dryer keeps tripping breaker

Dec 20, 2021 Last reply: 4 years ago 14 Replies

Dryer keeps tripping breaker Frigidaire model FEX831CS0 stackable washer and dryer . The dryer kept tripping the breaker when I turned it on I replace the unit and the new one worked fine I am now working on the old unit I have taken it apart and checked the terminal block the heating element the motor pulled dryer drum out and cleaned everything very well And still cannot see where there might have been a problem for it to trip the breaker immediately when I turn it on


Can you run it in air dry or whatever runs the motor without the heat on? Maybe you'll have to unhook the heating element to do that. Unhook the motor and turn the heating element on for a few seconds. See what happens if you have both the heating element and motor disconnected. Maybe the timer is bad. There are times when ohm meters are worthless.

Not useless in this case. Start with whether there is a ground fault. On a 4 pin plug, ground to any other pin should be open. On a 3 pin, lift the strap bonding the can to the neutral and check from the can to any pin in the plug. Again that should be open. That's the low fruit.

I don't know how this dryer operates from a user perspective. Do you turn the Timer knob on to run it?

If so, while I'm not sure that this is possible, it might be worth a shot...

How have you checked the switch/timer? Maybe it's arcing or shorting when engaged. From the parts diagram, it looks like the knob (21A) is connected directly to the timer (8).

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If you can disconnect the wires that come out of the timer and bypass it, try this:

Shut off the breaker. Short the timer output wires together. Turn on the breaker.

If the breaker still argues with you, it's not the timer. If the dryer runs, then maybe it is.

Is this 110 or 220v? I only ask because it's stackable. I don't know about those.

Do 220volt breakers trip on ground fault? Do breaker for dryers? Would there be a laundry sink next to it if it's stackable?

It's almost certain that the heating element in the dryer is bad and needs to be replaced.

Ground fault breakers ARE available for 240 volt dryer circuits. I doubt the OP has a GDI on the unit and I am not aware of ANY 110volt electric driers. There will likely be at least ine useless example floating around to prove me wrong - - - Most common cause is a droopy heat element grouding out intermittently.

Pat, I'd like to buy some punctuation.

It could be the heater shorted to ground.

I am thinking maybe the motor, maybe a capacitor on the motor has gone bad.

If there is no short to ground (frame, chassis)the unhook one side of the heater and one side of the motor and see if it still trips. If not, connect back one at a time.

Motors and heater resistance is often so low the ohm meters most have will show a very low resistance , especially if the heating element is cold.

Sure, 240. But what about 220!

;-)

They do make, or at least used to, 110 volt dryers, but they don't work well. Sold to people who live in apartments that don't have 220. Or

240.

Like I said,There will likely be at least one useless example

[snip]

I used to know someone who had a 110v dryer (in a mobile home that did not have 220v connected). It was very slow drying clothes.

[snip]

My "pretty old" front loader spins so fast that some of the clothes could almost be worn right out of the washer. I have a pretty powerful fan that can dry jeans hung on the line in well under an hour once they've been spun out.

I'll bet a 110 dryer could handle those loads pretty easily, assuming of course they had a washer that get most of the water out.

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