Electric Dryer Turns but won\t dry

[jJim McLaughlin]

Sears Model 110.66822694. Installed new in 199

Put wet wash in, set "timed dry" for 45 mins, push start button.

Light inside drum operates fine with door open.

Drum turns as soon as start button is pushed.

Heat comes up immediately. Run it empty for 30 seconds, open the door and hot air spills ut.

Drum will run 4 - 5 minutes, with heat, then shuts down.

Circuit breakers for dryer circuit not "tripped".

Wash, of course, will not dry.

Filter is clean.

Exhaust hose and vent were clean.

Replaced corrugatedhose anyway.

Same non operation.

I'm thinking its the high limit thermostat.

Probably ot the heatig coil because we are getting heat for short durations.

Any helpful thoughts welcomed

Thank you.

[RBM]

It would help if you could hang an ammeter on the circuit to see when the element goes on and off. Off hand I would guess a faulty thermostat or safety switch is shutting it down

[jJim McLaughlin]

SNIP

Drum stops turning, heat goes off, all simultaneously, about 4 - 5 minuted after start buton is pushed.

[DerbyDad03]

Somebody repost this for me since jJim PLONKED me a while back...

Check the door safety switch or door clasp. I had a dryer that kept shutting off because the door would get knocked slightly open by the wet clothes and shut everything down. Then the door would close again so everything looked normal when we would check it.

[gfretwell]

How is the air coming out the back with the hose disconnected. It should be blowing pretty hard. If the flow is wimpy look inside the plenum and be sure it is not plugged with lint. Also be sure the thermostat housing is not plugged up It will be somewhere in the discharge plenum or blower can

[Jordan]

Some driers should also have overheating protection on the heating element as well. Kind of like on your hair dryer. To see how this works you can try to overheat your hair dryer by bocking the air flow with a real thick cloth. You will hear a click by a little rectangular gadget in the front.

You heating element on your dryer may have a defective one.

Somebody repost this for me since jJim PLONKED me a while back...

Check the door safety switch or door clasp. I had a dryer that kept shutting off because the door would get knocked slightly open by the wet clothes and shut everything down. Then the door would close again so everything looked normal when we would check it.

[mm]

It would still be good if you could put a voltmeter across the heat limit swithc or whatever you think the problem might be. The meter will show about zero when the dryer is working, and will go up to 220 volts across the limit switch if it is the limit switch which has opened the circuit.

In fact you wouldn't even have to measure things while the dryer is working, becaue you can assume all the voltages are right. But you have a couple minutes or more to look for the open device in the circuit after it turns off and before you are able to start it again. You have however long it takes until you can start the dryer again.

It's a bad habit to just replace parts based on logic. Logic is great but testing is better. (And whenever testing doesn't confirm what the logic came up with, we always seem to be able to think of a new idea, even if we couldn't before. "People are funny.")

I had a glove compartment like that once.

The light inside ran the battery down every night, but when I was testing, I would open it and shut the door well, or badly, whichever it hadn't been, and my testing was all confused.

[Bob F]

Will it restart if tried immediately? After some period of time?

A lot of dryer problems can be caused by accumulation of lint in the internal passages of the dryer. Cleaning it may restore it to like-new operation. Take it outside. Use an air compressor with an air nozzle or sandblaster nozzle (better-but no sand) or a leaf blower to blow out every air passage you can find. Blow in through all drum openings, the filter opening, the exhaust opening, etc. Keep at it until no more lint comes out. Open the top and blow out around the drum. Then try it again.

The chances are likely higher that lint is restricting airflow or drum movement than that a limit switch has actually gone bad.

[Tim]

I had a problem with drying a few months ago. Like you, all was cleaned and everything acted like it should dry.

Turns out that I needed to take the back of the dryer (the plate) off. Then clean out the line that was in the dryer exiting the dryer. All external was cleaned and normal, but inside there is a line to exhaust out and it was clogged a bit.

Cleaned that line, put the back of the dryer back on, plugged the exhaust duct back into the wall, and turned it on; all was well again.

Might be worth looking into.

Tim

[Bob]

Two possibilities here. First is the motor is overheating and shutting down. If this is the case, shutdown will occur whether the dryer is heating or running with no heat. A lint buildup could be a contributing factor.

Otherwise, a high limit switch near the heat source is being activated. This can occur if there is inadequate air flow. The dryer is designed for a certain amount of air to pass around the heat source. This could be impeded by a clogged filter or exhaust, or a leak around the drum, whereby air is entering through a path other than past the heat coil. Check the door seal and the felt seal around the rear perimeter of the drum. You might also have a defective coil that generates too much heat around the limit switch. Lastly, the limit switch itself could be defective.

[CDET 14]

Have you tried disconnecting the transition duct (accordian hose) and drying a load to see if there is a difference? Attach a pantyhose to catch the lint. If the dryer operated properly, there is a venting issue.

Alisa LeSueur Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician

[Stormin Mormon]

It's probably not Y 0.2K compatible.

[jJim McLaughlin]

Heh, heh, heh.

Yeah, I saw that. Was supposed to be 1998.

Typo, Fingo. Whatever.