Kenmore Elite Dryer keeps BEEPING...please help.

[Matt]

Tom -

Good question. The machine does have a "check lint screen" LED; however I see no reference to any kind of sensor in the schematic on the tech sheet. Given that this tech sheet also directs you to diagnostic test #'s that don't exist anywhere else in the tech sheet, and the fact that _something_ must trigger the LED, I'm assuming there must be a sensor somewhere. I'm guessing it's somewhere near the lint screen? (Stupid question perhaps.... but this model has to win some sort of prize for most expensive/most badly designed appliance in the universe. Oh wait a minute - my lennox furnace already got that prize (but that's another story).

Any guidance as to where to look for the lint sensor would be appreciated.

P.S. for Jeff -

Heat thermistor checked OK.

Also, I'm in side talks with Kumar via email - his dryer is still malfunctioning. I'm thinking of starting a support group for people who bought this model.

[Lance]

I had a problem with my dryer - can't tell if it's exactly what is described here, but the symptom was continual beeping and it *really* wanted to run in the cotton/high heat mode.

I found through experimenting that I could push (and hold) one of the other mode buttons below Cotton and press the start button while holding the mode button and it would successfully complete a cycle in that mode (while beeping). I used the dryer this way a few times, but I unplugged the front panel wires so that I wouldn't go crazy with the beeping.

The solution was to have the front (button) panel replaced. My guess is that the design is flawed and one of the buttons gets "stuck" after a while. Odd thing is the diagnostics don't show a button stuck, so it's probably just a partial contact - but enough to be detected as a stuck button by the control board. Notice that with a working dryer, you can push and hold the Cotton button and get exactly the same symptoms.

Good luck, Lance

[Matt]

Thanks Lance!

Yep... have found out that Sears has issued a service bulletin on this, which requires replacement of the touchpad and control board. Full cost to be paid by the customer, of course. ($450+). I called them this morning in the hopes maybe they would fix it at no or reduced cost. No dice.

It's just.... sad.

Thanks for the tip on pressing the cotton button - I didn't know that. I'm thinking of seeing if the touchpad can be taken apart and cleaned......

For anyone else struggling with this issue, here is a link to a thread which provides some more info:

[Simon Fraser]

Very, Our 2000-model 110.70052990 (serial# MK 2604280) has just come down with the beeping stuck-in-cotton mode disease.

I tried this. You can peal off of the layer in front of the buttons, but everything is sealed under layers of sticky plastic. The buttons etc are stuck right onto the steel frame of the front panel. It's possible to re-stick the front panel without it getting too bent.

I had a hunch that the Cotton button was stuck down, and sliced around it with a knife. I was able to lift it up and ensure that the contact was actually broken, but that didn't fix anything.

One thing that seems odd is that I wasn't able to detect a voltage across these buttons when the unit is on. The service manual says that there should be 3V, but I couldn't find an voltage either at the buttons, or between pins 3-1 and 4-1. I wonder if something is burnt out on the control board that cuts the power supply to the front panel? The seal around one of the small ICs (a 6-leg one) seems a bit bubbled up; perhaps this overheated?

So I'm looking to order both the control board and the front panel from a place that takes returns, and I'll see which is needed (or both). Sigh.

Simon

[Thoot12]

I have just starting to experiance the same prolbems as above. I replacing pad and control panel the final fix for this?

Tre

-- Thoot12

[bonniem522]

Im having the same problem with mine

[Tony Hwang]

Google the problem. Many hits.

[sms]

Just got one of these free on Freecycle and it had that problem. The issue is that condensation from the clothes drying gets into the small push button switches on the circuit boards and corrodes them.

The solution is to remove the control panel, remove the connecting cables to the controller, remove the two printed circuit boards, and spray contact cleaner into all the switches, then re-assemble. No boards need to be replaced.

[JoJo]

Try this fix