Problem with clothes dryer not getting hot enough: How do you test a sensor?

Got a problem with a clothes dryer not working. It leaves clothes wetter w hen it is finished than when it started! That is because it doesnt seem to get hot enough and a certain amount of water feeds into the drum in the no rmal course of drying.

There is a sensor which I assume tells the element how hot to get and the element itself. The sensor usually dies in this machine and I Have had to r eplace a few of them. I check the wires and when they start to look burned, a replacement sensor is needed. When I get the sensor out, one terminal us ually looks completely burned.

However in the present case, I ordered a new sensor and then found that the one in there LOOKS perfectly OK. The wires look burned but that seems to b e because they burned on some last replacement occasion. When I pulled the actual wires off, the terminals look OK and the sensor looks OK.

How can I check the sensor to see if it is really OK or whether the sensor has now failed in some other way? Alternatively how can I check the termin als of the element itself to see if it that part which needs replacement?

Reply to
Amanda Ripanykhazova
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First, there's no way a dryer leaves clothes wetter than when they started unless you have a water source feeding into the dryer.

You said "...and a certain amount of water feeds into the drum in the normal course of drying." Really? From where?

That said, very often the type of problem you described is caused by a blockage in the exhaust ducts, either internal to the dryer or the exhaust hose and/or vent.

Cleaning the lint trip every time is a great idea, but it doesn't prevent lint from building up in other places. I would check the outside vent for buildup and the exhaust hose itself. If that doesn't help, you'll have to get to the innards and clean out the ductwork within the dryer itself.

BTDT...Often.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Thanks for the suggestion but we live in a small apartment and needed a ductless dryer. It doesn't vent to the outside and besides the water outlet (I have checked that one), there aren't any filters to clean out.

I never understood why it meeds to feed water into the dryer while it is drying but it does. There is a water input for that purpose.

Reply to
Amanda Ripanykhazova

It sounds like you have your washer and your dryer confused.

Reply to
Ctrl-Alt-Delete

Is it possibly a w/d combo "all in one" unit ??

Reply to
Retired

er when it is finished than when it started!  That is because it doesnt s eem to get hot enough and a certain amount of water feeds into the drum in the normal course of drying.

 element itself. The sensor usually dies in this machine and I Have had to replace a few of them. I check the wires and when they start to look bur ned, a replacement sensor is needed. When I get the sensor out, one termina l usually looks completely burned.

he one in there LOOKS perfectly OK. The wires look burned but that seems to be because they burned on some last replacement occasion. When I pulled th e actual wires off, the terminals look OK and the sensor looks OK.

nsor has now failed in some other way? Alternatively how can I check the te rminals of the element itself to see if it that part which needs replacemen t?

replace the connectors to the sensor, if they looked burned they are bad......

they get high resistance and dont work reliably, they may heat up, the burned look and interfer with sensing, or even ruin the new heater.

replace the connector and at least a few inches of the wiring, which will mlikely look wierd from being overheated,..

Reply to
bob haller

Yes, it is a w/d combination unit but the washer bit works properly. The p oint is that in a past repair, the manufacturer replaced the wiring but for some reason kept the plastic casing around the connectors which look burne d.

I thought that the sensor had gone and spent a large amount of money on a n ew sensor before discovering this. When I came to replace it, I discovered that the sensor in the unit LOOKS new. So now i am wondering whether it is sending the wrong message to the heater element or whether it is the heater element which has gone bad.

So I was wondering how to test each (or whether something else is bad on th is unit)

Reply to
Amanda Ripanykhazova

he point is that in a past repair, the manufacturer replaced the wiring but for some reason kept the plastic casing around the connectors which look b urned.

new sensor before discovering this. When I came to replace it, I discovere d that the sensor in the unit LOOKS new. So now i am wondering whether it i s sending the wrong message to the heater element or whether it is the heat er element which has gone bad.

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is a appliance repair group, provide the name and model number of your unit

Reply to
bob haller

There are two things you should check right away:

  1. The problem could be that the high temperature thermostat is gone. Dryers have TWO thermostats; a 165 deg. F (typically) thermostat that's used for both the "Whites & Colours" and "Permanent Press" dry cycles and a 145 deg. F (typically) thermostat that's only used for the "Delicates" dry cycle.

Try running the dryer on the Delicates dry cycle and see if it gets quite warm, or at least warm enough to dry clothes. If so, then the problem is a shot high temperature thermostat, and you need to replace it.

  1. Electric dryers are 240 volt appliances... ..which means they will have TWO 30 amp fuses or circuit breakers in the electrical panel providing power to the dryer. Check that both fuses or circuit breakers are good/not tripped. If one fuse burns out or one breaker trips, the dryer motor can still run properly (because it works on 120 volts) and the heating element will get warm to the touch, but not red hot, and it needs to be red hot to heat the air being drawn through the dryer by the blower up to 145 or 165 degrees.

If the fuses or circuit breakers haven't blown/tripped and the dryer doesn't heat on either thermostat, then I'd suspect the heating element.

Some dryers have a high limit safety switch that needs to be replaced if the dryer overheats. In that case, you need to find the reason why the dryer overheated and fix that problem, and then also replace the high limit safety switch.

Reply to
nestork

point is that in a past repair, the manufacturer replaced the wiring but for some reason kept the plastic casing around the connectors which look burned.

sensor before discovering this. When I came to replace it, I discovered that the sensor in the unit LOOKS new. So now i am wondering whether it is sending the wrong message to the heater element or whether it is the heater element which has gone bad.

Since it is a combo w/d, and if the clothes are really wetter after a dry cycle, I would suspect that there is a leak in the internal water system. And the heat element can't overcome the leaked water.

Likely the water control valve. As a experiment, can you close an External input water valve before a dry cycle starts ??

Reply to
Retired

he point is that in a past repair, the manufacturer replaced the wiring but for some reason kept the plastic casing around the connectors which look b urned.

a new sensor before discovering this. When I came to replace it, I discove red that the sensor in the unit LOOKS new. So now i am wondering whether it is sending the wrong message to the heater element or whether it is the he ater element which has gone bad.

Yes, I can close the water input valve but the unit then wont start.

Tried the site you mentioned but it doesnt list any of the names this unit goes under: Euro-Pro, M alber, etc. I think it was probably made by Indesit but dont think there is an Indesit model number!

The unit looks like a gigantic number of other units by lots of manufacture rs but I suspect that one company makes the external casings for all these machines in Italy and sells them on, So you cant easily identify it. That was wny I was trying to look at how to test components.

Reply to
Amanda Ripanykhazova

Actually I am not really sure how useful that site actually is

I did find a reference to this question being asked about an earlier model about seven years ago. It then waited two years for someone else to answer with a report of a similar problem.

No solutions despite this unit being in widespread use on both sides of the Atlantic in various forms.

I could have told them to check the wires going to the sensor myself!! It would probably have fixed one of the two problem reports or both of them. And the manufacturer lists it as a commonly replaced part (along with the element, (big surprise)

Reply to
Amanda Ripanykhazova

It may not be relevant to your problem, but when my clothes didn't dry it was because the fan belt had broken and air wasn't circulating through the wet clothes.

Ross

Reply to
RMD

On Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:11:44 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote in Re Problem with clothes dryer not getting hot enough: How do you test a sensor?:

it is finished than when it started! That is because it doesnt seem to get hot enough and a certain amount of water feeds into the drum in the normal course of drying.

At first I thought this was a pretty lame troll; that no one would be fool enough to fall for it. But then I see that several fools here did indeed go for it; so I guess I was wrong.

Reply to
VinnyB

when it is finished than when it started! That is because it doesnt seem to get hot enough and a certain amount of water feeds into the drum in the normal course of drying.

About a number of things. Checking Google doesn't reveal the profile of a typical troll:

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The added water could indeed be a failure of a combination washer/dryer unit, as one of the posters you've labeled a "fool" correctly deduced.

So tell us, what leads you to believe you've been trolled? At least, if this IS a troll, it's on topic, unlike so many other trolls here, and could help someone in the future as well as the person asking the question. For a

*real* troll, check out the doghouse thread or most anything posted by Dufas, the "entertainment troll" or Harry, the Brit that hates America.
Reply to
Robert Green

 The point is that in a past repair, the manufacturer replaced the wiring but for some reason kept the plastic casing around the connectors which lo ok burned.

on a new sensor before discovering this. When I came to replace it, I disco vered that the sensor in the unit LOOKS new. So now i am wondering whether it is sending the wrong message to the heater element or whether it is the heater element which has gone bad.

on this unit)

That's interesting. A combined washer/dryer unit won't do a dry cycle without water? That's one of the big drawbacks to these combined units. More complex, easier for one little thing to screw up the whole works. I think Retired's idea that water may be leaking in is an interesting one, IF it's really true that the clothes are coming out wetter than when they went in. Water being added is the only way that's possible. On the other hand, if that's what's happening due to a leaking valve, then one would think it would continue with the unit off and flood the place. I guess it's possible something is screwed up that tells the valve to open at times when the unit is active.

How about if the water is turned on when it's started and then turned off once it starts drying? Maybe it checks for water at startup and doesn't care after....

Reply to
trader4

The point is that in a past repair, the manufacturer replaced the wiring but for some reason kept the plastic casing around the connectors which look burned.

a new sensor before discovering this. When I came to replace it, I discovered that the sensor in the unit LOOKS new. So now i am wondering whether it is sending the wrong message to the heater element or whether it is the heater element which has gone bad.

"Retired," that's an excellent idea for a test to determine if there's a leak within the system. By the OP's description this problem is not like previous problems because the sensor does not appear to be burned as it has in the past.

The OP can test the sensor if she has a thermometer and a meter that can test for continuity. The sensor is designed to cut out (stops passing electrical current) when a certain temperature, usually stamped on the part itself, is exceeded. If this unit has failed in the "open" state then the dryer's heating element will never kick in.

Another sensor prone to problems is the humidity sensor. That's a little harder to test. You can try placing completely dry clothes in the dryer and then turning on the dryer. If the sensor is OK it should run for a few moments and then shut down right away.

I'd try "Retired's" suggestion of shutting off the water supply to make sure that there's no leak that wetting the clothes as the dryer is trying to dry them.

If you think the heating element has failed, you can bypass the thermostatic control sensor with a small jumper cable and run the dryer for a few minutes. If it fails to heat up at all, a bad heating element could be a distinct possibility. You can bypass the humidstat the same way. Remember to remove the jumper when you've finished the test so you don't burn the house down!

Reply to
Robert Green

No, you were right. No make or model number suggests nothing to these fools, they go straight to diagnostic mode without plugging in.

Using a female name can prompt them to spend a week on the line trying to coax free the pertinent information, and another week after someone points out they've been trolled, again. -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

What? Did you check Google before you made your troll accusation?

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You appear to have gone straight to "troll accusation mode" without *you* plugging in and ended up calling some of your fellow newsgroupers fools because they tried to help someone.

I've already learned something new just from reading the on-topic thread, no matter how it started so there's already been value added in the thread. I always welcome the chance to see what diagnostic skills other posters have with topics I know about so I know whether to trust them with topics I am not familiar with. Several people have made some very good observations about potential problems, so even if the OP was a troll, there's good information being exchanged and archived.

With all the race-baiting political trolling and sock puppetry that goes on here, you sure picked an odd and on-topic post to get worked up enough to call other people fools who erred on the side of helpfulness and tried to help someone you labeled a troll. Sheesh. What a welcome.

Reply to
Robert Green

It would be nice to be able to determine how much current the unit is drawing. Not sure how to do that short of isolating a service wire and using a tong meter. I've not seen a Kill-o-watt meter that runs on 240VAC. If the washing machine component is leaking into the dryer, even if the heating element activates, there won't be much drying getting done. It may be possible to detect a slight rise in temperature, though.

Still, I'd probably want to test the unit watching an ammeter to see if the element was indeed cycling on and off. Sometimes the problem can be short-cycling where the heating element is being activated, but for some reason is not reaching operating temperature. There is probably another thermal shutoff device located right on the heater element assembly that may have failed but I've never serviced a combo unit and this may be foreign made, as well, so who knows?

Good point. Put that under yet another reason why the element may not be getting hot enough.

DerbyDad zeroed in on the number one cause of heating element trouble in my experience - lint. I would start with a thorough blowout/cleanout of the unit and the dryer vent before even looking at other issues.

Last time this happened to a friend (wet clothes) the dryer vent had become home to a bunch of birds - house wrens, IIRC. I was amazed at how much nesting material they had brought into the vent pipe. This happened even with a bird flap on the exterior vent. They learned how to pop it open in very short order and it probably helped keep them safe by keeping larger predators out.

The symptom of that fiasco was that the dryer vent pipe starting dripping condensate inside the house at the point of the bird blockage. Oddly enough, the water traveled quite a distance from the leak point along the ceiling tiles and it didn't appear until a number of hours after the dryer was used.

Reply to
Robert Green

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