Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/21/2009(UTC)
Posts: 4
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2 year old dryer. First issue, thermal fuse blew. Replaced fuse. Worked for 1.5 loads, then blew again. Replaced thermal fuse, thermal cut-off and high limit thermostat. Has worked for 2 loads now. However, when I watch the heating element while the dryer is running, it looks like only half of the element is working. Half of it glows orange while the other half remains black. Is this a bad element? Should the entire coil be glowing orange? Clothes seem to be taking longer time to dry. I did check my ventilation and all is clear. Read online that this is the first thing to check, so I did that before anything else.
Thanks for any help.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 12/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 769
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Take a close look at the coils. I suspect the coils are touching somewhere creating a short circuit and thus a lower wattage element, or possibly touching the housing and turning your element into two elements. This creates a problem because one side will always be on while the dryer is in use playing havoc with the temperature regulation and yes the thermal fuse.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/21/2009(UTC)
Posts: 4
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Would removing the rear panel give me the best access to the coils? I can't see the entire coil from the front of the dryer when I remove the front kick panel.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 12/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 769
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The best way to get a visual on the element is to remove the entire housing. Pull all the wires paying close attention to where they came from, and remove the screw(s) holding the front support. There is a clip that holds the housing to the rear bulkhead that makes it hard to remove, but it will come out. Once in your hand, remove the screws to get to the element.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/21/2009(UTC)
Posts: 4
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I got to the heating element and noticed it was basically broken in half. There were actually pieces of the element that I pulled out, so obviously that is one of the issues. Another strange thing I'm noticing, even if I put the dryer on Air Dry, the heating element still begins to glow, at least the half that is still working glows. Is this just a sympton of a bad element, or do I have a bigger problem on my hands, like something electrical?
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 12/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 769
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That is a symptom of the element shorting to ground on the L2 side of the circuit. It comes through the motor and always has power as long as the motor is running, even in air dry. The L1 side of the circuit is required from the control board to turn the element on. But if the element is shorted, as you can see, the element will always glow. Replace the element and you should be good.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/21/2009(UTC)
Posts: 4
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Replaced the heating element. Working great now. Thanks for all your help!!
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 12/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 769
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