[Kalalau]

My Kenmore dryer will not start. When I push the start button it will buzz and then shut off. If I push the start button again, nothing happens. If I wait about 30 minutes the start button will buzz again but then shut off. It does sound like it is trying to turn the drum but there is too much resistance and it stops. When I manually tried to turn the drum there is some resistance. I am not sure if it is supposed to turn very freely because it does not.

I did open the dryer and it looks like the belt is intact. I did replace the belt about two years ago and it has worked fine until recently. I looked for any obstructions but could not find any. There was a ton of lint in the dryer which I vacuumed out.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[denman]

Try turning the drum by hand. Should turn fairly easily. If not could be the drum is jammed for some reason. You may want to try this on a couple other dryers to get a feel for it.
If it is difficult to turn run your fingers around the back and front of the tub to machine seal. To see if something has jammed between the tub and frame (bra wires are famous for this). Be careful in case the object is something sharp.
If nothing is jammed in there you will have to open it up and find the cause.

If it rotates OK.
This may take 2 people
Open the door
Manually hold the door switch closed
Push the start button and manually rotate the drum in the correct direction.
Watch your knuckles in case it starts up.
If it does start up, odds are high that you need a new motor.

Could also be that the motor is jammed solid with lint and this is preventing the Start/Run centrifugal switch from resetting (the unit is trying to start with out the motor's start winding in circuit.

[Kalalau]

Originally Posted by denman

Try turning the drum by hand. Should turn fairly easily. If not could be the drum is jammed for some reason. You may want to try this on a couple other dryers to get a feel for it.
If it is difficult to turn run your fingers around the back and front of the tub to machine seal. To see if something has jammed between the tub and frame (bra wires are famous for this). Be careful in case the object is something sharp.
If nothing is jammed in there you will have to open it up and find the cause.

If it rotates OK.
This may take 2 people
Open the door
Manually hold the door switch closed
Push the start button and manually rotate the drum in the correct direction.
Watch your knuckles in case it starts up.
If it does start up, odds are high that you need a new motor.

Could also be that the motor is jammed solid with lint and this is preventing the Start/Run centrifugal switch from resetting (the unit is trying to start with out the motor's start winding in circuit.

Thank you for your reply. I did try to manually rotate the drum while holding the start button but it did not start.

Is it possible to clean out the motor if it is jammed with lint as I think it is possible that this is the problem as there was so much lint around the drum.

But I think that the drum is offering too much resistance to turn manually but I don't know why.

[denman]

Yes the unit can be opened up and cleaned inside.

If there is a great deal of lint you may require parts/seals.