[Cubone]

A friends dryer runs, but will not heat. I can use a DMM and I have one. I looked on the inside of the dryer and found a blown light bulb. Can that light bulb break the circuit to the heat. I have never worked on a dryer before. I have worked on central heat in homes. Any ideas where to start looking for the problem will be very helpful to me. Please help and thank you.

[denman]

Here are your parts
Parts for Whirlpool WED8300SW2 Dryer - AppliancePartsPros.com
Often clicking on a part's picture will bring up a new page with more info on it.

See the attachment for the tech sheet.

Can that light bulb break the circuit to the heat.
No. Unless it blew in a way that created a spark and that spark blew the control board.

The heating element requires 240 volts, everything else runs off of 120 so I would start by checking the power.
Try flipping the breaker off/on slowly a couple times. Sometimes you can loose half the line without actually tripping the breaker.
Check the voltage at the plug
L1 to L2 should be 240 volts
L1 to Neutral and L2 to Neutral, both should be 120 volts.
If OK
Unplug the unit and check the wires at the terminal strip in the machine to make sure none are loose or burned out
If OK
Check the power at the terminal strip.
Do this with the heater off and on.
Be careful as 240 volts is lethal !!!

Next unplug the unit and check the heating element, should be 8 to 12 ohms.
Then the thermal cut-off, should be 0 ohms.
Then the hi-limit thermostat, should be 0 ohms.

If the thermal cut-off is blown there are other things you have to check before replacing it.

[Cubone]

Originally Posted by denman

Here are your parts
Parts for Whirlpool WED8300SW2 Dryer - AppliancePartsPros.com
Often clicking on a part's picture will bring up a new page with more info on it.

See the attachment for the tech sheet.

Can that light bulb break the circuit to the heat.
No. Unless it blew in a way that created a spark and that spark blew the control board.

The heating element requires 240 volts, everything else runs off of 120 so I would start by checking the power.
Try flipping the breaker off/on slowly a couple times. Sometimes you can loose half the line without actually tripping the breaker.
Check the voltage at the plug
L1 to L2 should be 240 volts
L1 to Neutral and L2 to Neutral, both should be 120 volts.
If OK
Unplug the unit and check the wires at the terminal strip in the machine to make sure none are loose or burned out
If OK
Check the power at the terminal strip.
Do this with the heater off and on.
Be careful as 240 volts is lethal !!!

Next unplug the unit and check the heating element, should be 8 to 12 ohms.
Then the thermal cut-off, should be 0 ohms.
Then the hi-limit thermostat, should be 0 ohms.

If the thermal cut-off is blown there are other things you have to check before replacing it.

Thanks. The heater element is open. That will need replaced before I go any further. I do get an error code" F-28". I can't make anything out about it. Any thoughts?

[denman]

The F28 is probably OK.
The way it works is that the unit applies a voltage to one of the sensor strips, the other strip is attached to ground.
When the clothes are wet there is a current path between the strips due to the moisture, a small current flows. The board senses this and holds the timer off.
When the clothes are dry, no moisture, no current path and the timer advances.

So I would think that if the sensor is clean it should be an open circuit.

[Cubone]

Originally Posted by denman

The F28 is probably OK.
The way it works is that the unit applies a voltage to one of the sensor strips, the other strip is attached to ground.
When the clothes are wet there is a current path between the strips due to the moisture, a small current flows. The board senses this and holds the timer off.
When the clothes are dry, no moisture, no current path and the timer advances.

So I would think that if the sensor is clean it should be an open circuit.

OK, I might investigate the error code further in the future. But for now the dryer is heating. I replaced the heater and all is well now. Great site and thanks for the help. I would have ordered the heater here, for it was cheaper, but my friend (mom) was in a hurry for her dryer. She bought the element locally. She paid $57.36 total from a local Maytag store. One guy here locally quoted $125. I knew better than that. I always search online first. So I expected it to be more around your price. Maytag was a little steep as well, but like I said, she was ready for her dryer back. She went two weeks without it. Laundry around her house is 24/7. Thanks mate for your help.