[seejaysdad]

Our dryer stopped producing heat about a week ago. The motor and everything runs fine, but there is no heat. Should I replace the element or start with the thermostats? There is no lint trapped anywhere and I cleaned out the unit fairly well.

[denman]

I cannot find any tech info on this unit.
Hopefully you have a wiring diagram as that will help.
If not check inside the control console, often that is where they put it.
I was able to find a parts breakdown at the Sears parts site.
AppliancPartsPros will sell the parts for this unit even if the unit does not come up when searching. Usually at a better price than Sears.

Note: if the thermal fuse (cutoff) on the heater assembly is blown get back to us as there are other things to check to ensure it does not blow again.

First try flipping the breaker off/on slowly a couple times. Sometimes you can loose half the line without actually tripping the breaker and the heating coil requires the full 240 volts.
If this does nothing.
Measure 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 unit's terminal strip to ensure they are properly connected and none of them have burned off
If OK
Plug the unit in and check the voltage at the terminal strip. This is just in case you have a bad line cord. Be careful 240 volts is lethal.
If OK
Unplug the unit and check the heating coil and thermostats etc. for continuity.
Heating coil, should be 15 ohms approximately.
Thermostats and thermal fuse all should be 0 ohms.

If you do not own a meter, I would suggest you purchase a one. You can get a decent digital multimeter for under $20.00. You do not need fancy though it is nice if the leads are a couple feet long.
If it saves ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself and you end up owning a useful tool.
Most places will not let you return electrical parts so if you order it, you own it.
A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity
1. Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
2. Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
3. When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale's dynamic range.

There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it's use.

[stoph70]

Narrowed problem down to the One Time Thermal Fuse. I'm guessing some other part (Cycling T-stat?) has failed in order to cause the fuse to open in the first place.

....And....
Have searched everywhere and have had no luck matching a Model #. Maybe I don't really even own a dryer and I'm imagining all of this?

Model # 97350100 (73501?)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Chris

[denman]

Narrowed problem down to the One Time Thermal Fuse. I'm guessing some other part (Cycling T-stat?) has failed in order to cause the fuse to open in the first place.
You have to find out what caused it to go, though you may end up guessing try to improve yopur odds with some troubleshooting..
Note: that sometimes they do just blow on their own but changing it without checking other things is a gamble.

Check the heating coil.
Unplug the unit and both wires to the coil.
Check it with a meter, should be around 12 ohms.
Then check from each side of the coil to the case/frame, both should be infinite ohms (open). If not the coil may have sagged or broken and is touching the case. This can cause it to run on high and the thermostats cannot regulate it.

If the above is OK then you will also have to replace the hi-limit as it should have regulated the temperature so the fuse did not blow.

You still have to find out why it blew.
Check the seal (drum etc) in the unit. The air is pulled over the heating coils, through the drum and pushed out the exhaust. So any large seal leak will pull in room air and the cycling thermostat on the blower will run the unit hot.
Check that the lint filter is not coated with fabric softener residue which greatly reduces air flow.
Check/clean your vent system.
Check/clean the blower wheel.

If all OK you may want to replace the cycling thermostat as it's contacts may not be opening (welded shut).


The 110 tells us that it is actually a Whirlpool unit.

Perhaps if you describe the control panel and what options it has I can match it up to a Whirlpool. Many of the parts like thermostat's etc are common to many units.
Need to know:\
What side the timer knob is on?
What are the timer options?
What other knobs/switches does it have, what do they do (options) and where are they located on the control panel?
Does it have a push to start relay?
Does it have a moisture sensor re: metal strips ii the drum area?

Below is an example of a Whirlpool (LEQ7030KQ1) with a lot of options.
Parts
Replacement parts for WHIRLPOOL LEQ7030KQ1 | AppliancePartsPros.com

Wiring
http://www.servicematters.com/docs/w...%203406661.pdf

[stoph70]

Hey Denman,

First - Thanks for the help!

Second - Sorry about forgetting fundamentals - it's gas. (Insert Eye-roll here)

Also - Three minutes after I posted the first time I happened to run across some "larger" model numbers in the scroll window posted by Seejaysdad at the beginning of this thread and... "AHA!". The "110" in front of the 97350100 is so large that I didn't realize it was part of it. (second eye-roll appropriate)

The lint filter was extremely heavy after a blanket was washed so I'm hoping this was the culprit - but... because finding diagrams on this model seems unlikely I'm having trouble locating the "names" of parts so...

Sensor on the duct from the burner to the drum - good - 0 ohms

Sensor on the exhaust duct directly below the blown fuse has four wires, 2 red, 2 violet.
Red to Red - 0 ohms
Vio. to Vio. - 7 kohms (normal?)

What else have I missed?

Chris

[denman]

stoph70
I usually do not mess with gas units.

Sensor on the duct from the burner to the drum - good - 0 ohms
This could be the hi-limit thermostat.

Sensor on the exhaust duct directly below the blown fuse has four wires, 2 red, 2 violet.
Red to Red - 0 ohms
Vio. to Vio. - 7 kohms (normal?)
Yes looks OK this is probably the cycling thermostat.
The 0 ohms is the thermostat's contacts.
The 7 Kohms is probably the thermostat's internal heater. It is turned on to add heat to the thermostat which causes the unit to run cooler.

You never did say which fuse blew. If it was the one on the blower then the most common cause is a dirty or malfunctioning vent system (louvers not opening).
Also check/clean the blower wheel.

[stoph70]

Working like a champ.

Thanks for all of the help! Really!