Here is an example of the Sears tags
http://www.appliance411.com/purchase/sears.shtmlYes the heater is the heating element.
Unplug the unit and one side of the element and check it with a meter.
Should be approximately 10 ohms.
Close to the heater there are usually 2 thermostats.
One is a thermal cut-off (fuse) and one is a hi-limit thermostat.
Both should be 0 ohms.
Note: Always remove the connection to at least one side of any device you are measuring this ensures that you do not read an alternate/parallel circuit path.
If the thermal fuse is blown you have to find out what caused it to go.
Note: that sometimes they do just blow on their own but changing it without checking other things is a gamble. I believe richappy (another regular poster on this forum) has done a study on thermostats and found a wide variation of actual trip point and what is specified.
Check the heating coil.
Unplug the unit and both wires to the coil.
Check it with a meter, should be around 10 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 that the belt is OK.
Check the seals (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 (usually mounted on the blower housing) as it's contacts may not be opening (welded shut).