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My amana electric dryer has stopped heating. It turns on and runs fine though. I tested for voltage and continuity through the two limit switches and a thermal fuse. All are fine. The heating element consists of 3 rows of coils.Its actually one coil positioned into 3 rows.I have 126vac to both sides of the heating coils. The coils do not look burnt and do not appear damaged or broken. I tested various areas of the coil and has 120 volts throughout it. I was wondering if there were and wires or coils inside the ones I tested that could be broken and judt not visible. I did check, and had, continuity from each end of the coil but did not disconnect the coil leads while testing. I probably needed to disconnect them, right? Should I check for an actual ohms reading thru coil? If so, any idea what it should read.
It seems like everything is ok, but the coils are just not heating up. Any tips or pointers would be appreciated. Thank You.
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I cannot find any info on the given model number
[COLOR="Blue"]I have 126vac to both sides of the heating coils.[/COLOR]
This is not a good test.
I am assuming that you are measuring with reference to Neutral.
The heating coil circuit does not use neutral.
It uses 240 re: the two 120 sides of the line that are 180 degrees out of phase to give 240.
When the timer is set to a run mode you will always see 120 (one side of the line) on the heater and since the heater is not passing any current you will see the same 120 on the far side.
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.
If this does nothing, 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.
[COLOR="Red"]Be careful as 240 volts is lethal !!! [/COLOR] |
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I will double check voltages but if I remember right, when I installed the power cord on the dryer it I took one of the cord wires and I think I grounded it because it's a 110volt dryer. Does this sound right?I'm going to double check that and your tips when off work. Thanks again. You guys are priceless.
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OOPS!!
Sounds like I messed up and assumed that it was a 240 volt dryer when I could not find any info on it.
Since you see 120 volts on the heater then there must be a switch or a thermostat on the neutral side that is not closing.
All I can suggest is that you trace the wiring back from there till you find the open component. |
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Having voltage at the element is really throwing me for a loop. I guess I'll have to recheck everything again. Is there anything up in the timer/ knob area that may cause this problem?I'm new to this forum so I hope I'm not asking too many questions. You have been very helpful. Thanks.
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No you are not asking too many questions, we are here to help.
To explain the voltage at the heater perhaps the following will help.
120 volt line -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- Neutral
Lets say A is a timer contact, B is a thermostat, C is the heater, D is a switch, E is a thermostat.
If you measure from Neutral to 120 volt line you of coarse see the 120 volts.
Now with one meter lead on neutral.
If A is closed (0 ohms) you will see 120 volts on the left and right sides.
If B is closed you again see 120 on both sides
Since C (the heater) is not dropping any voltage because current is not flowing through it you see 120 on both left and right sides.
Now let say D is open (infinite ohms) you will see 120 volts on the left side and 0 volts on the right side.
Also there will be 0 volts on both sides of E irregardless if it is open or closed.
I hope the above is helpful in understanding what is happening. |
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Thank you so much for your assistance. I went and rechecked everything and sure enough found an open component. It was a porcelain thermal fuse. I bypassed it only for ten seconds to see if it worked and it did! I don't know what the heck I was doing when I first tested everything. I think I checked continuity without disconnecting any wires. That may have given me a false reading. At any rate, if it weren't for you, I would of given up on the thing and trashed an otherwise perfect dryer.
Thank you, Denman, for a job well done!
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