See the attachment for the tech sheet
[COLOR="Blue"]A) Are there any other parts responsible for heat that I am not thinking of aside from the Thermal Cut - Off?[/COLOR]
Yes, See the wiring diagram. There is a centrifugal switch (2M/1M) on the motor that closes when the motor gets close to operating speed. This ensures that the heater does not come on until there is air flow. Also see timer contacts Timer Switch 2.
Also have you checked the power (240 volts), see below.
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B) If the Thermal Cut - Off installed in my dryer now is in fact "bad", would that actually prevent the dryer/element from heating up?[/COLOR]
Yes. If there is a thermal run away the hi-limit opens/closes and starts regulating the temperature. It is a safety device so is not designed to run all the time eventually it's contacts fail. If they weld together then the thermal cut-off blows as a secondary safety.
[COLOR="Blue"]I realize I may have gone about repairing this dryer in a long, and round about way, rather than just testing parts with a continuity tester or some other testing equipment, but had no access to such testing items.[/COLOR]
I would still consider getting a meter, see below. It is not unheard of to get a bad replacement part. If you install it without checking that it is OK you could go on forever in a circle trying to fix the unit.
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.
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Be careful as 240 volts is lethal !!![/COLOR]
There is another safer way to do this but it assumes that the heater and centrifugal switch are OK. I would try this first. Put the unit mid scale in an auto cycle Turn it on, if the timer advances then you have 240 as the timer motor gets power from the 240 volts when the heater is off.
If it does not advance then you will have to measure the voltage.
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.
4. When you start always short the meter leads together. This will tell you that the meter is working and if there is any 0 offset.
There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it's use.
