Have had this issue with this dryer ever since a friend gave it to us. They claimed it worked fine for them. Takes two full 60 minute cycles to dry the clothes completely. Drum turns freely, lint traps and exhaust are all clear. The heating element on this model isn't the kind that goes around the drum. It actually looks like a little radiator that fits on the back with a box around it. I'm replacing the drive belt which just snapped tonight and thought I should ask about it while I'm going to have it open. Is it possible for part of that element to go out and not generate enough heat? I know there's a continuity circuit in the ones that go around the drum but from the pictures online this one just looks like it's five little coils stacked on top of each other so I can't tell if they are continuous or not. Also, on top of the box that houses the element, as if your looking down into the dryer, there is a hole in the top of that box. Doesn't look like it's burned through, or rusted or anything like that. Not sure if that is for ventilation or not.

Before I put the dryer in I had replaced the outlet on the wall due to the last dryers plug shorting out and causing a minor meltdown. I've got 110V on each positive side of the outlet when you touch one outside to the ground in the middle and then 220V when you touch the two positive ones so I'm pretty sure it's getting the right amount of voltage.

Any suggestions would be great! Going to the part store tomorrow for the drive belt and would like to get everything at the same time if anyone thinks the heating element is the culprit. Dryer acts completely normal otherwise.

Thanks!

P.S. Heating element part number is 3403585 but they are substituting 279838.

Here you can see the connector and the open box on the bottom. Am I missing a part of the box or something?