It could be the door switch. Tom ApplianceEducator.com

Why don't you unplug the the appliance, and jump out the lid switch and see if it works. Tom ApplianceEducator.com

The dryer is running again!

I went to Walgreens, bought baking soda and a cheap toothbrush, came home, made a baking soda paste (3 parts baking soda, 1 part water), applied it to the contact points on the door switch and the wires leading to the door switch, waited 8 minutes, washed off the paste, let it air-dry for 5 minutes, re-connected the dryer switch, re-attached the front door, plugged the dryer back in, and turned it on.

Total cost: About two and a half bucks.

My only concern now is that the dryer smelled like a heater does when you first turn it on in autumn or winter. I'm hoping it's the result of the dryer sitting in storage for a year and a half, but my wife and I are going to try a test run with one or two damp towels and closely monitor the dryer.

Thanks for the reply.

The dryer operated without issue until today. My wife typed out the sequence of events, so I'm pasting that here:

Touched up a few damp items last night, after a few minutes, started making a high-pitched buzzing noise. Stopped the dryer, items were dry, so I pulled them out and hoped that it was just that I'd run the dryer several times that day and...something. Wishful thinking, I know.

This morning, threw in a load of jeans from the wash, started dryer, awful high-pitched buzzing sound again. Stopped it (being careful to turn the knob the correct way). Started it again, same sound. Tried it on permanent press, same sound. Let it go a couple of seconds and it stops on its own.

Now if I try to start it, it makes a sound for a split second like it wants to start, but it doesn't start.

Took all the jeans out, thinking maybe the weight of a bunch of wet jeans is part of the problem (I know, wishful thinking again), and it does the same thing. Won't start.

I should also mention that I got it to work, seemingly at random, about 10-15 minutes after my wife emptied out the dryer and started looking at sales on appliances online. I walked over, set the timer, pressed the button, and it started tumbling--like it should--immediately.

I then turned off the dryer, put in half a load of jeans, set the timer again, pressed the button--same thing. Sound, but no tumbling.

After it was clear it wasn't going to start tumbling again, I popped off the door like before, checked the door switch, all seemed fine with the door switch, took a flashlight and looked for any visible damage, and the belt seemed fine.

I put the door back on, plugged the dryer back in, turned the knob to 40 minutes on Regular, pushed the switch, and it just made the same sound it always make when it's getting ready to work--but didn't start tumbling.

As an experiment, I opened the door, set the timer, and pressed the button to start the watch. It looked as though the door switch sparked when I pressed the button. I tried pressing the button again and nothing happened--not even the noise it was making before. I closed the door, pushed the button again, and it made the noise, but, once again, didn't tumble.

I'm thinking the next step should be to buy a new door switch, but I don't want to spend $20 on a part that won't solve the problem.

Money is tight right now, so we don't want to pay $60 or more to call out a technician, but we also don't want to buy a new washer and dryer after skipping Black Friday sales (when we didn't know the dryer was having problems).

We'd be interested in buying a used dryer off craigslist, but we don't know how we need to dispose of the dryer. We also don't know how we'd transport our old dryer to a dump or a new (used) dryer to our second-floor apartment.

Please advise.

Try turning the drum by hand. Does it turn fairly easily?
I know that is not much of a description so you may want to try a couple other dryers first. Yours may be a little stiffer than new ones, it's just because it is better made.
If OK
Hold the door switch closed.
Start the dryer.
Rotate the drum by hand in the correct direction.
Watch your knuckles.
If it starts up, it is a good indication that your motor is shot.
This may require two people.

Just to be sure that the switch is not dropping the voltage I would short together the wires going to it. Tape them up so they cannot short to the frame and give this a try. If it starts up without any help then the switch is the problem. Try it at least a couple times. Your switch might have 3 wires Common, Normally Open goes to the motor and Normally Closed goes to the interior light, you want to short the wires going to the Common and Normally Open.

PS: If you did see an arc from the door switch it is an indication that the contacts in the switch are pitted and will fail in the near future. Either blow up or weld themselves together so it will need replacing.