I have a Maytag natural gas dryer model LDG7304 AAE that I just rec'd from a friend who said it needed repairs. It had a worn blower wheel hub so it would turn but made a lot of noise. I repaired it and went on to find the door switch was suspicious in that the terminals were slightly burnt. Replaced it and went on to try and get it to provide heat. Found the thermostat on the burner tube (presume this is the hi limit one) was broken. Replaced that with a spare from another dryer and it fired up but would only stay lit for a short time then it would cut off the gas. I AM USING PROPANE TO TEST BUT HAVE THE NATURAL GAS ORIFICE STILL IN PLACE). It gets pretty warm but only runs a short time before it shuts off. I bypassed the hi limit t-stat and it works fine. The igniter works OK and the flame sensor appears to work OK. I cannot hook up to natural gas easily for testing and I am wondering if the propane gas heating using the nat gas orifice is too hot and causing the hi limit t-stat to signal the valve to shut off prematurely. If I wait a while I can restart it but the flame goes out quickly unless I bypass the t-stat. I am going to install a new set of gas valve coils ASAP but need to get some ideas about using propane w/o changing the orifice (for my testing) . Can anyone advise if this has happened to them.

I am having a similar problem with my HE3 Kenmore gas dryer, and I was hoping someone here might give me some ideas:

With the vent disconnected, it works fine. Gas comes on and burn cycles are 3-5 minutes. If anything is connected to the dryer vent, even just our short length of 4' of flex hose, the dryer never reaches normal temps and the burn cycle is about 1 min long.

Seems like a vent blockage issue, but I have cleaned out the vent pipes (they are only 8' long or so) and blown air thru it from a shop vac and they seem clean. And even the short length of flex hose by itself if connected will cause the burn time to go down (and yes I have looked thru the flex hose and it is clean too).

I tried replacing the solenoid coils, and it made no difference. I also have cleaned out the lint from the dryer ducting, at least the places I could reach without major disassembly.

Since everything appears to work fine without any connection on the vent, I am assuming that all the sensors are OK. If not, can someone suggest which ones might be involved here. And there is still air flowing when the vent is attached, enough to open the louvers on the outside air exit, and enough to feel from the end of the flex tube when it is just that.

I considered that it may be that the blower is just not moving enough air, that it is OK with nothing on the vent but even the slightest additional air restriction causes issues. It would make sense, but how can one test that the blower is moving enough air? One other thing I thought of was perhaps there is an air leak internal to the dryer, and it is not sucking enough air from the heater assembly, such that when a vent hose is added it gets critically low. Again, not sure how to test this hypothesis.

Any thoughts or suggested test would be appreciated.

I've got a very similar problem with my kenmore elite HE3. Although I don't feel like the flame is wimpy, it just doesn't stay on for more than 10 seconds. I've replaced the coils, gas valve, thermistor, moisture sensor bars and checked the flame sensor, high limit switch, and I think everything else for proper resistance or continuity. The exhaust path is clear and the dryer is cleaned out. It even does this with the dryer vent hose disconnected. I never tried the ignitor, because the flame always re-ignited! But it keeps going off like yours and would never get clothes dry. Could that be it? I was getting ready to buy a new computer module. Like some of these other guys, I'm running out of part s to replace...

G

I have a LDG9304ABE dryer (approx 25 yrs old). Has been a great appliance with no troubles at all...now it does not generate enough heat to dry a load of clothes. When starting, the burner will ignite for about a minute then goes out and does not reignite. The gas connection was upgraded to code, we replaced drum rollers and belt and cleaned/vacuumed everything.
No lint or airflow issue at all.
I'm hoping to get some direction on this as opposed to just starting to swap parts...
Thanks..

I have a LDG9304ABE dryer (approx 25 yrs old). Has been a great appliance with no troubles at all...now it does not generate enough heat to dry a load of clothes. When starting, the burner will ignite for about a minute then goes out and does not reignite. The gas connection was upgraded to code, we replaced drum rollers and belt and cleaned/vacuumed everything.
No lint or airflow issue at all.
I'm hoping to get some direction on this as opposed to just starting to swap parts...
Thanks..