I have an Admiral Dryer LNC7764A71 that went dead last week. It seems like there is no power at all (no drum light). From reading other threads here I found a few things to check. I have already gotten the dryer thermostat kit and replaced those parts but it still does not function. I tested the outlet by plugging another dryer into it and that dryer works (this is an old dryer that doesn’t blow hot but does tumble) so it looks like the power is good. I am picking up a multimeter after work today (i’m in electronics repair but the boss won’t let me borrow ours!). Here is my question:
Is there anything else that would stop the power from flowing on this? Could a bad door switch cause this? Anything else?
Odds are that the thermal fuse (Item 5 in Section 4) blew it kills power to the motor and the drum light.
Before replacing try to find out why it blew.
Check the heating coil.
Unplug the unit and both wires to the coil.
Check it with a meter, should be around 10 to 12 ohms.
Then check from each side of the coil to the case/frame, both should be infinite ohms (open). If not the coil may have sagged or broken and is touching the case. This can cause it to run on high and the thermostats cannot regulate it so the thermal cut-off blows.
The hi-limit should have regulated the temperature so the fuse did not blow, that is why there is a new one with the thermal cut-off..
Note: That unless there is another problem in the unit the hi-limit should never have to open. It is just a safety device with the fuse being a backup safety device.
Just in case it is not a grounded element.
With all the below the high limit will also have to be replaced.
Check that the belt is OK.
Check the seals (drum etc) in the unit. The air is pulled over the heating coils, through the drum and pushed out the exhaust. So any large seal leak will pull in room air and the cycling thermostat on the blower will run the unit hot.
Check that the lint filter is not coated with fabric softener residue which greatly reduces air flow.
Check/clean your vent system.
Check/clean the blower wheel.
If all OK you may want to replace the cycling thermostat as it’s contacts may not be opening (welded shut)
I have already replaced the thermal fuse and the high-limit thermostat. Once I get the multimeter I will following through with the rest of the testing.
When I pulled the front off I noted that there was some lint (not much) and cleaned it. The belt seems good and the drum seals look and feel good. I also checked the vent line to make sure that it was not clogged and it looks good too.
I will check the heating coils later today and see what I come up with.
1 - Tested heating element - result = 11.5
Tested tested to case = infinity
2 - Belt = ok
3 - Drum seal = good
4 - Vent = little lint, cleaned
5 - Blower = very little lint, cleaned
6 - Filter = very little lint, cleaned
I also tried to do a reading on the thermal fuse and the Thermastat high limit. The reading came out between 0.4 - 0.6 . Is that normal or should I check those differently?
I guess the next step would be to start at the power block and work my way through the wiring maybe? Thank you for all of your help!
[COLOR=“DarkRed”]I also tried to do a reading on the thermal fuse and the Thermastat high limit. The reading came out between 0.4 - 0.6 . Is that normal or should I check those differently?[/COLOR]
When checking them did you disconnect at least one side of the device?
This prevents you from reading an alternate/parallel circuit path.
[QUOTE=denman;406473][COLOR=“DarkRed”]I also tried to do a reading on the thermal fuse and the Thermastat high limit. The reading came out between 0.4 - 0.6 . Is that normal or should I check those differently?[/COLOR]
When checking them did you disconnect at least one side of the device?
This prevents you from reading an alternate/parallel circuit path.[/QUOTE]
I disconnected both sides for the high limit thermostat but not for the fuse. I did, however, test both of the old parts (thermal fuse and HLT) and they gave me the same reading. I will do the same for the thermal fuse that is installed just to make sure.
[COLOR=“DarkRed”]I guess the next step would be to start at the power block and work my way through the wiring maybe?[/COLOR]
Sounds like a good idea.
A bad terminal strip or a line cord would be at the top of my list.
No drum light would point toward a problem in the Neutral line, so I would unplug the unit and attach one meter lead to the Neutral at the line cord plug and leave it there then work your way back through the unit.
[QUOTE=denman;406522][COLOR=“DarkRed”]I guess the next step would be to start at the power block and work my way through the wiring maybe?[/COLOR]
Sounds like a good idea.
A bad terminal strip or a line cord would be at the top of my list.
No drum light would point toward a problem in the Neutral line, so I would unplug the unit and attach one meter lead to the Neutral at the line cord plug and leave it there then work your way back through the unit.[/QUOTE]
Good deal, I’ll get on it tonight. Thank you for your help!
As a side note, the power cord that I’m using on this dryer is the same power cord that I used on a test dryer so I know that it functions (at least to some degree!). And, before I removed the power cord, I made note of how it was to be wired back in. I also confirmed this with the manual for it.
Ok. After an entire night of testing the wiring and pulling my hair out (because everything tested good) I have found where the issue is!
As it turns out, only one of the lines coming from the breaker box has juice to it. I found this out at 11 pm last night as I sat on my kitchen floor scratching my head. If everything was testing fine then why is there no power??? Then it dawned on me…try swapping the two hot wires on the power cord. Guess what…it worked! The light would turn on, it would tumble but no heat (just like the test dryer!) This explains why the test dryer would tumble but not heat even tho my girlfriend told me that it worked before. I have already isolated the breaker that is not functioning properly in the panel box and contacted an electrician friend to come an look at it (in case there is something more going on than just a bad breaker). Thank you so much for your help! I couldn’t have done it (nor had the confidence to do it) without you and this forum! Thanks a million!
And thanks for getting back to us. Now when others search for a similar problem they will see what actually worked instead of just suggestions about what could be the cause.