Dryer not blocked, heats, spins, but doesn't dry

[farace]

I checked all the venting, inside and out. There are no lint (or anything else) blockages. I left the vent hose unattached for now anyway; I can feel a strong current of hot air coming out.

Running the dryer with the top open, I can see the heating element glowing and cycling on and off every couple of minutes.

The drum is spinning.

Here’s the funny thing: If I hold the door switch in and run it with the door open, I can see that the clothes aren’t tumbling. The drum is spinning fast enough that the clothes are being forced against the walls of the drum and they just stay there, not tumbling at all. So I think the problem is that the hot air isn’t reaching anything but the surface of the clothes.

How could this be? Is there a speed control on the motor somewhere? (Yeah, I’m going to go digging some more, but I needed to take a break and ask.)

Thanks for any insights anyone can provide.

[denman]

Here are your parts.
Replacement parts for FRIGIDAIRE MDE216RBW0 Tap(v12) / 27 " Electric Dryer | AppliancePartsPros.com

[COLOR=“DarkRed”]How could this be?[/COLOR]
That is the million dollar question.
This is very, very weird.

[COLOR=“DarkRed”]Is there a speed control on the motor somewhere?[/COLOR]
There is no speed control.

Did this unit used to run OK for you or is the unit new to you?
Is the vane (Item 19 in Section 1) in the drum?
Are the clothes overly wet coming out of the washer? Though I would imagine they should still tumble.

You may want to look at a couple other dryers to see if your drum is rotating too fast but for the life of me I cannot not think of a reason why it would do that. This of coarse only applies if the unit used to run OK. If the motor or its pulley have been replaced then that is a different story.

PS: Do not run the unit too long with the door open as you could blow a thermal fuse/cut-off. There is no air flow over the heating coils with the door open.

[farace]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, all three vanes are still present inside the drum. I have had this dryer for years; this problem is a very recent occurrence. The only other time I’ve had to work on the dryer was about a year ago when I changed a broken belt, but everything has been fine up until now. This has me stymied.

[denman]

I am also at a loss what the problem is.
By the sound of it you have good air flow and heat so I can only suggest a couple things to check.

Remove the lint filter and see if that helps. Sometimes fabric softener residue can coat the filter reducing air flow,

Check that all seals in the units air flow path are OK.

Check that the blower wheel is not stripped and slipping on the motor shaft.

The main thermostat looks like it is 140 degrees F so check the exhaust air temperature.

You have probably done some of the above but I am reaching for straws here.

[farace]

Thanks again. I do have good air flow, no blockage through the lint screen (and in fact I can feel quite a suction through there), all seals good, blower not stripped, and I cleaned all the lint off of it. Basically, I couldn’t ask for better air flow. I didn’t hold a thermometer in the outflow, but it gets warm enough that my hand gets uncomfortably warm.

The problem seems simply to be that the drum is spinning too fast for the clothes to tumble. I can’t imagine the pulley has grown larger, so the motor must be spinning faster, but why?

I did find this on ehow:

The speed in a dryer is regulated by the system. So when it’s not working properly, it should be noticeable. Excessive spinning very likely means that the regulator in the system has failed or is failing. The frequent culprit tends to be a bad sensor, although it could be a loose physical restriction as well. Most sensors and fail-safes are designed to shut off power to your dryer when something doesn’t work right or fails. However, this safety feature doesn’t always work as designed, and if it fails to cut power, speed could build up beyond normal limits.

But this is a pretty basic dryer, single-speed, and only a choice between timed dry and moisture sensing. The ehow article also stated, “When these motors fail, one of the symptoms can be unregulated, excessive speed. The engine will overwork or start behaving erratically prior to complete burnout.” I think they’re assuming a multi-speed dryer, though, no? Is there anything at all in this dryer regulating the motor speed?

Being that this is such a basic dryer, the cost of a replacement motor is very nearly the original cost of the dryer, so it makes more sense to replace the whole appliance, but I hate doing that, it seems like such a waste. I’m hoping someone can point to something logical that will make me smack my head and say, “duh!”

Thanks again.

[denman]

[COLOR=“DarkRed”]Is there anything at all in this dryer regulating the motor speed?[/COLOR]
No
This is just a standard AC motor which uses a run and a start winding.
The only thing I know of that will effect the speed is the frequency of the power and I cannot see the 60 hertz line frequency changing.

I am as baffled as you are!!!

[farace]

I solved the problem, and it was so simple you’ll love it.

I took the top and front off the dryer and was going to take the drum out but decided to take a good look at the belt before I took all that apart. Well, I can’t see the belt from there, so I stuck my hand around the fan housing and felt it. Turns out that for some reason it had hopped up onto the flange of the pulley! I don’t know how that could have happened, but I put the belt back where it belongs and now the clothes tumble again.

A ten-minute fix. I spent more time writing about it than actually fixing it. Oh, well, it was a learning experience.

Thanks for the time and help.

[denman]

You are welcome.

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.