Dryer won't heat up to dry clothes

Dryer Repair
1

I am having trouble with my dryer. It won’t dry the clothes, not getting any heat. I just replaced the heating element assembly and thermostat sensor but I am still not getting dry clothes.

Does anyone have any answers???

Thanks
Tom

2

Here are your parts includes a wiring diagram.
Replacement parts for MAYTAG MDE5500AYW DRYER- ELE | AppliancePartsPros.com

Did you replace the parts in an attempt to fix the no heat problem and did not do any troubleshooting but felt they were the most likely cause?

Also I am not sure what thermostat you replaced.
You have 2 thermostats in the heater circuit and also a thermistor (sensor) connected to the control board.

First I would check the power.
The heater requires the full 240 volts while the control, motor etc. only require 120 volts.

Try flipping the breaker off/on slowly a couple times.
Sometimes you can loose half the line without actually tripping the breaker.
If this does nothing, check the voltage at the plug
L1 to L2 should be 240 volts
L1 to Neutral and L2 to Neutral, both should be 120 volts.
If OK
Unplug the unit and check the wires at the terminal strip in the machine to make sure none are loose or burned out
If OK
Check the power at the terminal strip.
Do this with the heater off and on.
[COLOR=“Red”]Be careful as 240 volts is lethal !!![/COLOR]

If you do not own a meter, I would suggest you purchase a one. You can get a decent digital multimeter for under $20.00. You do not need fancy though it is nice if the leads are a couple feet long.
If it saves ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself and you end up owning a useful tool.
Most places will not let you return electrical parts so if you order it, you own it.
A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity

  1. Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
  2. Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
  3. When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale’s dynamic range.
  4. When you start always short the meter leads together. This will tell you that the meter is working and if there is any 0 offset.

There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it’s use.