Dryer is sometimes not drying the clothes by the end of the cycle.
Here are the symptoms:
Sometimes the blower motor (separate motor on this unit) does not start up. Other times it does.
Sometimes during the cycle it groans and stops in the middle of the cycle. The drum keeps going as normal no matter what.
The blower will sometimes start back up and work.
When it is working, the clothes will dry and all is fine.
When it isn’t, the heat shuts off and clothes don’t dry.
Here is what I have tested:
Checked 240 Volt in = OK
Entered diagnostics by-
Powered up the unit,
Hit “Help”
Hold “My Cycles” and “Back” at the same time
Sometimes I get - Inlet Thermistor Problem
Sometimes I get - Blower Motor not up to speed
Sometimes - No error detected
I removed the blower motor and checked ohms:
Blue to Blue = 14 ohms
Red to Red = 14 ohms
Yel to Yel = 14 ohms
I powered up the dryer and checked the other wires on blower motor:
Black to Orange = 5 vdc (assuming this is encode in)
Black to Brown = 0 vdc when not spinning if it started to work I got voltage out (like 2.12vdc)
(I assume this is some sort of tach or encoder out of the motor to control board to tell it the speed it is turning).
When it wasn’t spinning I was getting dc voltage across the red pair. It would start low and go up to 12 vdc then shut off for a while. When the voltage is there the motor makes a high pitched whine and it will jerk and shimmy and kind of lock the shaft. Sometimes it takes off and runs, then all seems fine.
Questions:
I see an access door on the back for the inlet themistor.
Can this part cause the blower to not operate?
How can I check it and what measurement do I look for?
I assume some ohms range related/depending on temp?
I checked the outlet thermistor when I had the blower out and it read 225K? I dont know if this matters or can cause the blower to stop?
It changed values when I held it in my hand and returned when I let it go.
Looking at the limited diagram in the control panel, it looks like it is either the motor or the inverter board but I am open to suggestions???
In Factory test mode (the instructions attached), check blower rpm (1900 - 3000 rpm).
Check the inverter (the instructions attached).
The thermistors resistance has to be measured at the room temperature. The outlet thermistor should have a resistance value of 10 KOhms ± 3% and the inlet thermistor should have a resistance of 2.27 KOhms ± 5%.
I was wondering if you ever figured out how to fix your dryer? Mine is doing the EXACT same thing and I really don’t know where to go with it next. I tried the inlet thermistor but that didn’t fix it. It is drving me crazy!!:mad:
I went to the factory test mode as Gene instructed.
You need to realize that this is an intermittant type of problem.
When I went to the test mode it happened that the blower came up working.
The blower ramped up and settled in around 2380 RPM or so checking good.
All of the sensors and heating etc checked good also.
No problems.
** I want to note here that my inlet thermistor measured 225Kohms out of the dryer. That is around 100 times what Gene said it should be, however I now don’t think this is a problem as the test mode showed me extremely close temperature readings to those that were present during the test and varied accordingly.
Benjen879 - do you have an ohm meter to cross check your inlet thermistor? I would be interested in how many ohms you see on your sensors.
I left the dryer in the test mode and at 16:49 minutes of running fine, the dryer groaned to a halt.
The blower now showed 0 RPM. It only took a few seconds to shut down.
It gave off a pretty good groan as it stopped.
All tests still show - OK
Blower motor 0 RPM
I tested the inverter board following the procedure Gene supplied.
It tested good in both states - all of the voltages they were looking for were there whether the blower was blowing or not.
My actual measurements were:
124 vac in
4.78 vdc
12.44 vdc
19.88 vdc
You can tell/hear when the board trys to restart the blower.
There is a little high pitched whine coming from the motor for about 4 seconds or so. It stops for a while and then trys again.
Sometimes I would see a slight bump in the blower RPM at this time, maybe up to 6 RPM or so, but usually it just stayed on 0.
This time the blower didn’t restart before I quit testing. In the past, sometimes it comes back on fine.
I’m really leaning towards a blower motor, even though the windings ohm check fine. I think the tach/encoder section may be malfunctioning.
Is there any further tests or recommendations anyone can suggest?
Nope no more suggestions. I did order and install the inlet thermistor but it did not fix the issue. We do not have an OHM meter (just a regular one I guess) but both the old and new inlet thermistor tested the same na-da! I don’t know what the heck is going on.
Hey Benjen,
The only thing I can think of is that we are looking at bad blower motors. Possibly they are getting hot and pulling too much current and shutting down the inverter board power or there is some type of glitchy problem with the feedback coming from the motor. My inverter board seems to be supplying all voltages according to the tests.
My dryer (for now) seems to dry a load before it wants to screw up, making me think it is heat related.
With that said:
I think we both need a Blower Motor
P/N WE17X10008
(The motor in my dryer is actually made by LG and crosses to their P/N 4681EL1001A)
The only other part I see in the possibility list is the Inverter PWB (main board)
P/N WE04X10120
But I don’t see anything that leads me to think this part is bad.
Anybody else want to suggest anything???
And if anyone has had this problem before and fixed it, PLEASE chime in and let us know what fixed it for you!
[MODEL][/MODEL]You know it sure would be nice if GE would take some of the responsibility for these crappy blowers!!! Seriously I have literally obessed about this and found the same thing on website after website with people complaining about the exact same thing. I say we rise up against them and start some kind of petition. I would take a long time to get up a bunch of statements but until someone starts holding these companies responsible they are not going to do anything. I mean look at car companies they have to issue recalls and fix problems with their products. What’s the difference with an appliance that you purchase for nearly $1000.00 and expect the d*** thing to work for at least 5 years!! I am going to do some research or contact BBB or something. I probably won’t get jack for it but at least GE will know that these are crappy blower:p
[quote=jniggli;203297]I went to the factory test mode as Gene instructed.
You need to realize that this is an intermittant type of problem.
When I went to the test mode it happened that the blower came up working.
The blower ramped up and settled in around 2380 RPM or so checking good.
All of the sensors and heating etc checked good also.
No problems.
** I want to note here that my inlet thermistor measured 225Kohms out of the dryer. That is around 100 times what Gene said it should be, however I now don’t think this is a problem as the test mode showed me extremely close temperature readings to those that were present during the test and varied accordingly.
Benjen879 - do you have an ohm meter to cross check your inlet thermistor? I would be interested in how many ohms you see on your sensors.
I left the dryer in the test mode and at 16:49 minutes of running fine, the dryer groaned to a halt.
The blower now showed 0 RPM. It only took a few seconds to shut down.
It gave off a pretty good groan as it stopped.
All tests still show - OK
Blower motor 0 RPM
I tested the inverter board following the procedure Gene supplied.
It tested good in both states - all of the voltages they were looking for were there whether the blower was blowing or not.
My actual measurements were:
124 vac in
4.78 vdc
12.44 vdc
19.88 vdc
You can tell/hear when the board trys to restart the blower.
There is a little high pitched whine coming from the motor for about 4 seconds or so. It stops for a while and then trys again.
Sometimes I would see a slight bump in the blower RPM at this time, maybe up to 6 RPM or so, but usually it just stayed on 0.
This time the blower didn’t restart before I quit testing. In the past, sometimes it comes back on fine.
I’m really leaning towards a blower motor, even though the windings ohm check fine. I think the tach/encoder section may be malfunctioning.
Is there any further tests or recommendations anyone can suggest?[/quote]
According to the information you posted, most likely the problem is a bad blower motor. It is very possible that the problem with the motor is a heat related.
Ok so I it is heat related. My problem with replacing the blower is the darn thing works. So it has to be something sensor/computer related telling the unit it is too hot and to shut off. Any suggestions out there?
Benjen,
What I think they mean by heat related is that the blower motor itself is shutting down, possibly when thermal protection kicks in. I think the blower motor is bad, it does run but after a short while gets hot and shuts off. Sometimes it cools off and restarts, other times it requires a longer rest before it will run for a while again.
I’m changing out mine soon, so if you want to wait to see if it fixes mine, be my guest. I will be sure to post either way because I think there are plenty of people out there experiencing the same issue.
You are probably right about the blower. I just do not have the $$ right now to purchase and repair the dryer. I guess I have no other choice but to see if this works for you. Until then the laundry mat will get many visits from me :rolleyes:[MODEL][/MODEL]I just wanted to be able to purchase the part and know that would fix it since I am on limited funds as it is. Still I think GE knows about this problem and should have corrected it. I was amazed at all the people that have posted this exact same complaint and most just give up on it b/c even the GE service repair people couldn’t nail down what is wrong. From what I am hearing we will have to replace this blower several times over the course of ownership.
I replaced the blower motor a few days ago.
That fixed my problem.
Here is a run down from memory of what you need to do:
Remember - I might have missed a step or two but this should get you there!
Order the blower motor Gene suggested. The price was the lowest I could find, but feel free to check for youself.
Unplug the dryer
Take out 4 screws in the top of the instrument console
Lean it forward
Take out 2 screws in the back corners that are revealed by leaning the top forward
lift and slide the top cover forward to unlatch from the front
Lift the front of the top cover to reveal 2 more screws securing the front cover
Remove 4 screws you can see when you open the dryer door
Take out the lint screen and set it aside
Lean the front cover forward and unplug the door switch
Lift off and remove the front cover and door and set aside (it sets on 2 pins onm the bottom)
Remove the 2 screws that hold the shroud for the lint screen and remove the metal cover
Remove 4 screws holding the cover that holds the front of the drum
Remove the belt from around the spring loaded tensioner down on the lower left of the dryer
Lift off and remove the front drum cover and set aside
Remove drum and belt and set aside
Now you can pretty much see what you need to do
remove the 2 screws holding the plastic blower exhaust down
remove 2 screws holding blower motor down
unplug 2 spade terminals, 1 sensor, and the blower motor wiring harness connector.
Remove screws to get to the squirrel cage
Unbolt the squirrel cage REVERSE THREADED NUT and remove
3 more screws now exposed, hold that plastic to the motor assy
take off the 2 spring loaded clips to finally remove the motor from the cradle
Reverse the steps to reinstall
I took the opportunity to clean, blow out, vacuum etc etc all of the guts at this time since it is all right there for you.
Don’t do like I did and forget to reconnect the door switch!!! I had to repeat a few steps of my disassembly!!
Then it was BEER TIME in my dry pants!
Yes,
As I said, the blower motor replacement fixed the problem.
It has been working fine ever since.
I took the old motor apart. You can easily do this by taking out the four screws holding the halves together. All of the guts are slip fit so it comes right apart.
On the circuit board under the stator - I suspect a flakey transistor, possibly failing when hot.
It was lableled Q1,
the part number on the component is A733
It is a low frequency amplifier, PNP Epitaxial Silicon Transistor.
I am ordering one (it only costs 30 cents or so)
I think replacing this cheap component will fix my original motor.
Thanks so much for the update. I too, would like to replace the transistor
and see if that is the problem ( am also a technician) and was wondering what could be wrong inside the motor. My dryer has been working the last couple of days but I know the problem will return. Where is that transistor availiable as I would like to have it on hand when I commence dissassembly of my dryer.
I checked local electronics shops. If you get desperate I have seen them on ******** but you probably have to get 10 or so but they seemed cheap compared to the motor. Look for A733
Hope this helps - post back with your results!
Thanks for the update. After a long search I found some at “mouser.com/transistors” and enter in search box “512-KSA733”
They sell them each. My dumb dryer has started to work OK recently but I will buy a few transistors and try them when it quits again. Let me know if you have any luck with the transistor replacement, I will let you know if I do. Thanks again, George
Thanks for the info George… I picked up a 512-KSA733YBU (cost a nickel)
I kind of guessed at the hFE value of 120 based on a “Y” on my original part. (my part had a second line with a “YC307” so I took a shot)
Also I noticed a tiny hairline crack (using a magnifier) in the transistor, strengthening by belief that this is the culprit.
The part removes relatively easy with a soldering iron and some Soder-Wick since it is only soldered on the bottom side and the holes don’t flow through.
All of the other components checked out good, as did all 12 coils.
SA1 (the horseshoe emitter/detector pair that triggers through openings in the rotor) was the only other component I didn’t know how to test and I didn’t see a visible part number on it.
Let me know any updates! You may be running on borrowed time!
If there is a crack in the transistor it definately is bad, probably from overheating from too much current draw. I would suggest you buy 3 -4 transistors because something is drawing too much current to cause the overheating. The transistor should read significantly different ohm reading when you reverse the meter leads from 2 sets of 2 leads. Like two semiconductors with one end of each connected together. GOOD LUCK
George
It tests good… but it also works fine - for a while!
If you lay this transistor on its back with the part number and flat side facing you and leads towards you - the leads are like this from left to right:
Emitter - Collector - Base
Since this is a silicon PNP transistor you can check like this:
[LEFT]TESTING TRANSISTORS
test the B-C junction and the B-E junction as if they were standard diodes. if one of those junctions is a “bad diode”, then the transistor is bad.
(Black lead on Base conducts - Red lead on Base shows open)[/LEFT]
Also, check the resistance from C to E
If the transistor is good, you should get an open circuit reading from collector to emitter (both ways).
I have a Peak Atlas DCA55 component tester but you may not be so fortunate!
I used freeze mist and heat gun, the readings moved around (lower with heat higher with cold) but still checked reasonably well.
Bottom line – mmmmmmmmmm-- unsure.
