Nothing works or lights up on the panel. the light inside the dryer does work.
sounds like a possible control panel.
anything i should check?
are control panels hard to install?
tome
Sounds very much like a component on your board has failed. It is easy to access by removing the control console panel, this service manual will show you how.
http://www.servicematters.com/maytag_library/docs/16023110.pdf
Your model is discussed in detail near the end. If there is no way to put it into a diagnosis mode you will have to replace it on speculation that it is the problem, but it is highly probable that it is.
i replaced the control board and still nothing comes on. what would be the next course of action that you suggest?
does anything else cut the power to the board while leaving the light inside the dryer on?
The way an electric dryer works is that you have two 120v circuits coming into the machine to give you 240v necessary to power up the heating element. These two lines are called L1 and L2 and a neutral N line completes the circuit for both L1 and L2.
For your dryer the L1 line goes to the circuit board to give it 120v of power while the L2 line goes to the light. So if you are getting the light but not getting power to the board the problem would seem to be a break in the L1 line. If your dryer is wired according to the wiring diagram (yeah, that is not always the case) the L1 line is a black wire coming off of the connection block and going to the Board.
First you need to check with a meter and see that you have 120v between each outside terminal and the neutral wire at the connection block. If you do not you probably have a bad or partially tripped circuit breaker
If you do have power to the L1 (we know you have it to L2) You need to unplug the dryer and check that line for continuity (with the Dryer unplugged) and see if it is broken, frayed or shorted somewhere. It may even be nothing more than a loose or broken connection at the connection block.
first let me thank you for your help so far.
prior to reading your response, i took the terminal block cover off and discoverred that all the black wires were not connected to the block terminal. in fact the post that the black wires (2 from harness and 1 from the plug) should connect to was not there. the black wire looked melted. no little conectors left just bare wire ends.
i also noticed the way my dryer was connected (i have a 4 wire/4prong plug)…
the green and white wire were both conected to the center post of the terminal block. there also was a ground clip from this post to the dryer.
i thought with 4 wire that the green wire shoul=d be connected directly to the dryer and the clip not used.
now my questions…
-could the plug connection i described above have caused some type of short that melted the terminal for the black wires?
-to fix i need to get a new terminal block, but then
-can i clean the black wires from the wiring harness and put new clips on them?
-can i clean the black wire from the plug and put a new clip or do i need to get a whole new plug?
-what is the correct wiring for the green wire on the 4 wire plug? and should i disconect the clip from the dryer (just fold it back on the post)?
Ok, good work in finding that. To answer your questions,
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The miswiring could have been a factor that caused your wiring to short out and melt, thus severing the connection and eliminating the L1 power to the dryer, hence your problem. You certainly want to closely examine all of the L1 circuit to the board and to the other places it goes from the connection block.
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For the four wire connection, the green ground coming from the dryer should be grounded to the frame. The green wire from the power cord is then connected to the frame. You can fold the strip over the neutral.
Here is a picture of how it should look.
http://www.applianceaid.com/images/ldr-cord-4-wire.jpg
I would put in a new four wire power cord, it is not expensive and a new one will take out any worries of a short or break inside the insulation. Also check where it plugs in and the wiring inside it for any problems.
- You can use your existing black wires with new connectors that go into the dryer as long as both a continuity test and an inspection indicate there is not a problem. Be very sure, or you may just burn out things again. If you are in any way unsure, replace them. Use the wiring diagram for your model that is at the end of the manual to trace out the wiring.
You are dealing with only 120v instead of the 240v but it is still pretty powerful current so treat it with care. I would use the new control board as your old one may be fried, or at least weakened by the incident. The new one should be ok, since no power ever got to it. In fact, I would put the old one in after you do the electrical repairs (don’t expect it to necessarily power up, it is in there only for a test) and if nothing shorts out then it should be safe to put the new one in.
“If in doubt, take it out”
Good luck, let us know how it all turns out.
i did get the replacement parts and put everything back together. all seem to be working well.
thans for yoru assistance.
tome
Great, glad you got it going and thanks for the update.
Good luck with it in the future.