I have been trying to fix our electric dryer. I have changed the heating element, thermal fuse, dryer thermistor and thermostat. I have also checked the incoming 240v power and each leg tests good. I checked the control board with a multimeter and got 120v from the L1 side of the heating element. I have no idea what else could be causing this issue
Since you’ve already replaced the heating element, thermal fuse, thermostat, and thermistor, and you’ve verified 240 VAC at the dryer, I would stop replacing heater parts. On the Samsung DVE45T3400P, the next test is to determine which side of the 240-volt heater circuit is missing. Samsung specifies a 5300 W / 240 V heater for this model.
The important part about your 120V reading
Seeing 120 VAC from one heater terminal to neutral/ground does not prove the heater is receiving power.
The heater needs approximately 240 VAC across its two terminals.
LIVE POWER WARNING: The following test requires running the dryer with exposed live 240-volt circuitry. Only do this if you’re comfortable safely making live-voltage measurements.
Run Time Dry / High Heat and measure directly across the two heating-element terminals.
You should see approximately:
Heater terminal → Heater terminal = 220–240 VAC
If you get 240 VAC but no heat, something is wrong with the new heater/connection. With power disconnected, verify the element itself has continuity and roughly 10–12 Ω. A 5300-watt element at 240 V calculates to about 10.9 Ω.
If you get 0 VAC or approximately 120 VAC across the heater, one side of the heater circuit isn’t being supplied. That’s the direction I suspect you’ll end up going.
There are two sides to chase
One side of the heater circuit is supplied through the control-board heater relay.
The other side is completed through the motor’s centrifugal switch once the motor reaches operating speed.
That’s why a dryer can run and tumble perfectly normally but never heat if the heating contacts inside the motor centrifugal switch fail. The motor can still operate even though that separate heater contact isn’t closing.
Since you’ve already found 120 V on one side, check each heater terminal individually to neutral while it’s running and calling for heat.
If one side has approximately 120 VAC and the other side doesn’t, trace the dead side backward.
If the dead side traces toward the control board, suspect the heater relay/control board.
If it traces toward the motor, suspect the motor centrifugal switch, wiring, or connector.
One more check before condemning anything
Unplug the dryer and check continuity through the entire heater circuit, not just the new individual components. Look closely at the wiring terminals on the heater housing. A burned, loose, or partially backed-out connector can give exactly this symptom.
Also verify your 240 V at the dryer’s terminal block, measuring:
L1 → L2: ~240 VAC
L1 → Neutral: ~120 VAC
L2 → Neutral: ~120 VAC
Samsung specifically calls for 240 V between L1 and L2; checking each leg individually isn’t enough because you can occasionally get misleading readings under no load.
Given everything you’ve already replaced, my two leading suspects are the heater relay/control board and the motor centrifugal switch. I wouldn’t replace either yet—the voltage-across-the-heater test will tell us which direction to go.
If you tell me what voltage you get directly across the two heater terminals while the dryer is running on Time Dry/High Heat, I can walk you through the next exact measurement.
Do you have a wiring diagram/schematic for this dryer?
