A few days ago my dryer stopped turning. Naturally I thought it was the belt but the belt is in tact and all the pulleys turn as they should. I then moved my attention to the thermal fuse, “jumped” the 2 wires but the problem persists. I’m really hoping it isn’t my drive motor but I thought I would ask here before taking it to a repairman.
Cliffs:
-drum does not turn
-heater coil gets hot
-checked the circuit breaker and lint trap
-checked for disconnected wires
-belt is in tact and all pulleys turn when I manually move the drum
-“jumped” thermal fuse wires
[COLOR=“DarkRed”]-heater coil gets hot[/COLOR]
The above can indicate that there is a problem with the centrifugal switches on the motor.
There are two of these switches, they are activated when the motor gets close to operating speed.
One of them switches out the motor’s start winding.
The other switches in the heating coil, this ensures that the heat does not come on till the unit has air flow.
Since you get heat but it does not sound like the motor is running I think the mechanical centrifugal assembly in the motor is stuck in the activated position. Your motor then has the start winding disconnected and therefore will not run.
Could be it is just clogged solid with dust.
What is strange here is that normally you will hear the motor buzzing/humming as it tries to start.
The only other scenario I can think of that would give these symptoms is that you have a grounded element and also a power problem.
This is unlikely. WED5540.pdf (189.6 KB)
Thanks for the reply. The only thing I hear when I press the start button is some light clicking from the heater coil area. From your description, I feel it’s best I take it to a professional.
