My Whirpool Duet is JUST 2 years old. I opened the dryer after a load and the light bulb popped. Now the dryer won’t start at all, I can turn on the power and select the setting, but when I try to start it it jsut beeps at me. HELP!
Unplug the dryer and check the light bulb socket for any pieces left inside. Install a new light bulb.
Did it show any error codes?
Gene.
Any idea on how this was fixed? I had the same thing happen yesterday to the same model. Mine is still under warranty and I have service coming out tomorrow but I’d like to know what happened. Did the bulb blowing cause a surge and knock out the control board or maybe burn out the door switch? The bulb had glass shards in it so it was a pretty strong pop. The bulb stayed together though. Took the bulb out in case there was a short in it but same thing. Turn controls on, press the start button and it beeps and the time display flashes.
It is very possible. Please post the diagnosis done by a Whirlpool tech.
Gene.
It was the door switch. The tech left the old one so I opened it up (I can’t help myself. I have to know). Found that when the bulb blew it caused the switch contacts to weld together and preventing them from switching. The board was seeing an open door not allowing any cycles to start. My guess is this happened to the original poster too. The service tech said he never saw this before but I think I’m not replacing the bulb!
Thank you very much.
Gene.
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]We had the same problem. [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]HOW IT WORKS: When the dryer door opens/closes it pushes or releases a little knob inside the door (on ours it is in the top left position). When it is released the light inside comes on and the dryer will not start, will show panel lights but will beep if you try to start it. When it is pressed (when the door is closed), the light turns off and it will let you turn the dryer on.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]Being that the knob was not working properly, there was no communication when the door was opened/closed to tell it to turn on the light or let the dryer start. [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]SOLUTION: Purchase a new knob, part number 8519323 (also part number 8283288). This comes with both the knob and the wiring, but we only had to replace the knob itself.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]REPLACING KNOB: It is easily removed from the outside. [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]1. Open dryer door.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]2. Press (squeeze) the left/right sides of the knob and pull it out.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]3. Put in the new knob and press into place.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’][COLOR=#000000]It was as easy as this for us anyway. The part was approximately $38. [/COLOR][/FONT]
OK, will the switch cause the bulb not to light? I changed out the bulb and figured it would at least light up even if the switch was bad. 
It can be a bad switch. You have to check it for continuity.
Gene.
thank you for the quick response. So the switch will cause the light to not light up?
I have a new bulb in it and it still won’t light with the door open. I can go down in the morning and buy a new switch but I really want to make sure I am getting the right thing.
As I said earlier - do not rush with the part. Check the old switch for continuity first.
Gene.
What is the complete model number of the washer?
Yes, the light will not work if the switch is out (at least that’s what happened with our dryer). The signal is not getting through to the light bulb to tell it whether the door is open or closed (thus telling it to turn on/off), the same concept applying to whether the dryer will start or not start, the message is not getting through the switch.
Both of these problems were resolved when we replaced the switch (see my detailed description above of our problem and solution).
Best to You!
[quote=danpomeroy;68459]thank you for the quick response. So the switch will cause the light to not light up?
I have a new bulb in it and it still won’t light with the door open. I can go down in the morning and buy a new switch but I really want to make sure I am getting the right thing.[/quote]
That worked great!!
Thanks for all the help.
Sweeeeeeeeeeet! Happy to help. Now, have fun doing all of the laundry that has piled up in the last few days. 
[quote=danpomeroy;69379]That worked great!!
Thanks for all the help.[/quote]
I just had the same problem happen to my 2 1/2 year old Duet Dryer. The light blew into shards and then the dryer wouldn’t work. The diagnostics pointed to the door switch because there was no beep when the door was opened in diagnostic mode. I plan to replace the switch but this seems to be a more common problem, should it warrant a recall?
Seems like a common occurance. Whirlpool needs to step up and install a heavier duty door switch. It should be able to handle a light bulb burning out. I haven’t replaced the bulb since my door switch fried.
After my lamp failed (without causing any damage) I decided to check if there was a way to replace it with the new style LED lights like the new high end refridgerators and other appliances are increasingly showing up with.
Since I have worked in electronics for over 15 years and am pretty familiar with using LED lighting in various systems I support, I figured this would be a relatively easy thing to do. And it turns out it is.
The standard filament lamp that appears to fail by destroying the door switch in many cases is a standard E12 120V 10W lamp. It can be found in many appliance repair depots for around $12, but if you know what it is, you can easily find it everywhere else for about $1.60, it is better known as a Candelabra E12 lamp.
So the first stop in my quest is where I have found many of my LED lamps, superbrightleds.com. They happen to have the E12-W21, 120V 2W LED lamp that is about the same size and shape as the existing one in my Duet dryer. It is about 50 lumen and is available in two colors, Cool White which is kind of light daylight, slightly Blue in color, and Warm White, which is like a filament lamp, somewhat Yellow in color. Either one will work, but due to the nature of LED’s the Cool White one is slightly brighter.
So I ordered one for about $15 + s/h and installed it. It was a simple plug and play installation, just remove the plastic shield, remove the old lamp, screw this one in and replace the shield. I recommend unplugging the dryer first just in case the other one is cracked and sometimes old lamps will flash when they are unscrewed since the broken filament will start making intermittent contact. This is even more critical of course when the lamp explodes and the remains are still energized when you open the dryer door.
The new lamp is comfortably bright, and the 21 surface mounted LED’s all light up at once, making it easy to see things as you remove your laundry and hunt for stray socks and other things dryers tend to hide.
The bonus will be no more door switches damaged, the LED’s are rated for tens of thousands of hours so the new lamp will last the lifetime of your dryer and several dryers after that.
Some minor disclaimer on this. LED lamps are sensitive to heat. This particular LED lamp is rated to operate up to 113 degrees fahrenheit. The site probably frowns upon it being used in an appliance and won’t warranty it if it fails, so this installation would be entirely done on your own risk.
I did however install this lamp over a year ago, and it has worked flawlessly ever since. I have no reason to believe it won’t do so in 99.99% of cases.
Hope it helps and best of luck…
Just fixed the exact same issue on my 18 year old WP Duet dryer. I’m used to the heating element going bad every few years. But this time when it blew open, it welded itself to the metal housing. This blew the bulb and killed the door switch. Was able to replace all three and it’s working fine now (for now). It’s probably time to think about replacing this set.