Dryer Troubles

[human]

So yesterday was my bi-weekly laundry day. I had washed three loads and dried two without incident but the third load ended up taking an inordinate amount of time to dry. It was a fairly large load, so I took part of it out to see if that would help but it didn't. I also realized that the interior of the dryer (a very basic Roper by Whirlpool large capacity model) was stone cold. So after spending two and a half hours trying to get this last load dry, I carried everything to a nearby laundromat (first time I've used one of those since about 1998) and got everything dried in about 15 minutes for 75 cents. A bit of an aggravation but a bargain nonetheless.

That task accomplished, I turned my attention to a little Internet research and found the problem was likely a thermal fuse, a thermostat or (less likely) the heating element. I then found a kit on Amazon that contained all of the above for $35 and free Prime shipping. Coincidentally, the repair kit cost the same as I paid for the dryer itself at a thrift shop five years ago. It's a little overkill for sure, but still way cheaper than calling a repairman. I figure that once I've got the dryer torn down, I might as well go ahead replace all of those parts and thus reduce the odds of my having to go into it again anytime soon. I'll test the ones I remove with an ohm meter to determine what's still good and save those for spares. I've never torn a dryer down but there's always a first time. Besides, the online video I watched made it look pretty simple. Any job that can be accomplished with just a screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers can't be all that difficult, right?

All in all, it makes me even more thankful to have a traditional style washer and dryer instead of one of those newfangled loads of self-destructing circuit boards they're selling these days.

 

[kb3pxr]

Good idea changing all of the components. The element likely is ok, but for peace of mind it isn't a bad idea to change it. Usually what happens is something restricts airflow causing the high limit thermostat to cycle on and off due to the element overheating. This thermostat isn't designed to cycle on and off constantly and eventually fails in the closed (ON) position. The heating element overheats one more time, this time the thermostat can't cycle it off so it gets a bit hotter and causes the thermal fuse to burn open.


 


It is also my understanding the more recent laundry equipment fails mechanically instead of the circuit boards failing, especially on washers. What usually causes washers to fail is when someone uses the wrong detergent and it corrodes components in the machine causing premature failure. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, electronic circuit boards have proven reliable in many appliances. We only had one appliance fail due to a circuit board and LG (who made the Kenmore refrigerator) has been known for some poor engineering on some of the refrigerator boards. Our current Samsung refrigerator has a slight water leak in the ice maker line somewhere, but the circuit boards are still working, in fact the compressor is inverter driven.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Have an early 90s Kenmore (Whirlpool built) that I just did the exact same thing to! Granted I bought the parts locally, but I gave it a new lease on life.
For an hour of work it was well spent for nice, dry clothes

 

[human]

Circuit board failures do happen...

A friend of mine has a Samsung washer that has had repeated circuit board failures. She loves the washer and its matching dryer when they work but she's definitely gotten her money's worth out of the extended warranty she bought. I have a Maytag refrigerator and a Kenmore range that both experienced circuit board failures. I was thankful to have a home warranty for those. The refrigerator's circuit board was readily available but the stove is old enough that the circuit board was NLA, so they had to send the original one off to be stripped, cleaned and fitted with new components.

 

[madman]

Any part can fail. Naturally, the simplest machine will also be the most reliable - purely on the basis of probability. Imagine each part has a 1% chance of failure. Well if you have more parts, that's a higher chance of a breakdown. Whether or not a part is a circuit board is somewhat irrelevant. It's a matter of how well engineered each part is.

Good that you're fixing the dryer. $35 is chump change, compared to a new dryer or a service call. While you have it open, open up all the exhaust passages and clean out the lint!

My dryer took a dump the other week. Would heat for a few minutes then quit. The gas valves where going open circuit when warm. Apparently a very common failure mode.

 

[suckolux]

Whirlpool dryer is pretty easy to open up, you will probably enjoy the exploring Edgar. Good luck!

 

[huskyvacs]

Also while you have the dryer pulled out and apart, and if you have those crappy Jiffy-Pop tinfoil flex hoses that comes with the dryer, throw it out and replace it with new rigid HVAC ductwork (you will have to custom cut and run it depending on your setup). It will help your dryer exhaust and dry better, and reduce the risk of fire greatly. Do not use screws to hold it together either, just HVAC foil tape.

I did it to mine in 2010 after my dryer started having trouble drying and the pipe was just packed solid with lint. The flex ducts are just so dangerous at trapping lint in the hose and restrict airflow with all the ridges in them.

Not my photo, but an example. Some HVAC techs might be able to do it if you can't DIY.

 

[tolivac]

The boards in BOTH of my Lux GuardianPlatinum vacuums have failed-andWEIRD-at the same time!Both are being repaired under warranty.I like these vacuums very much-the board problem has to be cured-esp on a premium cost-quality vacuum!These should have MIL SPEC boards for the vacuums cost.In one of the machines the board has failed twice.

 

[kb3pxr]

Huskyvac

I'm under the impression that those flex vents are illegal at least in some jurisdictions. A proper vent replacement is idea, could be the airflow restriction that caused the original problem too.

 

[human]

Dryer is fixed

My dryer repair kit arrived today. Gotta love Amazon Prime shipping. Getting to the parts to install them was a lot easier on my dryer than the one in the video I watched. Everything was behind a large metal back panel, held in place with a half dozen screws. Everything was easily accessible behind it. The replacement parts all fit perfectly and the whole operation was child's play compared to some car repairs I've successfully undertaken.

I haven't put it back into place yet because I was using a friend's chimney sweep style brush to clean out the vent and I lost the bush head. I think it may be in the vent in the wall. I'm going to push the flexible pole/handle through from the outside to try and push it back into the laundry room. I couldn't believe how much lint was in the wall. Didn't find any missing socks, though. I'll get it all back together tomorrow and give the renewed dryer a test run. I'm expecting it to work better than ever.

As for my vent configuration, I have a flexible metal vent tube connecting the dryer to the wall. What's in the wall is HVAC style metal duct.

 

[madman]

Adding to Husky's post - no screws in the rigid vent, and use welded elbows that do not have rivets sticking inside that would catch lint.

kb3pxr - those flexible ducts are illegal in pretty much anywhere that has a building code... at least long runs of them. Short runs of 3 feet or less from the dryer to the rigid duct is legit, mostly because of how difficult it would be to connect a dryer straight to rigid.

human - good work! Glad you cleaned up the vent to outside. It's a maintenance job that a LOT of people forget about. (And the reason for a lot of house fires.) I wouldn't be at all surprised if that flow restriction had a hand in breaking your dryer.

-----

This reminds me of my friend's house, which because it has TWO (well, technically three) additions added onto the back of it, has about a 30 foot horizontal dryer vent run. It used to be longer, including 3 completely unneeded turns which I eliminated a few years back. Still, in the winter, the water vapor from the clothes (and gas combustion) actually cools down so much that it condenses, then freezes right near the end and blocks up the vent. Yet another project on the long list for his house, is to reroute the vent into the garage, then up out the garage roof. It would be a 15 or 20 foot vertical run, but the hope is that accessing the duct for cleaning or de-icing would be much easier done inside the (attached) garage, than in the 2-foot-tall crawlspace under the addition(s).

 

[human]

Brush Head Found

As I was heading out to work this morning, I walked around back and found the brush head on the ground. I'd had the idea of pushing the brush in from the outside but it was almost dark when I went out to do it, so I couldn't see where the brush head had fallen. That idea wouldn't have worked anyway since my dryer vent has a louvered opening. I'm going to give the vent one last good brushing when I get home this afternoon, then button everything back up. I've got a few odds and ends that need washing, so I'll run a small load and see how the refurbished dryer works.

 

[human]

Just about there...

I got the dryer duct reamed out from both ends a little while ago. Just had to remove the louvres from the outside vent cover. I couldn't believe the mountain of lint that came out. I hadn't used either of my Electrolux 1205s in a while, so since they were both sitting in the hallway, waiting to go back into the laundry room where they live, I decided to press one of them back into service to clean up some of the lint. It probably sucked up three fourths of it with no problem but some of it was so dense it clogged the hose and I had to blow it back out. It will definitely be getting a new bag. There is no doubt in my mind that air flow—and drying time—will be significantly improved by my efforts.

Getting the vent tube reconnected between the dryer and the wall has been the real challenge. I've got it hooked up. Now I just have to get the elbow connecter turned around the right way so the dryer can snug up closer to the wall. I did turn it on for about 30 seconds and verified it is heating up like it's supposed to. I'll be doing a small load of laundry in a bit just to verify that it's actually working like it should.

 

[kirbyklekter]

One last little tid bit,

A friend had a similar situation to what Madman described. Long horizontal run all flexible out to the vent about 25ft.run. Her clothes were taking about 2 hrs. to dry as opposed to the usual 45min. As she was putting a large load of bath towels and a terrycloth robe into the dryer I pulled one of the towels back out and I could tell it was too wet. So I suggested she try spinning them again on the high speed setting which she did. She called a repair guy out because I told her that the dryer vent looked clogged. He came the next day to check everything. She was putting too big of a load of heavy towels, that weren't wrung out enough, through too long of a jiffy pop type exhaust pipe. It was like a tube of dripping wet sponge material that he showed her, and she couldn't believe it was almost 8 ft.long. She now has rigid pipe on the long run with just a few ft. of crinkly pipe from the dryer, and smaller loads of towels, and she is back to 45-50 min dryer times again. I'm surprised her dryer didn't quit working, he cleaned it out too. He was there about 3 hours.

 

[human]

My whole dryer project took me almost three hours. Replacing the heating element and sensors took maybe 45 minutes. Cleaning out the ductwork (approx. 8-10 ft. straight through the walls to the outside) took about 30 minutes and putting all back together and cleaning up the mess took about as long as everything else.

As I said, the hardest part was getting the flexible vent tube (presently stretched to about three or four feet) back into place. It's kind of crunched up and the dryer can't go back as close to the wall as it was before I repaired it, so the damaged part will need to be cut off or the whole thing replaced. I may invest in a set of sheet metal shears to try the former first.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

A few hours of work and 35 bucks was a darn good deal in itself.
However the satisfaction of accomplishing it yourself is priceless.
Great job - go enjoy a drink while your laundry dries. )

 

[human]

Yeah, I let my home warranty lapse at the beginning of the year but the gamble has paid off so far as I've come out way ahead by doing my own repairs.

 

[human]

New problem...

So I'm doing laundry again and the dryer working great but it seems to be getting stuck in different parts of the cycle. The first load I did, it got stuck in cool down mode. My clothes were perfectly dry but room temperature. The dryer continued to run until I shut it off. On the second load, the dryer got stuck in the middle of the sensor dry cycle. The clothes again came out quite dry but but quite warm also. My cat enjoyed that while I was folding them. Methinks one of the sensors I put on from the repair kit is defective, but which one? I saved the heating element and sensors I took off and since the symptom is different than before, I feel safe in assuming a different sensor is presenting a problem this time, so I'd be putting one of its old counterpart back back on. I'll wait until I'm finished doing laundry to tear it down and figure out which one that is. I'm just hoping the problem isn't in the timer. That piece is expensive.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I had a bad timer

on my Maytag. It was replaced.. now perfect. I hope your problem isn't a costly one.