Fridgid Dryer

G

gadgetgeek

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May 19, 2007
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long story short, got a cheap craigslist dryer, and figured, no problem, I can fix it......
it runs, but no heat, every thermostat and fuse checks out, all the switches work, brand new element.

Its starting to bug me just a little, ideas? btw its a GE style dryer.
 
When you state that everything checks out, are you confirming this with a meter?
 
yeah, ohm meter continuity across all of the safeties and switches. my meter isn't big enough to handle the 220V to test actuall voltage, in fact during the testing of the motor switch, I think I burned my meter out :(
 
Forgive me if these sound like stupid questions. Was the dryer heating before you bought it? Looks like you need a new meter but I'd check the voltage at the wall outlet if you haven't done so already. The only thing in the dryer that uses 220 is the element, everything else is 120 so you could have one leg in the wall outlet tripped and it would run with no heat.
 
IUKE12 said:
Looks like you need a new meter but I'd check the voltage at the wall outlet if you haven't done so already. The only thing in the dryer that uses 220 is the element, everything else is 120 so you could have one leg in the wall outlet tripped and it would run with no heat.
Click to expand...

A good point and worth checking. Among other things, this (one leg of a 230V circuit going out) can be caused by a defective circuit breaker in your panel. A 230V breaker has two separate sections which are mechanically joined. One section can break internally while the other is fine.

You don't need a voltmeter, either. A three-dollar test light will work for that. But you can get an adequate digital multimeter for about thirty bucks these days, so spring for that.

Another option is that it starts out working but the heating element cuts out prematurely. So, everything will test out fine when it's not runnimg and it will actually heat for the first few seconds when started; but then it stops heating shortly after starting. The cause of this would most likely be a defective thermal safety switch. A defective element could cause this too.
 
I see Gollnick is our residential Maytag repair man. :p

Anyways, keep yourself safe that 220VAC is a dastardly breed, especially if it is a 30A or worse 50A circuit.
 
hmm, the old dryer was working so I assumed that the power was still good, I'll do a bypass test on the thermal switches and see if one of them is just over sensitive. I'm going to assume for the time being that the element is fine, as it is brand new.
Thanks for the ideas guys!

sorry if I didn't mention it before Ken, electric dryer...
 
Like I posted above....no heat means that your coils are bad. They control the gas flow and if they're shot....guess what? No heat even if the dryer runs.
 
Ok, so tested it now with all of the thermostats bypassed, (left the safety fuse alone, it tested fine, so I'm not worried about it) Still no heat. a failed breaker is possible, just my luck that more than one part would fail simultaneously, but I don't have a test light I'm willing to put into a 220 socket, and my test pencil beeps anywhere even close to 220, so its not much help.
I'm running out of ideas for this thing, so I'm thinking that I'll be gutting the new parts out of this one and trying another.
oh here is for oddness, I just checked and the test pencil says that there is power running through my thermostat jumpers. this thing is starting to hurt my brain!
 
I think Ken is on to something. I'll bet you haven't even got gas hooked up to it. No wonder it won't heat. Try hooking gas up to it. I bet it'll get hot then. :)


Seriously, you know what you need to do: measure the voltage across the heater element. Measuring the current through the coil would be nice too as would the DC resistance of the coil. But, really, that one voltage measurement will pretty much settle the whole thing. You're just going to have to spring $25 for a suitable voltmeter. Maybe you can borrow one.

And yes, for Pete's sake, be careful around the 230.
 
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Thanks Gollnick, I appreciate your help given how previous discussions have gone, it is rare to find in the anonymity of the webernet. I'm in the market for a new meter anyway, so I guess I might as well get a good one. I need one for work anyway. yeah, I know a few people who have been bitten by 230, and I've been hit with 120 more than once. ow. like I said, just my luck to have more than one thing fail at the same time with the same symptom.
 
If you have a test light shouldn't the voltage between neutral/ground and each of the hot leads only be 120? And the cumulative of both of these be your 220-240?

Just saying if all you have is a test light you can see if both hot leads have power without springing for the multimeter yet (assuming it is rated for 120v).
 
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