Re: Kenmore Electric Dryer Won't Heat
All functions of the dryer work, except for the heat. I'm thinking it is the heating element, but could it be anything else? If it could be anything else, can someone give me a link showing use a voltmeter to check other components? It COULD be the heating element, but it could also be the thermostat that controls the heating element. On your dryer you should have at least three temperature settings; 1. whites and colours, 2. permanent press, and 3. delicates. Both WC and PP will use the same 165 deg F (typically) thermostat. The difference is that on the PP cycle, the heating element will shut off a few minutes before the end of the drying cycle. That allows the clothes to cool down while they're being tumbled so that you don't get any creases in permanent press fabrics. On Delicates, the dryer will use a different 145 deg F (typically) thermostat. So, the first thing to do is check to see if the dryer works when you run the dryer on the Delicates cycle. If the dryer exhaust duct gets warm when you operate the dryer on the Delicates cycle, that's good reason to buy a new 165 degree thermostat. If the dryer doesn't produce heat on either setting, it's starting to look like the heating element, but it could also be a blown fuse. Now, an electric dryer is a 220 volt appliance, which means that it has TWO fuses or circuit breakers, not just one. And, EACH of those fuses or circuit breakers will be rated for 30 amps. Look in your electrical panel and see if you have screw in type fuses or breakers. If you have screw in fuses, then typically there will be a fuse holder for the dryer which simply pulls straight out of the fuse box. That fuse holder will have two fuses in it, so that when you pull it out, you cut power to BOTH power cables going to the dryer simultaneously. It COULD be that one of those fuses is burned out, and you'll have to have an ohm meter to check each fuse for continuity. If you see two fuse holders, one will have two 30 amp fuses in it for your dryer, and the other will have two 50 amp fuses in it for your electric stove. If one fuse is burned out, but the dryer motor operates off the power supplied through the other fuse, the dryer motor will still run properly and the dryer drum will turn, but the heating element won't won't produce enough heat to dry clothes. If you have circuit breakers, then it'll be a DOUBLE 30 amp breaker that the dryer is on. Double breakers are twice the width of a normal breaker and have a single toggle on the front so that you trip BOTH breakers on or off at the same time. On a double breaker, if one power line short circuits and trips the breaker, then both power lines are disconnected. But, there's no telling what a previous home owner may have done... you might have two separate 30 amp breakers for your dryer, in which case one of those breakers could be tripped. Look for a tripped 30 amp breaker in your electrical panel, and if you find one, turn it to the off position and then to the on position to see if that corrects the problem. YOU SHOULD NOT use a volt meter to diagnose this problem because that means going through your dryer with voltage applied to it and the dryer running. Instead, you should just check for continuity across the heating element wire with the dryer OFF. If there's electrical continuity from one end of the heating element wire to the other, then the heating element is good. What you need to buy is called a multimeter because it incorporates an ohm meter, ammeter and voltmeter all into one tool, and you can buy one for $10 to $15 at any home center or hardware store. A multimeter is easy to use. It will take batteries (which you need to buy separately) and it will have a dial and two (or three) jacks to plug the probes into. The BLACK probe plugs into the jack marked negative, - or COM for Common. The red probe plugs into the other jack, typically marked positive or + or as shown in the photo below VUmA. The upside down U is the symbol for ohms, and so VUmA means volts, ohms and milliamps. The above multimeter also has a third jack where you can plug the red probe into to measure electric current up to 10 amps DC. Looking at that meter, it's clear to see that when the meter is not in use, the switch should be in the Off position. The first two dial settings going clockwise from the Off position are for measuring AC voltages. One scale goes up to 200 volts AC. The other goes up to 750 volts AC. So, if you're measuring for voltages up to 200 volts, you'd put the dial on the first scale. If you're wanting to measure voltages over 200 volts AC, you'd use the 750 scale. Going clockwise, the second group of four settings is for measuring DC amperages. The first setting in that group is to measure DC amperages up to 2000 microamps (or millionths of an amp). The second and third setting in that group is for measuring DC currents up to 20 and 200 milliamps (or thousandths of an amp). The fourth setting in that group is for measuring DC current up to 10 amps. You can only use that 4 setting if the red probe is plugged into the 10 Amp DC jack. Digital multimeters need different scales so that you can determine the magnitude of the reading you get. So, if the meter is reading 765 when set on the 20 milliamp scale, it means 7.65 milliamps. The setting marked hFE is for checking transistors (don't worry about this.) I don't know what the next setting is for. The setting outlined in red is to make the meter sound a tone when you have continuity. On the bottom left side of the scale are all the settings for measuring resistance. Going clockwise the settings are for measuring resistances up to: 200 ohms 2000 ohms 20,000 ohms 200,000 ohms 2 million ohms Finally, the settings on the top left corner of the dial are for measuring DC voltages. Going clockwise, the settings are for measuring DC voltages up to: 200 millivolts 2000 millivolts (or, 2 volts) 20 volts 200 volts, and 1000 volts DC. So, if you wanted to check if an AA battery was any good, you'd plug the black cord into the COM jack, the red probe into the VUmA jack, turn the dial of the meter to 2000 mV DC and put the red probe on the + end of the battery and the black probe on the - end of the battery. If the battery is good, you should get a reading of 1500 or 1.5 volts. NOW, there's a way of designating AC and CD with a wave and a line with dashes under it that you're likely to see on some multimeters like the one shown below: Where you see an mV or a V with a wavy line over it, it means millivolts and volts AC respectively. Similarily, a wavy line over mA and A means milliamps and amps AC respectively. That thing that looks kinda like a lower case u is the Greek letter Mu and it stands for micro or millionths. So, A, mA and uA are amps, milliamps (or thousandths of an amp) and microamps (or millionths of an amp), respectively. DC voltages and amperages are indicated by a solid line with dashes under it. So, in your case, you should turn your meter on, set the dial to measure a resistance of about 40 to 60 ohms (which will be the 200 ohm scale) ((ohms has the symbol Omega which looks like an upside down U), and with the dryer off, measure the resistance across the ends of the heating element wire in your dryer. If you get some number, then the heating element wire is in one piece. If you just get the reading 1, which is what you get when there's no continuity, then there's a break in the heating element wire. Whenever possible, use your multimeter set on ohms to test for continuity with the dryer off rather than set on volts with the machine running to diagnose appliance problems. It's simply a safer way to work. Very detailed reply, Give model # and can tell you where to find the parts talked about. Nestor: Thanks for the most educational,awesome reply. After dirty clothing began stacking up, I seeked the help of a local appliance parts store; they were very helpful. I ran continuity tests on the basic components; passed. I then checked the breaker/outlet for 240 volts; passed. I then checked the wires at the element with the dryer running and determined that one of the wires was not carrying any voltage. I traced it back to the timer and checked the timer contacts that pass voltage to the heaters/element for continuity;failed. So, I am seeking the most reasonably priced source for a new timer. The model #: 110.86581110. While I am waiting for the timer from an eventual source, is there a way to bypass the timer contacts and get voltage to the heaters/elements, even if it means unplugging the dryer after each load of clothes? In addition, if there is a way to bypass the timer contacts and get voltage to the heaters/elements, will the MOTOR SAFETY SWITCH, which prevents heaters/element from coming on unless the motor is running, function normally, or would bypassing the the timer, if possible, disable the MOTOR SAFETY SWITCH?
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