Doing the laundry on a Saturday morning, you notice your freshly washed clothes scented like soft cotton are soaking wet after 1 hour in the dryer. To your dismay, you find that your electric dryer is simply not heating. Sooner or later, many of us find ourselves in this inconvenient situation. Today, we’ll review the symptoms, explanations, and recommendations of why your dryer is not drying your clothing. Make sure to review our free videos to find the DIY repair you need!
First, let’s go over the symptoms when a heating element goes bad: 1) You will find there’s no heat in the dryer, but the drum still turns. The heating coil will usually have a break in it and you may sometimes find the coil welded to the housing assembly once in a while. 2) If the element is shorted to the ground, it will have a red glow all of the time even if the drum is or isn’t turning. You should unplug your dryer IMMEDIATELY, remove the element and test it with an ohm meter. This symptom indicates that there is a busted wire touching the case of the element housing.
You may be wondering, “Why” did my heating element go bad? Here are a few explanations-
1) In general, the formula for a part to go bad is a combination of wear, tear, and age. With an average use of 4-6 loads per week, an element generally last 6-8 years when it is properly maintained.
2) A plugged dryer vent = no airflow = overheating of the element causing a weak spot to burn out. Make sure to check for air flow in the outside dryer air louver. Lint and debris can clog your vents and must be cleaned or sometimes replaced.
3) Power storms. High or low voltage from storms full of lightening can cause an element to burn out. During severe storms, it is best to unplug your major appliances to avoid potential electrical damage.
Recommendations:
1) You may need to clean or replace your venting (replace plastic venting with aluminum).
2) You may need to replace your cycling thermostat (it cycles your element on/off to maintain the temperature) and is recommended upon replacement of your element. The reason? Sometimes the thermostat is damaged if the element overheats.
3) You may need to replaceyour thermal cut-off kit (part#279816). The kit includes a thermal fuse and hi-limit thermostat—both of which are needed for your element to work properly.
Photo Credit: Maegan Tintari on Flickr
