1974 Lady Kenmore Dryer Rebuild

[swestoyz]

Wow - great dryer, Jon! The earlier versions of both the Kenmore and Whirlpool electronic controls do have a PC board, however this might be the first with an IC. Super cool that it controls both the dryness part AND timed control.

Guessing the yellow light is on during the cool down period?

Ben

 

[combo52]

1974 LKM Dryer

I rebuilt and have used the gas version of this dryer for over 30 years at our house as our primary dryer, it has never disappointed me. It drys fast and consistently I have never had to set the dryness level above 4%.

 

Some interesting things about the control system, this is probably the first really Smart-Dryer, If the dryer does not sense dry clothing after 110 minutes it will shut down, so it will not run all day and night if there is some sort of failure.

 

It also has a proportional cool-down time, passed on how long the control takes to register the selected dryness level will determine long long the dryer will operate with the heat off for cool-down, the CD will vary from 3-10 minutes. This again makes sure the dryer will shut off consistently even if it installed in a 120F boiler room. Earlier EC dryers relied on a CD thermostat and would either shut off too soon or never shut off in very warm areas.

 

All fully ECed dryers have these safety's designed into them today, WP got these features on their TOL dryers with the 1977 LFE-I9800 dryers.

 

John L.

 

[jons1077]

I swear John

The stuff you know! It is a really cool dryer. I can’t wait to get the washer going!

 

[eurekastar]

That's a fantastic restoration!  You do great work!

 

 

[cornutt]

Very cool

Could you take a photo of the component side of the circuit board? I'm curious to see what parts are on it.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thanks so much for doing this thread, Jon!  It's been great to read.  

 

I am trying to remove the lint filter manifold but I don't see how I can get it out.  The rear cabinet of this machine goes lower than on modern WP dryers, so I can't see how the manifold can be removed with the rear cabinet still in place.  What am I missing?  Hope someone can let me know!

 

[DADoES]

 
Have you removed the two screws under the filter lid?  It's usually more workable to get the filter housing out by raising the machine top and pulling it out from the top, as I recall from the ones I've done.

 

[Marky_Mark]

We have success!

Hi Glenn.  Yes I had removed those screws but couldn't manoeuvre it out.  

 

So what I have just done is remove the bolts from the rear bulkhead.  This allowed me to push the bulkhead forward a little to allow more room to remove it.  I did indeed remove it up and out via the top rather than removing it down and out at the rear.  I'm sure there's probably a much easier way of doing it, but this was all I could think of!

 

 

 

[combo52]

19 74–75 Lady Kenmore dryer

Good morning Mark this is actually the correct way to get the lit filter housing out of the dryer about the only reason this ever Hass to come out is to replace the blower wheel and it’s not that hard once you get used to it.

We also occasionally have to remove one in the field if somebody spills a bottle of liquid detergent down the lint filter, duct or something awful like that happens .

Even though you found a lot of Lint inside the blower housing and I’m sure it’s a good idea to clean it out. It does not affect dryer performance. They almost never get clogged enough that this is a necessary repair operation.

John

 

[Marky_Mark]

Hi John.  Thanks for the reply.  I removed the ductwork in order to replace the seals on the blower and the lint trap housings.

 

I wouldn't have bothered taking it apart just to clean out lint from the ductwork.  As you say, you only find a very small accumulation of lint within the ductwork and blower, probably equivalent to about one to two cycles' worth of lint.  What I do always find is a small collection of toothpicks, plastic collar stays and the odd safety pin.  I was not fortunate enough on this occasion to find any money though!  

 

Dryer is all back up and running now.  Thank you!

Mark