GE DBSR453GB2WW Gas dryer.

[maytagneptune]

I had this for about 6 months now and I can say I'm happy with it's performance. I have a question from past experience from you guys and not the owners manual. If I select MED Heat but set the timer to COTTONS will it still heat to High heat? or If I select High heat and use EASY CARE will it stop at MED Heat? Please let me know. IS this made in 1993 or 2005? Serial Number indicates 1993 or 2005

 

[DADoES]

 
The selected timer cycle will heat to whatever is the temp switch setting, any temp can be used for any cycle.

Cottons cycle is thermostatic auto-dry with a shorter cool down.

Easy Care cycle is thermostatic auto-dry with a longer cool down.

Timed Dry runs for the selected minutes (no auto-dry) and the cool down is probably the same duration as Cottons.

 

[yogitunes]

most all dryers heat on HIGH....to get lower temps, the thermostat determines how long to cool down before cycling the heat on again.....

HIGH for most is around 160-180 degrees....and will cycle back on when the temp would lower to about 150....

for MEDIUM, your dryer would still heat up to and reach that 180.....shut off....and not come back on until around 130.....

a similar thing would happen with LOW or ExLow.....maybe 90 to 110

temps are set for when to turn the element back on, not when its turns off...

very very few dryers offered modulating heaters....

or if you were lucky to find an electric model with two heating coils....1500watts for Low, 4000 watts for Med....both on at 5000watts for High....give or take, but you get the idea....

 

[DADoES]

 
Bi-metal thermostats, or therm-o-discs, are rated in a syntax of LNNN-nn ... where L is the limit-temp at which the heat source shuts off, and nn is the differential/drop at which the heat source turns back on.  A high-heat bi-metal thermostat rated as L155-20, for example, turns the heat off at 155°F and back on at 135°F.

Dryers with multiple heat choices normally in the past had separate bi-metals for each setting ... 155°F, 145°F, 135°F, etc.  Sometime in the evolution of engineering, maybe in the 1980s, an bias heater was added in some cases to apply an additional amount of heat directly to the bi-metal to "trick" it into shutting off at a lower air temperature, eliminating the need for multiple thermostats.  High temp would not engage the bias heater, thus causing the bi-metal to operate at its "native" temperature.  Lower heat settings would progressively apply more current to the bias heater to make the bi-metal effectively hotter than the air temperature, thus cycling the heat source off at lower air temperatures.

Appliance411 - Dryer Thermostats

An alternative to bi-metal is a thermistor (thermal resistor), which is an electronic device that varies in resistance on a curve against temperature.  A control board reads the resistance and cycles the heat source according to its programming.  Thermistors can hold temperature within a more precise range since they don't rely on a physical switch "flexing" to make or break the circuit.

What does a thermistor do in a dryer?

There may be a bit of temperature "overshoot" after the heat source shuts off, and a bit of "sag" while the heat source gets going.  Clothes in the drum, particularly wet clothes, helps moderate the difference.

My dryer has a thermistor.  The target temps are Low 127°F, Medium 140°F, High 149°F.  I've checked it with a separate thermometer, and via diagnostic mode which reports the thermistor reading during operation.  I ran it on Delicate/Low a few mins ago for 8 heat cycles with no clothes.  The element relay clicked on/off on a differential of 10.8°F.  The maximum "sag-time" differential I saw between the lowest and highest reading allowing for the element to heat up and cool down was 18°F.

 

[combo52]

GE Gas Dryer

This dryer would be a 2005 model.

John L.