Kenmore gas dryer, help please.

[volvoguy87]

Here's the story. I am helping my neighbors by trying to fix their dryer. It is a Whirlpool-made Kenmore with the lint filter on top. It runs fine but has no heat. The glow ignitor does not light up, so what do I do?

I am guessing I should test the ignitor, the flame sensor, and the cycling thermostat. What should I set my multimeter for and what numbers should I look for as I test these components?

Thanks a bunch,
Dave

 

[davek]

Thermal fuses

I'm not sure how many there are, but you need to check them. On an electric, they keep it from running. On gas, they only stop the burner. They're cheap to buy and do wear out.

 

[qsd-dan]

If the ignitor is bad, you'll know it when you remove and inspect it. Usually it'll deteriorate in your hands.

As for the flame sensor and cycling thermostat, just make sure you get an ohm reading from them. When they go bad, they usually won't show a reading.

One of the gas coils could be bad.

I'll see if I can dig out my Kenmore dryer manual and be more specific. I haven't seen that manual in 4 years, so it may take me while to track it down.

 

[volvoguy87]

Fixed!

It was the thermal fuse! I was reading www.fixitnow.com and he said the thermal fuse kills everything. I guess there should have been an asterisk for gas models. I can't believe how easy that dryer was to work on, and $15.00 later, it's back in service.
Thank you for that tip,
Dave

 

[coldspot66]

If it happens again, you should also change the cycling thermostat right next to it. The thermal fuse protects the cycling thermo in case it does not cycle the heat off at the right temp. W/P Kenmore 29" dryers have always been my favorite. Hard to beat for the $$$$$$.

 

[volvoguy87]

This Kenmore was a little wierd.

Most of the WP/KM gas dryers I have seen have a removable kick panel underneath the drop-down door. Removing this panel allows you to access the burner, glow ignitor, and flame sensor without removing the front of the dryer. You can also look at the belt, rollers, and motor through the kick panel. This dryer does not have that!

Instead, this Kenmore (60 series I think) has a single-piece front panel with a right-hinged door with the horizontal handle in the upper left corner. There is a little plastic plug that, when removed, allows you to look through a small hole to see if the burner is working. In order to do a continuity test on the ignitor and flame sensor, I had to remove the whole front of the dryer. Off came the top and off came the front. Having never had one of these apart this far before, I didn't know the drum is supported by the front, so out fell the drum! Much profanity later, I had the drum completely removed, belt too, and cleaned the entire inside. Putting it all back together was easy, but annoying.

What the heck were the engineers thinking on this one? That oh-so-common kick panel is such a good idea, why would any sane person do away with it?

Keeping dry,
Dave

 

[davek]

Door direction

It doesn't appear that it would be cheaper to make, but they use things like the side door opening to designate cheap vs. expensive. Losing the lower panel probably saves a few cents at most. I know that there are differences that make the 27" dryer more expensive to build, but I greatly prefer them. The rigid lint filter in the door opening is much better than the one which slides from the top.