Kenmore Soft Heat
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Dryer start switch contacts
Are always closed, they open once the motor starts running and gets to about 3/4 of its running speed, yes, there’s a slight ark when this happens, but these motors are made for millions of starts.
John
Are always closed, they open once the motor starts running and gets to about 3/4 of its running speed, yes, there’s a slight ark when this happens, but these motors are made for millions of starts.
John
Versions of Kenmore Wrinkle Guard
This thread got me thinking, my family and I have had three Kenmore dryers with Wrinkle Guard, the first two of which operate quite differently, and I was considering the usefulness of each.
Our first WG equipped dryer was a 1972 KM 60 series. I don’t know how long the WG period operated, but I think it was 2+ hours like John said. It would come on, tumble briefly, then buzz and stop for a period. Occasionally we’d say “Oh my gosh, I had no idea that thing was still on”, but the cycle seemed to serve its purpose. I too was wondering about wear and tear on the motor with all those starts, but once again, John’s summary on this is good enough for me. We liked that ‘72 dryer a lot, better than the 1961 70-series we had first.
The second and third dryers are near twins, my Mom’s next dryer, a 1983 KM high-end 70 and my 1986 KM mid line 70. Both have ‘Wrinkle Guard I” which tumbles continuously for 30 minutes unstopped, with buzzes every five minutes. I love my dryer, it was neat to have it new in 1986 as a college student, but I dislike that WG cycle, mainly because I often forget to be nearby at the end on dry time, and next thing I know I’ve wasted a good deal of extra run time on the chassis for seemingly nothing, had I emptied the dryer when I should have.
My mother didn’t care for the WG in her ‘83 dryer either. Her dryer has and adjustable signal. She reacted to the WG by turning off the signal, then later by just using the timed cycle so the dryer would not run for so long.
My good friends in the condo next to me in school had an 85 KM with Wrinkle Guard II, which tumbled and stopped every five minutes for 45 minutes. I remember watching Oprah with them many times while the dryer turned itself on and off but went unnoticed because they too had turned off the cycle signal.
High-end electronic controlled dryers in 80s, likely longer than that had WG III which was back to the original, tumbling intermittently for 2.5 hours.
Not sure which of these I like better, probably WG II, but I know for myself, since I still use my ‘86, that I make it a joke/ challenge to stop the dryer before it’s first buzz (I can’t turn it off on my model) or at least after the first one.
I still have the 1978 KM 60 series dryer that I purchased used for my sister and her first apartment. I was given the dryer back 11 years later and have enjoyed using it a lot, mostly because it has no WG, no buzzer, and a timed perm press cycle that operates for a max of 50 mins. With a large load, I set max time, and without any noise, delay, or pestering, it’s done, perfectly every time.
Gordon
This thread got me thinking, my family and I have had three Kenmore dryers with Wrinkle Guard, the first two of which operate quite differently, and I was considering the usefulness of each.
Our first WG equipped dryer was a 1972 KM 60 series. I don’t know how long the WG period operated, but I think it was 2+ hours like John said. It would come on, tumble briefly, then buzz and stop for a period. Occasionally we’d say “Oh my gosh, I had no idea that thing was still on”, but the cycle seemed to serve its purpose. I too was wondering about wear and tear on the motor with all those starts, but once again, John’s summary on this is good enough for me. We liked that ‘72 dryer a lot, better than the 1961 70-series we had first.
The second and third dryers are near twins, my Mom’s next dryer, a 1983 KM high-end 70 and my 1986 KM mid line 70. Both have ‘Wrinkle Guard I” which tumbles continuously for 30 minutes unstopped, with buzzes every five minutes. I love my dryer, it was neat to have it new in 1986 as a college student, but I dislike that WG cycle, mainly because I often forget to be nearby at the end on dry time, and next thing I know I’ve wasted a good deal of extra run time on the chassis for seemingly nothing, had I emptied the dryer when I should have.
My mother didn’t care for the WG in her ‘83 dryer either. Her dryer has and adjustable signal. She reacted to the WG by turning off the signal, then later by just using the timed cycle so the dryer would not run for so long.
My good friends in the condo next to me in school had an 85 KM with Wrinkle Guard II, which tumbled and stopped every five minutes for 45 minutes. I remember watching Oprah with them many times while the dryer turned itself on and off but went unnoticed because they too had turned off the cycle signal.
High-end electronic controlled dryers in 80s, likely longer than that had WG III which was back to the original, tumbling intermittently for 2.5 hours.
Not sure which of these I like better, probably WG II, but I know for myself, since I still use my ‘86, that I make it a joke/ challenge to stop the dryer before it’s first buzz (I can’t turn it off on my model) or at least after the first one.
I still have the 1978 KM 60 series dryer that I purchased used for my sister and her first apartment. I was given the dryer back 11 years later and have enjoyed using it a lot, mostly because it has no WG, no buzzer, and a timed perm press cycle that operates for a max of 50 mins. With a large load, I set max time, and without any noise, delay, or pestering, it’s done, perfectly every time.
Gordon
Whirlpool Kenmore Wrinkle guard systems
Hi Gordon, great analysis and history of how Kenmore marketed this great system.
I still like the 2 1/2 hours systems Best, it uses the least energy and does the most good. the original 2 1/2 hour Wrinkle guard systems used a second timer to time the Wrinkle guard function, when they went to the Wrinkle guard one and Wrinkle guard two systems they used the same timer and timer motor. the 45 minute Wrinkle guard gave the most trouble as they did had trouble with the timer contact failing in that system for the motor operation.
Here are a few pictures of the three Wrinkle guard dryers in my laundry room , the 71 lady Kenmore combo uses a second timer for the Wrinkle guard function. It also gives it a 30 minute enzyme soak cycle which periodically tumbles the clothing and lets them soak in between tumble periods and the neat thing about the Wrinkle guard function on the combo as it doesn’t turn the blower on each time, the motor starts it just tumbles the clothing .
The 74 Lady Kenmore gas dryer has all electronic control which works great. I can’t imagine in the 30 years. I’ve had this dryer how many times I just run off and leave the dryer running and it goes through the full 2 1/2 hours of Wrinkle guard doesn’t seem to hurt a thing.
John
Hi Gordon, great analysis and history of how Kenmore marketed this great system.
I still like the 2 1/2 hours systems Best, it uses the least energy and does the most good. the original 2 1/2 hour Wrinkle guard systems used a second timer to time the Wrinkle guard function, when they went to the Wrinkle guard one and Wrinkle guard two systems they used the same timer and timer motor. the 45 minute Wrinkle guard gave the most trouble as they did had trouble with the timer contact failing in that system for the motor operation.
Here are a few pictures of the three Wrinkle guard dryers in my laundry room , the 71 lady Kenmore combo uses a second timer for the Wrinkle guard function. It also gives it a 30 minute enzyme soak cycle which periodically tumbles the clothing and lets them soak in between tumble periods and the neat thing about the Wrinkle guard function on the combo as it doesn’t turn the blower on each time, the motor starts it just tumbles the clothing .
The 74 Lady Kenmore gas dryer has all electronic control which works great. I can’t imagine in the 30 years. I’ve had this dryer how many times I just run off and leave the dryer running and it goes through the full 2 1/2 hours of Wrinkle guard doesn’t seem to hurt a thing.
John
My aunt had a KM dryer she got sometime in the late 70's that had Wrinkle Guard. She liked it because if she was busy doing something else, such as cooking, on the phone, or watching a show, she could wait until she finished, and the clothes wouldn't have wrinkles.
launderess
Well-known member
Whether wrinkle guard runs for 30 minutes, 3 hours or three days it isn't hurting anything. Yet it gives or gave manufacturer talking points to make Her Indoors (or whoever is doing laundry) happy in knowing they didn't have to run and empty dryer at once when load was complete.
Was never one for doing so but others do put things in dryer and go off to bed, leave house for work, school, errands.. and return hours later. Even upon rising next morning or returning home later in day unloading dryer may not be first thing on their to do list.
Was never one for doing so but others do put things in dryer and go off to bed, leave house for work, school, errands.. and return hours later. Even upon rising next morning or returning home later in day unloading dryer may not be first thing on their to do list.
but these motors are made for millions of starts.
Not even close, maybe starts in the tens of thousands, but not millions.
I remember reading a comment on this site nearly 20 years ago that new Whirlpool dryer motors were so crappy they were replacing them with used motors from the 70's and 80's because the new motors were failing quick out of the box.
I'll see if I can dig that post out of the archives, it was a long time ago.
Not even close, maybe starts in the tens of thousands, but not millions.
I remember reading a comment on this site nearly 20 years ago that new Whirlpool dryer motors were so crappy they were replacing them with used motors from the 70's and 80's because the new motors were failing quick out of the box.
I'll see if I can dig that post out of the archives, it was a long time ago.
The Maytag HOH dryers I snagged from the appliance junkyard almost 2 years ago are definitely ‘high mileage’, but work perfectly fine after 60 years. Definitely disassembled the motors for a cleaning and oiling, still chugging along like it’s nothing. The round GE motor is a bit grumbly, but that’s just an idiosyncrasy since it still turns freely. That particular motor is in my Maytag DE806 which gets used at least 1 to 2 times a day, fires up every time like it’s nothing.
The only time I’ve had issues with start switches is with the motor on my 1963 RCA Whirlpool Imperial dryer when I first got it back in 2020, sometimes the start switch wouldn’t close and you’d see the heating element glowing when you opened the door. After blowing the lint and dust out with compressed air along with running it through a dozen loads, that problem never surfaced again.
The only time I’ve had issues with start switches is with the motor on my 1963 RCA Whirlpool Imperial dryer when I first got it back in 2020, sometimes the start switch wouldn’t close and you’d see the heating element glowing when you opened the door. After blowing the lint and dust out with compressed air along with running it through a dozen loads, that problem never surfaced again.
launderess
Well-known member
info help for Mom's 1978 ge dryer..?
im trying to identify my dryer model so i can order parts,
it will only heat on the low setting, so i guess the high heat coil has failed.
it's all original and is still working good..
i need a set of heating element coils for my moms' 1978 ge "commercial" dryer
( outer coils 49 1/2"
inner coils 42 1/2" replacement coils for dryer ge 1978 ) ?? / or do i have to buy the whole heating ( round ) assembly ?
i cant find the model # , any help would be so appreciated, thanks in advance !
im trying to identify my dryer model so i can order parts,
it will only heat on the low setting, so i guess the high heat coil has failed.
it's all original and is still working good..
i need a set of heating element coils for my moms' 1978 ge "commercial" dryer
( outer coils 49 1/2"
inner coils 42 1/2" replacement coils for dryer ge 1978 ) ?? / or do i have to buy the whole heating ( round ) assembly ?
i cant find the model # , any help would be so appreciated, thanks in advance !
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