Lady Kenmore 110.86993800 Dryer

[caseyr]

Hello!

I have the dryer in the subject line, I'm assuming it's at least 20 years old. It was in the house (built in '74) when we moved in about 7 years ago and has worked well enough...until today. It won't go on and Googling around, I wanted to check things like the thermal fuse and the start switch. I was trying to rush around to look at it this morning before work and could not for the life of me get the back panel off where my initial searches suggested the fuse would be. I did get the bottom front panel down and saw what I think was part of the blower housing but couldn't get that off. Having search around some more, I found a parts diagram that came up for this model # that showed the fuse towards the back like I initially had thought but another parts site with a video on replacing showed it in the front where that thing I think is the blower housing is. Other videos seemed to suggest you need to take the top off and pull the drum out to access the fuse in the back by the vent, which would kind of make sense given my inability to remove the back panel but the fact that there's a whole set of screws in the back, I'm wondering if that's really the case or it just needs some muscle after all these years to get it off.

Like I said, it has worked fairly well the past 7 years or so, biggest complaint is it typically doesn't dry completely when using the moisture settings but now that I've seen parts for it, wondering if that could possibly be a simple fix as well if I could just get to where things are. At the same time, it is old (but feels better built than a bunch of stuff we've bought in the last 10 years) and we have a bunch of other projects we need to get done with not enough time to do them so don't know if it makes sense to just bite the bullet and get something new.

If anyone has any familiarity with this model and can give me some pointers, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks,
Casey

 

[DADoES]

 
The serial number I believe indicates manufacture in March of 1989.

This model design (with the filter at front of the loading port) is serviced from the front, not the back.<blockquote>... has worked well enough...until today.</blockquote> What is the problem that evidenced?  Fully non-operational?  Runs but no heat?

 

[caseyr]

Quick update, I saw another video and realized I'm a dumb@ss and needed to take the lint trap screen out of the filter housing in order to get that front baffle off. Once that was off, I saw what I thought was the thermal fuse from the video I saw, tested continuity, and it was dead. Bypassed it temporarily to see if the machine would go on and good to go. Parts on the way, hope that's the only problem!

 

[DADoES]

 
That fuse is essentially a fail-safe for the thermostat on the blower housing that controls the drying temperature.  It triggers (melts) if the air temp passing through the blower housing (from the drum) reaches 91°C / 196°F.  The thermostat typically should be replaced with the fuse.  The element shorted to ground could also possibly cause the fuse to blow.  There's another thermal fuse and a high-limit thermostat on the heater box that come into play if the element overheats due to obstructed airflow or is shorted.

 

[maytag85]

It seems like most dryers from the 90’s and on have thermal fuses in them.

 

[goatfarmer]

Make sure the vent isn't plugged. Congrats on figuring it out!

 

[combo52]

Fixing a 19 89,27 inch whirlpool built Kenmore dryer

Make sure the exhaust system is completely clean, clean the fan, remove the heating element make sure it’s not warping and shorting if you don’t find anything wrong with the heating element, replace the operating thermostat next to the thermal fuse.

It would be wise to take the dryer apart and completely clean and lubricated, cleaned especially well all around the motor and the motor itself, inspect the belt replace if it looks cracked and worn.

If you do a thorough job on the dryer now, you can probably keep it for possibly another decade. Otherwise replacing just the thermal fuse is sort of a stop gap you’ll probably be buying a new dryer in the next few months or a year or so. It best without doing this thoroughly as the dryer is already 25 years old.

John