LDE612 dryer not heating.. is it likely the heating element?
- Thread starter nyvram
- Start date
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Could be any number of things but I'm betting the wire that jumps from the hi limit thermostat to the heat element terminal has burnt off. Reset your AC panel breaker. Make sure you have 240vac to the unit. Check resistance of heat coil (8-12 ohms). Check continuity of high limit thermostat, operating thermostats, temp switch, timer. Could also be a faulty motor switch. You have the wiring diagram?
Later production of that series also had a thermal fuse that can fail.
thanks guys! i pulled it out and the coil was definitely broken into 3 pieces.
amazing people want $115+ locally for that part and the online places only want $30 or so.
i ordered the 240v version..why is there a 208v version? its confusing and appears both are compatible with my dryer.
finally, i dont think it had ever been opened before. the lint was INSANE but everything looks very well taken care of..just a solid sheet of lint over everything.
the little 'nodes' the heating coil threads through are a little green. will that cause any issues?
should i do anything else to the dryer while i have it apart? any type of simple maintenance?
amazing people want $115+ locally for that part and the online places only want $30 or so.
i ordered the 240v version..why is there a 208v version? its confusing and appears both are compatible with my dryer.
finally, i dont think it had ever been opened before. the lint was INSANE but everything looks very well taken care of..just a solid sheet of lint over everything.
the little 'nodes' the heating coil threads through are a little green. will that cause any issues?
should i do anything else to the dryer while i have it apart? any type of simple maintenance?
Yes, you should clean up those heater terminals and associated hardware. Typically, when they get corroded, the wire terminal overheats causing the wire to overheat and eventually burn in half. That's why I was betting on that as your problem as that is a common problem on these old dryers. The dryer can run off of 240 or 208 thus the different coils. Vacuum up all that lint and be sure to blow out the lint in the motor. I would open up the blower housing and clean the lint out of there as well. BTW, if your model does have the thermal fuse, that would be in the motor circuit, not the heat circuit. The dryer would not come on at all if it was blown.
You need to pull the front drum support off to access the blower fully.
You don't really need to clean the insulators (white ceramic), just the metal threaded studs, nuts and washers. A wire brush attachment on a dremel tool works great for that. Take the drum support off and remove the drum and you will have full access for cleaning out all the lint.
perfect! I just saw a video of removing that drum cover on one of the appliance repair part sites and it looks very easy.
might as well clean as much lint out as possible..i'm probably going to swap a 40w 'led equivalent' appliance bulb in as well.
any thoughts on a good bulb? lowes has cheap 40w bulbs but they're regular sized..not the smaller appliance bulb size.
amazed..dryer looked awful..but everything i thought was corrosion inside so far has turned out to be gummy dirt that wipes up with a little elbow grease leaving the parts looking brand new!
i'm loving the set so far. even found that lowes carries a 4pk of brown 'castor cups' that were the exact fit to replace on the feet for $3 instead of having to order 4 new ones.
the gray ones on the washer were T-R-A-S-H-E-D which i guess you'd expect after 30 years of vibrating against the floor lol.
might as well clean as much lint out as possible..i'm probably going to swap a 40w 'led equivalent' appliance bulb in as well.
any thoughts on a good bulb? lowes has cheap 40w bulbs but they're regular sized..not the smaller appliance bulb size.
amazed..dryer looked awful..but everything i thought was corrosion inside so far has turned out to be gummy dirt that wipes up with a little elbow grease leaving the parts looking brand new!
i'm loving the set so far. even found that lowes carries a 4pk of brown 'castor cups' that were the exact fit to replace on the feet for $3 instead of having to order 4 new ones.
the gray ones on the washer were T-R-A-S-H-E-D which i guess you'd expect after 30 years of vibrating against the floor lol.
macboy91si
Well-known member
Maytag Big Load of Lint
I've had several of these and somethings I noticed on all of them:
1.) The wire terminals always seems to be on the verge of being a fire hazard.
2.) The front air intake is usually completely filled up with lint.
Be careful with the porcelain around the terminal studs, they are very fragile and as mentioned a Dremel works well on the corroded copper. The cleaning of the blower assembly is pretty straight-forward, lint also gets caked BEHIND the the blower wheel. These dryers if I recall also had some issues with stripped blower wheels, so this would be a good time to inspect or replace that as well.
Heating elements usually burn out for a reason, and that reason is usually insufficient airflow.
Good Luck
Tim
I've had several of these and somethings I noticed on all of them:
1.) The wire terminals always seems to be on the verge of being a fire hazard.
2.) The front air intake is usually completely filled up with lint.
Be careful with the porcelain around the terminal studs, they are very fragile and as mentioned a Dremel works well on the corroded copper. The cleaning of the blower assembly is pretty straight-forward, lint also gets caked BEHIND the the blower wheel. These dryers if I recall also had some issues with stripped blower wheels, so this would be a good time to inspect or replace that as well.
Heating elements usually burn out for a reason, and that reason is usually insufficient airflow.
Good Luck
Tim
Motor
Yes blow lint out of the motor, but also get a few drops of 3 in 1 oil or turbine oil into the bearings at each end of the motor. Take the motor out, turn it so the shaft is straight up and down, that way you can use a small small paintbrush and get lint out of one end so it falls on the floor, not gets blown back deeper inside.
Then flip it over and get the other end. And then a few drops of oil down the top shaft, let it sit like that and spin the shaft a few times, it gets the oil down into the bearing. Then turn it over, oil on the other end of the shaft, same thing. Adds years of life to an old motor.
Ain't the amount of lint amazing? Follow all the advice from folks here on a Maytag dryer, you'll get 20 more years of service. Check the drum belt while you're at it, $10 or 15 could be well spent, and you won't have to re-open and re-delint for 20 years. Spend $50 now instead of $800 later. If Lowes doesn't have a small appliance bulb, try some other store. Spend some time and money now and you'll have trouble free years of service.
Yes blow lint out of the motor, but also get a few drops of 3 in 1 oil or turbine oil into the bearings at each end of the motor. Take the motor out, turn it so the shaft is straight up and down, that way you can use a small small paintbrush and get lint out of one end so it falls on the floor, not gets blown back deeper inside.
Then flip it over and get the other end. And then a few drops of oil down the top shaft, let it sit like that and spin the shaft a few times, it gets the oil down into the bearing. Then turn it over, oil on the other end of the shaft, same thing. Adds years of life to an old motor.
Ain't the amount of lint amazing? Follow all the advice from folks here on a Maytag dryer, you'll get 20 more years of service. Check the drum belt while you're at it, $10 or 15 could be well spent, and you won't have to re-open and re-delint for 20 years. Spend $50 now instead of $800 later. If Lowes doesn't have a small appliance bulb, try some other store. Spend some time and money now and you'll have trouble free years of service.
fixed!
Thank you everyone who replied. I sent ahead and pulled the blower off and yep it was almost round so I replaced that as well.
I put it back together and the drum failed to rotate. After a few frantic moments thinking I had ruined the motor or assembled the blower incorrectly I finally realized the drum belt had slipped into a groove on the drum and once I guided it back to the correct location everything seems good now!
Bonus that I find even MORE areas with lint I had missed in my previous cleanings so the silver lining is that it's actually cleaner since I had to open it 3x. Lol
Thank you everyone who replied. I sent ahead and pulled the blower off and yep it was almost round so I replaced that as well.
I put it back together and the drum failed to rotate. After a few frantic moments thinking I had ruined the motor or assembled the blower incorrectly I finally realized the drum belt had slipped into a groove on the drum and once I guided it back to the correct location everything seems good now!
Bonus that I find even MORE areas with lint I had missed in my previous cleanings so the silver lining is that it's actually cleaner since I had to open it 3x. Lol
macboy91si
Well-known member
Awesome
Glad to hear it's working. I think it feels nice to fix things yourself.
I didn't want to sound like I was slamming these dryers earlier, I was only noting the condition that they came to me in. I went through 2 DE408's thought with mysterious timer issues, turns out it was a bad motor switch, but to say that dryer had a hard life was an understatement. It was used as the "house laundry" when I lived in a large house with 4 people, the A407 and DE408 pretty much ran non-stop all week and by people who didn't know how to use a washer or dryer. The washer transmission locked up and the dryer received 2 timers and finally a motor in the end (combined 2 dryers into one). They were 1978 models and really were not great when I got them, but I actually feel that they held up well for the abuse they took considering the set was less than $100. I had one roommate, that because she thought the drum was so big, would wash 2 loads in the washer and dry them both in the dryer at once. So with some maintenance this should prove to be a durable dryer.
Tim
Glad to hear it's working. I think it feels nice to fix things yourself.
I didn't want to sound like I was slamming these dryers earlier, I was only noting the condition that they came to me in. I went through 2 DE408's thought with mysterious timer issues, turns out it was a bad motor switch, but to say that dryer had a hard life was an understatement. It was used as the "house laundry" when I lived in a large house with 4 people, the A407 and DE408 pretty much ran non-stop all week and by people who didn't know how to use a washer or dryer. The washer transmission locked up and the dryer received 2 timers and finally a motor in the end (combined 2 dryers into one). They were 1978 models and really were not great when I got them, but I actually feel that they held up well for the abuse they took considering the set was less than $100. I had one roommate, that because she thought the drum was so big, would wash 2 loads in the washer and dry them both in the dryer at once. So with some maintenance this should prove to be a durable dryer.
Tim
