Maytag 741C gas dryer shutting the gas down!

[marks]

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out why my ‘59 MT 741C will just all of a sudden shut the gas off, including the pilot after about a minute of run time. The airflow is strong, so it’s not a heat sensor issue (I think), the pilot will light will light and stay on, but after a minute of running, it shuts the gas off. Is it a thermocouple issue, possibly? If it’s a sensor or a thermocouple, does anyone have any lead on parts?
Cheers!
-Mark

 

[combo52]

Hi Mark, Does the pilot stay burning properly if the dryer is not in use ? Try lighting the pilot and running the dryer on the air-fluff setting with a load in the dryer for 60 minutes and see if the pilot stays lit.

 

If you can post a few pictures of the burner assembly I may be able to offer a few suggestions on what goes wrong with the burner assembly used in your early HOH dryer.

 

John L..

 

[tomturbomatic]

In post 65807, reply 51, under THERMOSTAT it states something about if air is selected the current to the contacts is locked out so there is no current to light the pilot. Maybe it is the coils for the gas valve that have gotten too weak to hold it open. John, Jeff and I have dealt with that with my outdoor gas dryers, but I want to keep the 37.5K BTU modulating burners in two of them.

 

[rp2813]

I'm certain that the dryer above has a constant pilot that's lit with a match.  My mid '70s DG806 had that, and this dryer is even older.

 

The behavior described above does sound like a failing thermocouple.  Even a bad sensor wouldn't shut down the pilot, would it?  Make sure the thermocouple is positioned correctly so it's fully within the pilot's flame.

 

If the thermocouple turns out to be the source of the trouble, I think you could pull it out and match it up with one at a hardware/home improvement retailer and be back in business.