Well done is how I like my steak, but...

[jons1077]

NOT how I like my dryers!!! Remember a while back when I asked how my 1968 GE Versatronic dryer would have shorted out like it did. By "shorting" I mean it surged so badly it flipped the main breaker for the entire house!

I finally had some time today and started diving into the old thing. It needed a good cleaning anyways. Got everything apart and grabbed a good vacuum (an early 60's Singer canister to be exact) and started going at it.

The heating elements both looked good so no problem there. Motor is spotless and hums nice and quiet. The wiring harness all looked fine as well. I couldn't really peg what could have happened. Then I started thinking about when it shorted. I opened and could smell burning wires and could have sworn I saw some smoke coming up from the lint trap right under the door.

I took the front off, took off the door, took the air duct out and really cleaned in there too. Turns out where the sensor is located right inside the door there is a small little thermostat located just under the lint trap. I got the little booger uncovered to find a nicely charred thermostat and some badly burned wires. In fact one of the wires was completely burned through and broken.

Anywho, at least now I know what happened and it should be an easy fix with a new thermostat and a couple of new wires. Probably not more than $20 total.

I took a couple of snapshots for you guys. I also headed down to a local old appliance store to inquire about a new part. They said the older dryers tend to do this and it's not uncommon in Maytags too.

 

[jons1077]

and the backside...

Pretty small part that can go out with a big bang!

 

[turquoisedude]

Looks like the 'Safety Thermostat'

Very common on the older machines - they didn't seem to trust their own 'automatic' dry cycles! You should be able to find the replacement part no problem. I have dryers on the brain, too - I am itching to hook up my 59 GE and then start diagnosis of the Westy CL6 I got last summer!

 

[panthera]

Oh, my, yes

They can fail by shorting to ground...which may explain why it took the main breaker with it. Hmm, I wonder if you shouldn't give that 240V outlet a quick check to be sure it's hooked up right? Those ganged 30amp breakers still should have been quicker off the mark than the main breaker.

Anyway, I replaced a safety thermostat in the Westy SlantFront last year and the GE dealer suggested I put in a pair - cycle thermostat and safety. She said, if one goes, the other can't be far behind. I didn't dare tell her what I was buying for, the standard answer is always "junk, trash it"...turns out the cycle thermostat is quite a bit cooler than the old one was and the safety limiter the same as the cycle thermostat had been...glad I took her advice and bought them as a pair. No, I don't feel like I've violated the authenticity of the Westy, as the programme thermostat reacts way below either.

Postive air-flow makes a lot of things possible, including very sophisticated temperature zones, which I had never realised until we got this beauty running again (with lots of help from many folks here!)

 

[tomturbomatic]

That is the operating thermostat. GE used to state in their sales literature that their thrmostat was right next to the clothes, not at the heat inlet or in the exhaust duct like in some "other" dryers. The safety or high limit would be on top of the heater shroud because if anything happened to stop the air flow that is the area that would get hottest fastest.

Does your dryer say CUSTOM V anywhere on the machine? I have a 67 or 68 CUSTOM V that looked like new when we found it. I had to replace the circuit board to make the electronic dry control work. It is a very good dryer and has very light duty now. I hope you will soon be able to enjoy yours again.

 

[jons1077]

I report wonderful news!!!

So here's the update...

I headed over to the old appliance shop down the street to get a new thermostat. The old one (which was the original 41 year old thermostat) regulated the internal temperature at no more than 155 degrees F and turns the elements back on when the temperature drops 20 degrees (L155-20). The new one is an L140-10. So it won't dry as hot and will cycle more often.

I had to get in there and splice in some new wire where the old wire was burned and get the new thermostat installed. Of course I kept my fingers crossed that everything would be ok when I plugged it in and gave it a whirl. It was so nice to discover that the only smell the emit from this machine was the elements firing up after a long time out of service.

The dryer works like a charm. The first load of permanent press pants came out perfectly dry and wrinkle free!

I took a few snapshots to show some of the highlights.

 

[jons1077]

Thermostat location

This lint trap is located at the bottom of the dryer door opening. Just underneath the lint trap is a small box in the center. Inside there is the thermostat.

 

[jons1077]

Without the lint trap...

A little bit easier to see without the screen.

 

[jons1077]

Versatronic sensor

This is inside the dryer drum just below the lint trap area. This is what makes this a "Versatronic" model dryer. You'll see the large area of sensors and directly in the middle is, once again, that darm thermostat.

Thanks to everyone for the help and encouragement. The total cost for this repair was $12.00 for the thermostat and $3.00 for new wire. Thank goodness this happened under my watch and not any old Joe Schmoe because this would have sent this dryer to the crusher for sure.

Repair and parts...$15.00

Having my favorite dryer back...PRICELESS!!!

 

[gyrafoam]

Hey Jon, glad to see you are up and running again. Thats a really nice dryer. Funny how such small parts can have a major effect on the overall operation of the machine.

 

[spankomatic]

Glad to hear it turned out to be an "easy" fix for such a nice dryer. I grew up with this same exact dryer (1966). The lite at the top was a little different. I use to love the foot pedal to open the door. I also liked the lint trap design.

Jim

 

[circlew]

Circuit breakers

Jon, you say when the dryer shorted out, that it tripped the main breaker. Did the branch breaker also trip? By any chance is your power panel made by FPE (Federal Pacific)? FPE is infamous for its breakers that don't trip quickly (or at all) even on severe overload or fault (short circuit) conditions. You will want to seriously consider having the panel replaced if you have any of them. They are bad news.

http://inspectapedia.com/fpe/fpestlouis.htm

 

[jons1077]

Very good advise guys...

The electrical circuitry in this house is definitely updated to modern specs. I recently had it inspected about a year ago. Had an electrician come in and repair where necessary. I'd say this electrical upgrade was done within the past 30 years.

I don't really have an explanation as to why the dryer breaker didn't trip though. It is grounded properly and on its own breaker. Hopefully in the near future we're going to have some electrical upgrades in this house because it all needs to be expanded.

I've run a few loads through the dryer and all is well.