Whirlpool Cabrio WDG6400SWO dryer

[leelee]

Good morning,
I have a whirlpool cabrio natural gas dryer. WDG6400SWO. I believe it’s about 15 years old. It has had very heavy use over these years. Presently it tumbles but has no heat. My husband thinks it may be the coil pack which is a pretty cheap fix. Do you think it’s worth fixing a 15 year old heavily used dryer? Because it has the digital display will we encounter an error code after fixing?

Otherwise I will be getting a basic Amana gas dryer-cash and carry. (746$ Canadian plus 13% tax) To me a dryer is a dryer. I could care less. It’s the washer that’s the game changer. My husband runs owns an HVAC company and is very busy without a ton of time to troubleshoot a 15 year old dryer.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Have a great Sunday.

 

[combo52]

To fix or not

When you say the dryer had a lot of use, how many loads a week are you talking about?

If it’s less than 10 loads a week, it probably has a good bit more life in it especially if it’s paired with a washing machine that spun, a lot of water out of the clothing.

it would probably cost about a third as much to get it repaired as buying the new Amana dryer so it’s your call you’ll probably get another five years or so out of the dryer by fixing it up

There won’t be any fault codes or anything to reset, it’s most likely a bad igniter, heat sensor, or the coils, as you mentioned, either one of these parts is fairly cheap, although a dryer that’s had a good bit of use. It might pay to take it apart vacuum it and possibly put a new belt on it and a drop or two of oil on each of the four rollers and the idler pulley, bearing while you’re working on it if you want to go the extra mile,

Clean out the vent thoroughly too if you haven’t done it also clean the lint filter housing while you’re working on it. It removed with a couple screws. That’s the pocket that the lint filter slides down into. Also make sure the fan is clean.

John

 

[ryner1988]

Is this Cabrio dryer a Whirlpool 29-inch model with lint trap on top? If so, I say fix it. Those can run and run if you take care of them.

 

[qsd-dan]

Those can run and run if you take care of them.

The problem with these isn't the running gear, it's the damn electronics. The Cabrio washers were riddled with electronic problems.

 

[leelee]

Thanks for your responses.

So roughly 10-15 loads a week.
Yes it is the dryer with the lint trap on top.

 

[henene4]

There are several reasons a gas dryer could have no heat, and there are several videos on YouTube that show how to narrow down what exactly has gone wrong.

A broken hot surface ignitor is the most likely issue.
If the part is only 75$ or so, and a new dryer is 10 times that, your husband could probably bill himself for 6h of work at least and still be out ahead.

It could be a broken gas valve aswell. Or - of course - a control issue.
Both of these can be checked with a multimeter (check the gas valve coils for resistance/shorts, and if they test good checking if the control even sends power to both the ignitor and the valves).

The dryer certainly has run a lot - something above 10k hours if your statements are true, most likely.

But if runs nice and quiet otherwise, I don't see why it shouldn't run another couple of years.

 

[DADoES]

 
Is the model perhaps WGD6400SW0?  Search for WDG6400SW0 finds nothing.

S in the model number should indicate 2006 model-year.  The production date (serial number) may be slightly earlier, or later depending how long the model was produced.

 

[henene4]

That brings up something

So, there is a tech diagnostic sheet online for your dryer:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1549827/Whirlpool-Wgd6400sw0.html

There is a circuit diagram in there, that should help your husband - those are exactly the same kind of thing on most HVAC equipment.

That also extends the list of possibilities.

The circuit for the heating goes through quite a bit more than typical and necessary - much of that could have been done via the control, but that's besides the point.

First is the door switch - that works since the dryer is running.
Next is the centrifugal switch on the motor. If that doesn't close it won't heat. As far as I know, it is integrated in the motor, thus, if it is the culprit, you'd have to replace the motor entirely, and that is very expensive.

Next are the 3 thermal limit switches.
One is a self resetting high limit thermostat, 2 are one shot thermal fuses. If any of them are open, no heat will be supplied.
These are all pretty cheap and should best be replaced as a set. Check for a clear vent and air path - blockages can lead to these failing, but they just can fail from age aswell.

Next is the ignitor.
If it never heats up the gas valves should never open.
That's cheap aswell.

Next could be the flame sensor.
That checks if the flame is on. If it isn't registered within certain time parameters (goes out or never ignites), that forces the gas valves closed.
That could lead to only a few seconds of heat that might register as no heat to the user - though that failure appears to be more rare.

And last, it could be the gas valve.
That's actually apparently 2 parts - the valve solenoids and the valves themselves.
The solenoids are cheap and can easily be replaced - a not unheard failure from what I have heard.
The valves themselves could be stuck aswell, but that would be the last failure mode that you would diagnose by checking everything else as good.

Of course, the control could always fail to actually supply power to that circuit, so checking if there ever is power to the circuit would be necessary to.
If the control failed, that is very expensive aswell.

 

[leelee]

It’s the thermistor. Repairs will be underway today! Fingers crossed it’ll all work out!