OT: Maytag dryer not heating

Anonymous-0 · May 12, 2010

Hello - need your help....
moved to a new house, changed the dryer cord on a 15 year old Maytag dryer from 4 prong to 3 prong, because the recepticle was 3 prong. Turned dryer on and it runs but wont heat. Drum turns, but does not get hot. Any ideas?

SOmeone said I can check fuses and limit switches for continuity? How do I do that? What could this be? Have had no problems with this dryer for the last 15 years.
Thanks in advance.

showcrop · May 12, 2010

Did you change just the plug or the whole cord?

JMS/.MN · May 12, 2010

Moving might have broken the heating coil- they are pretty sensitive. Do a continuity check- two screws under the front panel to take off to access the coil, tstats, etc. With a VOM, (depending on model) when you hold the leads together you should get an audible sound as well as zero on the resistance scale= a continuous circuit. If you get that with the VOM, the dials are set right, so try both ends of the coil to get the same result. Same procedure for both contacts on any fuse, bulb, etc. You can get cheap VOMs for about $15, it should have a book for settings.

Chuck (CA) · May 12, 2010

Check your circuit breaker. It's a 30 amp and if it trips half way, you'll still have voltage to the motor and blower, but not to the element.
Turn it all the way off and then back on and see if that fixes it. Not an uncommon problem.
Let us know.

DaveK(IN) · May 12, 2010

When you changed back to 3 wire did you rebond the frame to the neutral? Are you sure you have your pigtail connected correctly? The motor runs on 120 volts so if you were missing one phase of the 220 line it would still run if it happened to be on the right phase. Of course if an element was shot it would do the same thing.
The continuity tests are good ideas, but if you invest in a meter (a good idea) I would check for 220 in the receptacle before I tore into the machine. You should have 220 volts between the two outside slots and 120 between either one of them and the center slot.

Anonymous-0 · May 12, 2010

Hi, changed the whole cord, did notice that the 40 amp breaker wanted to trip really easily, almost wants to trip over itself with a slight bump. After a few attempts, i got it to stay in the on position.

rubberwrench · May 13, 2010

Breaker could be bad.Check voltage in and out should be the same

tjdub · May 13, 2010

When my electric dryer quit heating it was due to a temp sensor right where the exhaust vent attaches. It's a safety feature to turn off the heating element if the vent gets plugged with lint so it doesn't start a fire. It's easy to change, and the part was relatively cheap. I think I may have diagnosed it by hot-wiring the sensor, but it's been a few years so I don't remember exactly. You certainly wouldn't want to use it that way, not burning your house down is a valuable feature in a dryer.

Inno · May 13, 2010

Definitely check the breaker if it trips that easily, it may be bad. You may only be getting 110V which is all the drum motor runs on but the heating element will be 220V. If you have a good AC multimeter, just measure across the two hot terminals (carefully and with the meter in a setting above 220V). You should measure 220V at the plug.
Also, instead of replacing the dryer cord I would replace the receptacle as the 4 prong style is up to the latest code requirement, the 3 prong is not.

OT: Maytag dryer not heating

Anonymous-0

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showcrop

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JMS/.MN

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Chuck (CA)

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DaveK(IN)

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Anonymous-0

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rubberwrench

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tjdub

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Inno

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