Our dryer quit working today. Luckily, I got a load of my work clothes done, but now there's a load of soggy towels in it.

Anyway, the last load came out warm and dry. What I noticed was after I loaded the towels, the dial was still set at "Max Dry". So by force of habit, I turned the dial around to max dry again, and pushed the button. Nothing happened. All I got was what sounded like a stuck motor. BZZ.

Also, from what I remember, the dryer drum used to rotate in both directions. But now, it only rotates counter clockwise. (By hand.)

More into the dial, I'm sure there's power at the dial, since I can get the buzzing noise in all except the "off" position.

I'm leaning towards a motor that's packed it in. But is there anything else I can check, that I can fix myself, before I call in a pro to fix it?

I won't be able to do any electrical testing tonight, as my multimeter is at work in my tool box. But any input from an appliance repairman would be greatly appreciated.

Again, it's a Whirlpool "Heavy Duty" dryer. Couldn't find a serial number though.

 

Just a couple of things to check:


1. Pull the bottom panel (should just 'pop' off) and look under the drum, to the right side of the cabinet, and you should see an idler pulley mounted to the bottom plate of the drier. The belt should go around the motor (duh) and the idler. (Either the belt might be broken [depending on the age of the drier] or, the idler jumped out of it's mounting slots.)

2. If this is ok, there is a module inside of the control panel that has a tendency to go bad, too.
(The drier will run, but, it won't heat.)

My guess is that the belt/idler are suspect since you said that the one load of clothes were warm.

Two starting places. Good luck with it. Let us know how it goes.

 

Well, I checked the belt and the idler. The belt looks okay, as does the idler. The thing is, when I push the button, nothing happens. The motor doesn't turn. Unless there's something between the button, dial, and motor, I have no idea. Keep 'em coming. Thanks.

 

Bump

Okay. I got my multimeter. What do I check? (Without zapping myself?)

 

http://www.fixitnow.com/appliantolog...ngdiagrams.htm

This should help ?

 

Thanks Dennis. Very informative.

 

I've had a couple of dryers act up. I've learned the first thing to check (is/are?) the two fuses in my old breaker box. If one side has gone bad the motor will run but it won't heat. takes both sides of the 220 to work the heating coil, only one side to run the motor.
But you're probably on breakers and your motor don't run no mo. So, different problem.

They really arent' that hard to work on. At least the ones I've been in too.

Nice thing about dryers is they break down at home. Bad thing is they break when you want to use them.

 

I have an older whirlpool dryer and the same thing happened to mine. Called the repair man over cause I am scared of appliances and it was the button switch that was bad. Currently the timer is bad and the thing dont stop itself, but I am not going to worry about it until the whole thing kicks, than I will just buy a new one. Found something else that I am not very fond of-------appliance repairmen.

 

Check the lint catcher. Mine is in a slider on top of the dryer. If it is clogged it will prevent the dryer from starting.

Also check the vent screen, it can get clogged too.

Tom.

 

I find this site easier for the layman to use. It has pictures and instructions.
http://www.american-appliance.com/se...ryer_diag.html

 

We had a dryer do this sort of thing. Took the motor in and was about to buy a new one when the salesman said he would test it for us. Turns out it worked fine, took it home, put the whole dryer back together and it worked. Don't ask what we did but it worked. Needless to say, that dryer recently bit the dust and is being replaced.

 

the door switch or the start button may be bad, check them for continuity when actuating them, you can unplug the drier while doing this.

 

I definately am not a repairman, but just a thought. On our old dryer if you hit the start button but had not turned the dial to a cycle it would buzz and not run, maybe it's the timer. I also think if it was the door switch it would not buzz.

 

I had mine do this about a month ago, a allen wrench had fell down the lint shoot and was jammed in the blower. First off I have no idea where a allen wrench came from because mine are all together so I am guessing it may have came from the factory with it in there and it finally caught in the blower. So something may or may not have fell down in there in yours. All you have to do is take the back off and look. While you are back there you can also clean out the lint and look at the element if it is an electric.

 

According to the first site, linked by Dennis, I narrowed it down to the motor. I did this by removing the belt. Then I grabbed the spindle on the motor and tried turning it. Well, it's siezed up. So, according to the site, the motor's pooched. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to get the motor out without taking apart the whole dryer.

As for the switch and timer, they're both good.

I got my wife looking into getting a motor, but the 1 800 number she tried was a call center for "Whirlpool Repairs". She was told there's a $69 callout fee, plus $16.99 every 10 minutes he's there, plus parts.

I don't think so.

I told her to find a cheaper guy, or get me the motor. Then I left it up to her to decide if we should just bite the bullet and get a new dryer. Ours is kind of ancient; it's got that ugly almond coloured paint on it. So, if an estimate comes to half the price of a new one, we'll probably just get a new one. And wouldn't you know, a month after that, our washer will probably die too. Ha ha.

Anyway, our washer works for now. I had to go to a laundromat to dry our stuff today. 15 minutes before closing time, the door's locked. An attendant comes to the door, I ask if I can just use the dryer. She says sure, and lets me in. She then tells me that the lights are on a timer, and go off at 8:30. She then says to not worry about it, and take as much time as I need. She left at 8:30. The door automatically locks anyway, so she told me to make sure I have everything before I leave, because there won't be anyone to let me back in. So I got my drying done, and was home by 8:45.

Well, thanks for the suggestions, people. What a great site this is, huh?