help with clothes dryer!

[CaptTrev]

hey guys,

once again, when I don't know where else to turn (actually, the FIRST place I usually turn , i come to . . .

ok, so i have a fairly new (about 5 or 6 years old) GE electric clothes dryer

its a electric sensor dryer it says...

anyway

it seems like its been taking longer and longer to dry the same amount of clothes.

i usually use the medium temp. setting, and i think it used to take about 1.5-2 hrs to fully dry and shut off

tonight it took almost 5 hours!

is there some routine maintance i should be doing/should have done that would cause this thing to not work as well?

the only thing ive done is to routinely clean out the primary lint screen, and once a year or so, i clean out the exhaust tube and back of thr dryer.

anything else I'm missing?

please help!

any/all ideas welcome

CaptTrev

 

[JohnJohn]

Assuming this unit is older than 5 years...

My Dad always told me only three things ever go wrong with an Electric dryer.

• Heating Element
• Timer
• Motor/belt

My guess is that it's the heating element. Maybe it's not getting as hot as it should. I replaced the motor in mine a few years ago and was amazed at how simple these things are. Call your local supplier Maytag, Kenmore/Sears, whatever. I think the elements are around $20. They are very easy to replace.

Good Luck,

 

[Danno]

clothes dryer

if you are routinely cleaning the intake and exhaust ports and you are sure that the exhaust is clean clear out to where it vents outside....then it sounds like you may have the heating wire burned out. Part of them can be burned and still get heat just doesn't put out as much. That's mostly likely it. The pertable heater in my office just did that last week. It still puts out heat just not as much. HTH, Danno

hey guys,

once again, when I don't know where else to turn (actually, the FIRST place I usually turn , i come to . . .

ok, so i have a fairly new (about 5 or 6 years old) GE electric clothes dryer

its a electric sensor dryer it says...

anyway

it seems like its been taking longer and longer to dry the same amount of clothes.

i usually use the medium temp. setting, and i think it used to take about 1.5-2 hrs to fully dry and shut off

tonight it took almost 5 hours!

is there some routine maintance i should be doing/should have done that would cause this thing to not work as well?

the only thing ive done is to routinely clean out the primary lint screen, and once a year or so, i clean out the exhaust tube and back of thr dryer.

anything else I'm missing?

please help!

any/all ideas welcome

CaptTrev

 

[2offroad]

look on your other post.

 

[GPRSDLYT]

i sell appliance parts for a living.
in this case it sounds like its the operating thermostat. usually there are 3 therms. 2 of which are on the element housing and another on the blower housing. but sometimes there can be 4. do a continuity (sp) test.

if the heating element works, meaning that you atleast get some heat, then it is not the element. always think of the element as a light bulb, either it works or it dosent. also do a simple continuity (sp) test.

well, if you havent already bought parts, get the model # out of the door jamb and id be more than happy to give the exact ge part #'s.
-g

also, if it does turn out to be one of the therms, the probable cause is blocked exhaust vents. if blocked the heat has nowhere to go and gets overheated. thus blowing the therm.

 

[2offroad]

late model ge's are the camco with 2 elements in the pan, some of the latest are wci with 1 element. ge dryers that have 2 elements in the pan one burns out and really increases the drying time. what is the model # and i can tell you the part # of the element and how to fix it. also check the vent to see if it is kinked or cloged. thats what i do all day is fix appliances.

 

[CaptTrev]

hey guys,

thanks for all of the responses!

the model # is DDSR475ET5WW

it is a GE 7 cycle electronic sensor dry, heavy duty super capacity

i just got home from work, read your replys, and now im going to see if i can figure out whether or not its one of the thermostats or if its one of the heating elements......

thanks

Trevor

 

[CaptTrev]

i think i fixed it!!!

thank you to all who offered advice and their time--especially to 2offroad and GPRSDLYT. :clap:

let me just say i would rather work on my jeep then a clothes dryer ANY DAY!

once i got the foolish thing apart (and cut my left hand open in the process) i found a HUGE lint-clog in the little squirrel-cage lint fan thing (the little fan geared off the main dryer cylinder) that exhausts the lint and air from the main cylinder.

its in an area that you could not reach unless you took the front of the machine off, like i did.

i would say it was probably causing a 70-80% blockage in exhaust!

i then vacuumed the whole machine out really well and began to test the resistance of each thermostat and heater element.

after deciphering the crappy electrical schematic that came with the machine, i THINK i found all of the things i needed to test, and all seemed to test OK.

so i buttoned the machine back together, threw some dry towels in, and fired it up. I was amazed how FAST it began to heat up! i let the towels cycle for a few minutes and opened it up. towels were VERY warm. i depressed the door-close button and started the dryer up again and watched with the door open. the back of the cylinder bagan to glow an even (left to right, top to bottom) orange color and put out (what i feel to be) ample heat.

so, it looks like i got lucky and caught this problem in time before it cooked any electrial parts!

now, all i have to do is tape up the cut on my hand, blow all the dryer lint out of my nose...and open a cold beer!

thanks again everyone!

CaptTrev

 

[GPRSDLYT]

your welcome!
-g