The heating element does come on, but does not get the clothes dry. With an empty dryer, and the dryer door open, with the dryer on "high heat, cottons" i counted the seconds the heating element is on/off. 12 seconds the heating element turns on, then 125 seconds the heating element is off. With a "full" load of laundry, it can take up to 120 minutes to a 180 minutes to get the laundry completely dry. Would this be a timer problem, or high/low limit switch?? Thank you in advance! Also, i do have a multi meter, and am an auto mechanic, if you just give me the proper steps to take. Thanks in advance again!
Here are your parts
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/partsearch/modelsearch.aspx?model=TEDS840PQ0
See the attachment for a wiring diagram.
Your test with the door open really does not tell you much as there is no air flow over the heating coils so the unit is running off the hi-limit thermostat.
You do know that the high limit is working as it cycled and did not blow the thermal cut-off on the heater.
Most long dry time problems are vent related so trry the following.
Unplug the unit and disconnect it from the vent system.
Now try a run.
If it now dries OK odds are the vent system needs checking/cleaning.
Be sure to check that the louvers on the outside of the house open correctly.
If you do not want any lint in the house.
Take a pair of pantyhose.
Put one leg into the other and then attach this to the dryer’s vent.
Leave enough room so the pantyhose can balloon out like a windsock.
Both the above will let you check the temperature and the air flow.
Note: The above is not recommended for gas dryers due to carbon monoxide concerns.
Your main thermostat (Item 8 in Section 3) opens t 155 and closes at 130 degrees F so if you measure the exhaust temperature it should be in this range.
— Begin quote from denman;431215
Here are your parts
Replacement parts for WHIRLPOOL TEDS840PQ0 29"ELECTRIC DRYER | AppliancePartsPros.com
See the attachment for a wiring diagram.
Your test with the door open really does not tell you much as there is no air flow over the heating coils so the unit is running off the hi-limit thermostat.
You do know that the high limit is working as it cycled and did not blow the thermal cut-off on the heater.
Most long dry time problems are vent related so trry the following.
Unplug the unit and disconnect it from the vent system.
Now try a run.
If it now dries OK odds are the vent system needs checking/cleaning.
Be sure to check that the louvers on the outside of the house open correctly.
If you do not want any lint in the house.
Take a pair of pantyhose.
Put one leg into the other and then attach this to the dryer’s vent.
Leave enough room so the pantyhose can balloon out like a windsock.
Both the above will let you check the temperature and the air flow.
Note: The above is not recommended for gas dryers due to carbon monoxide concerns.
Your main thermostat (Item 8 in Section 3) opens t 155 and closes at 130 degrees F so if you measure the exhaust temperature it should be in this range.
— End quote
I disconnected the vent and put a pantyhose sock on as instructed, which left me with one 90 and about 3 feet of straight vent pipe. I am not able to measure the actual temp of the air coming out of the exhaust, but it doesnt seem hot, just warm, and it still took 3-60 minute cycles to dry on high heat. Is the an ohms test for the high and low thermostats, or anything else i can test? This is killing my electric bill! Thanks again for your help.
Your exhaust temperature should be 130 to 155 degrees F as this is the close and open temperatures of the cycling thermostat in other words fairly hot.
Unplug the unit and both wires going to the heating coil.
Check the heating coil.
Check it with a meter, should be around 10 to 12 ohms.
Then check from each side of the coil to the case/frame, both should be infinite ohms (open). If not the coil may have sagged or broken and is touching the case. This can cause it to do all sorts of things depending how it broke.
There is not a reliable way to test the thermostats.
They should all be 0 ohms at room temperature but you cannot tell at what temperature they are opening.
With the unit unplugged remove one wire to the internal heating coil on the cycling thermostat. This should be a smaller wire, violet according to the wiring diagram. The larger two (red) are for the main heating coil.
Tape the wire connector so it cannot short to anything and then give it a try.
If you now have good heat you know that the internal heater is being held on all the time causing low heat so the problem is shorted contacts in the heat selector.
If you still get low heat I would replace the cycling thermostat as it is probably opening at too low of a temperature.
— Begin quote from denman;448854
Your exhaust temperature should be 130 to 155 degrees F as this is the close and open temperatures of the cycling thermostat in other words fairly hot.
Unplug the unit and both wires going to the heating coil.
Check the heating coil.
Check it with a meter, should be around 10 to 12 ohms.
Then check from each side of the coil to the case/frame, both should be infinite ohms (open). If not the coil may have sagged or broken and is touching the case. This can cause it to do all sorts of things depending how it broke.
There is not a reliable way to test the thermostats.
They should all be 0 ohms at room temperature but you cannot tell at what temperature they are opening.
With the unit unplugged remove one wire to the internal heating coil on the cycling thermostat. This should be a smaller wire, violet according to the wiring diagram. The larger two (red) are for the main heating coil.
Tape the wire connector so it cannot short to anything and then give it a try.
If you now have good heat you know that the internal heater is being held on all the time causing low heat so the problem is shorted contacts in the heat selector.
If you still get low heat I would replace the cycling thermostat as it is probably opening at too low of a temperature.
— End quote
First, thanks for the help! I ohmed out the cycling t-stat, and the high limit t-stat and got a .5 on both which means bad, the heating element ohmed out at 10 ohms good. So replacing both t-stats should do it then, right?
0.5 of an ohms may well be OK.
Did you short your meter leads together before starting your measurements.
many meters have a small 0 offset. Even dirty meter probes would give you 0.5 ohms.
— Begin quote from denman;448895
0.5 of an ohms may well be OK.
Did you short your meter leads together before starting your measurements.
many meters have a small 0 offset. Even dirty meter probes would give you 0.5 ohms.
— End quote
You were right, touched leads together=8ohms, retested t-stats=8ohms, so the t-stats are good im guessing? I have taken apart the dryer completely and cleaned, let the dryer run with venting disconnected, and still takes 3X’s the normal cycle to dry, what am i missing? The heating element isnt broken anywhere, or touching the metal frame, and it ohmed out good. What the heck is left? I was hoping the t-stats were bad because on an easy fix. Thank you again!
With the unit unplugged remove one wire to the internal heating coil on the cycling thermostat. This should be a smaller wire, violet according to the wiring diagram. The larger two (red) are for the main heating coil.
Tape the wire connector so it cannot short to anything and then give it a try.
If you now have good heat you know that the internal heater is being held on all the time causing low heat so the problem is shorted contacts in the heat selector.
If you still get low heat I would replace the cycling thermostat as it is probably opening at too low of a temperature.
The wire i unplugged is actually white w/ blk tracer, with the two red leads intact. I am running a load and the heat element stays on all the time, is that normal? I assume this test is taking the heat selecter out of the equation? Sorry, just kind of confused, you say,"if the heat is good the internal heater is being held on all the time" and with this test, the element is on all the time. But then you say the t-stat might be opening at too low a temp. If the heating element remains on all the time, wouldn’t both be true? Bad heat selecter and t-stat? The heat feels warmer out of the vent but not HOT> Please excuse my ignorance, if this were a car, id be in my fortay. I DO really APPRECIATE your help!!
OK do I understand this correctly?
The element is on all the time during your test but the exhaust temperature is not hot.
If that is the case then there must be a large leak in the airflow system of the dryer.
Air is pulled over the heating coils then through the drum, through the lint filter to the blower. It is then pushed out of the dryer.
So if the heating coil is on full all the time the air should be very hot.
Check the internal seals and the blower wheel.
Note: In the above I am assuming the unit is all together re: the drum.
Now for the cycling thermostat here is how it works.
If you ignore the internal heater it should close at 130 degrees F and then open at 155 degrees regulating the temperature between these two points.
This is then your high heat setting.
For different heat settings the internal heater is turned on this then adds heat to the cycling thermostat so it cycles more often which results in less heat output from the main heater.
So when I asked you to remove the cycling thermostat’s internal heater I was trying to find out if the timer/heat selector was keeping the heater on all the time which would produce a low heat output from the main heater.
That doing this resulted in the heater being on all the time but you not getting high heat has me puzzled.
Don’t worry about asking questions I have asked more than my fair share over then years. Better safe than sorry and better to understand something than just rush forward blindly.
Perhaps take a bit of a break, sometimes troubleshooting can get you going in circles and a break helps.
— Begin quote from denman;449054
OK do I understand this correctly?
The element is on all the time during your test but the exhaust temperature is not hot.
If that is the case then there must be a large leak in the airflow system of the dryer.
Air is pulled over the heating coils then through the drum, through the lint filter to the blower. It is then pushed out of the dryer.
So if the heating coil is on full all the time the air should be very hot.
Check the internal seals and the blower wheel.
Note: In the above I am assuming the unit is all together re: the drum.
Now for the cycling thermostat here is how it works.
If you ignore the internal heater it should close at 130 degrees F and then open at 155 degrees regulating the temperature between these two points.
This is then your high heat setting.
For different heat settings the internal heater is turned on this then adds heat to the cycling thermostat so it cycles more often which results in less heat output from the main heater.
So when I asked you to remove the cycling thermostat’s internal heater I was trying to find out if the timer/heat selector was keeping the heater on all the time which would produce a low heat output from the main heater.
That doing this resulted in the heater being on all the time but you not getting high heat has me puzzled.
Don’t worry about asking questions I have asked more than my fair share over then years. Better safe than sorry and better to understand something than just rush forward blindly.
Perhaps take a bit of a break, sometimes troubleshooting can get you going in circles and a break helps.
— End quote
Thanks for your understanding! I am going to take a break and get back to it tommorrow. The dryer is put together, except for the back panel. Just did a full load, 60 minutes, almost dry, but not completly, another 20 mins. The heating element does stay on all the time with the wire pulled off the cycling t-stat. The exhaust air is warm, but i definetly wouldn’t say HOT as i think it should be. I will pull it apart and check all the seals you described. I do understand how it works, as far as the air getting pulled across the heating element and get what to look for. Ill get back to you and let you know what i find. I EXTREMLY APPRECIATE your help!!! If you’re in Ohio, ill but you some beer, or fix your car! Thanks again man!!
Just finished supper and your problem is still bugging me so before you tear it apart check out the following.
At the plug
L1 to L2 should be 240 volts
L1 to Neutral and L2 to Neutral, both should be 120 volts.
If OK
Unplug the unit and check the wires at the terminal strip in the machine to make sure none are loose or burned out
If OK
Check the power at the terminal strip.
Now with the unit running check the voltage across the heating coil it should be pretty close to the 240.
If low also check it at the terminal strip.
If it is low there then you may have a house wiring problem.
Be very very careful as 240 volts is lethal !!!
I normally would not advise doing this but you seem to know what you are doing. I personally try my best to avoid messing with 240 especially on a running unit but I do not know of another way of doing this as the line must be under load.
It just does not makes sense that the element is on all the time and you do not get lots of heat but low voltage could do that.
If the volts are OK then look for an air leak in the system.
— Begin quote from weesel72;450223
I have to laugh, because it was bugging me last night so i did EXACTLY what you said! The voltage is at the power terminals, all terminals are tight (actually one of the very first things i checked) So, the power is there, and also at the heating element. I will look for an air leak, but the air seems preety strong coming out of the exhaust, so i dont know!? Again, the air is hot coming out of the exhaust, just not HOT, if you get what i mean? Man, i sure do i appreciate you caring enough to help! There is NO way i can afford a new dryer!
— End quote
Well, hope your still around? I looked EVERYWHERE for an air leak…found none?? I’m at a lose???
DAMN
I’m stumped.
This just does not make sense.
To recap the heater is on all the time, has 240 and is not grounded and all the hot air is going through the drum and yet we still have a low heat output.
One question I do not think I have asked is if this unit ever worked OK at this location?
If not then did you purchase it new or used?
It seems that you are getting too much air flow so the air is not picking up enough heat.
If you partially block the exhaust with your hand does the temperature increase? Be careful when doing this as we do not want to blow the thermal fuse or the thermal cut-off.
You may want to actually measure the exhaust temperature.
My wife just bought a digital meat thermometer. It has a digital control/readout for choosing different meats/doneness, about a 3 foot cord and a fairly thin probe. It will measure from freezing to boiling within a degree or so. I think it cost about $15.00 at SuperStore. That way you will be able to use it for something after you do your test.
PS: She loves it. You just stick the sensor in the meat, run the cord out of the oven to the control unit and it will beep when you get close to and at the correct doneness.
Looked sort of like the following without the timer function.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P6FLOY?ie=UTF8&tag=gourmetorg00-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000P6FLOY
— Begin quote from denman;454716
DAMN
I’m stumped.
This just does not make sense.
To recap the heater is on all the time, has 240 and is not grounded and all the hot air is going through the drum and yet we still have a low heat output.
One question I do not think I have asked is if this unit ever worked OK at this location?
If not then did you purchase it new or used?
It seems that you are getting too much air flow so the air is not picking up enough heat.
If you partially block the exhaust with your hand does the temperature increase? Be careful when doing this as we do not want to blow the thermal fuse or the thermal cut-off.
You may want to actually measure the exhaust temperature.
My wife just bought a digital meat thermometer. It has a digital control/readout for choosing different meats/doneness, about a 3 foot cord and a fairly thin probe. It will measure from freezing to boiling within a degree or so. I think it cost about $15.00 at SuperStore. That way you will be able to use it for something after you do your test.
PS: She loves it. You just stick the sensor in the meat, run the cord out of the oven to the control unit and it will beep when you get close to and at the correct doneness.
Looked sort of like the following without the timer function.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P6FLOY?ie=UTF8&tag=gourmetorg00-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000P6FLOY
— End quote
Im game for anything at this point,lol! The story behind the dryer…a friend of my wife bought a new washer/dryer set, and since i fixed their car, they gave their old set to us. The dryer never really seemed to dry in the first cycle, so she called her friend and she stated the dryer worked GREAT, no problems, the just wanted the new "fancy" set with the steam dry ect. That is when i preceded to look and see if anything was knocked loose ect. while we moved it from there to here and found nothing out of the ordinary? My old dryer worked fine, it was just ALOT older then the set she was giving us, hence why i’m here looking for help, thinking maybe a senser or heating element or something went bad on the move. It’s not like we knoocked the heck out of the dryer moving it here, and the washer works fine. Just find it weired that it worked fine there, but not here? Again…thanks man!!
When you said it never ran correctly AHA went off in my head.
Someone has replaced the heating coil with a lower wattage unit.
But that soon turned into DAMN again when I looked up the replacement heater wattage and it is 5400 Watts which works out to a 10.6 ohm resistance which is what you have.
The only other thing I can think of is that the motor has been replaced with a higher reving unit and therefore it is blowing too much air. But you would notice the drum revolving too fast.
The heating coil is on full and getting full voltage so is putting out it’s maximum heat but that is not enough to even trip the cycling thermostat as it never shuts off.
The only thing left is, it is the nature of the beast.
Just sign me in as "still stumped, still thinking about it"
— Begin quote from denman;454857
When you said it never ran correctly AHA went off in my head.
Someone has replaced the heating coil with a lower wattage unit.
But that soon turned into DAMN again when I looked up the replacement heater wattage and it is 5400 Watts which works out to a 10.6 ohm resistance which is what you have.
The only other thing I can think of is that the motor has been replaced with a higher reving unit and therefore it is blowing too much air. But you would notice the drum revolving too fast.
The heating coil is on full and getting full voltage so is putting out it’s maximum heat but that is not enough to even trip the cycling thermostat as it never shuts off.
The only thing left is, it is the nature of the beast.
Just sign me in as "still stumped, still thinking about it"
— End quote
I’m right there with you! Just spoke with wife’s friend we got it from, they owned it 6yrs, never a proble, never replaced anything and bought it new!?
I am going to post this in the tech section.
Perhaps someone else can look at the tread over and come up with something we have missed.
— Begin quote from denman;455674
I am going to post this in the tech section.
Perhaps someone else can look at the tread over and come up with something we have missed.
— End quote
I sure do appreciate your concern and help! I’m going to do another thourough "look over" again this morning to see if i missed anything!? This whole situation sure has me scratching my head!
I think there is an air flow problem. Pull the filter housing off the dryer and check for a clog. If ok, make sure the heater housing is attached to the back wall of the dryer.
— Begin quote from richappy;455769
I think there is an air flow problem. Pull the filter housing off the dryer and check for a clog. If ok, make sure the heater housing is attached to the back wall of the dryer.
— End quote
Appreciate the reply. Been there done that. If you look at all the previous recommendations by the previous guy, thank God for him, i’ve tested everything and looked for an airflow problem. All the thermostats, heating element, and power to the dryer is correct. Air flow is great, no leaks anywhere???
Thanks again.