Past history: last yr the flame wld burn for only 5-10 seconds, then shut off. It wld cycle that way every minute or so. Everything else working fine. ALL thermostats, etc. checked fine for continuity.
Not knowing better, I replaced the gas coils, but the Problem persisted. Further research told me to jump (bypass) the high limit thermostat. I did and the flame stayed lighted. So, I then replaced the high limit thermostat - and I was problem free until recently.
Now, I have the exact same scenario!
The flame burns for only 5 seconds and then shuts off. High limit thermostat has continuity. ( I have again replaced it with a new one!!) When I bypass the high limit thermostat, the flame burns endlessly. All else working fine.
Thoughts? And if suggestion is circuit board, is there a way to test to confirm that it is the source of the problem? ( is it possible/likely that my brand new thermostat is bad?)
No circuit board in this dryer. Sounds like an airflow problem or a faulty operating thermostat. The flame should not be on endlessly with hi limit bypassed. The operating thermostat should cycle the burner on/off during the cycle to maintain temperature. The hi limit is a safety device and should never normally cycle off/on. The hi limit thermostat is not designed to cycle and if it does repeatedly, it can cause it to fail.
No circuit board in this dryer. Sounds like an airflow problem or a faulty operating thermostat. The flame should not be on endlessly with hi limit bypassed. The operating thermostat should cycle the burner on/off during the cycle to maintain temperature. The hi limit is a safety device and should never normally cycle off/on. The hi limit thermostat is not designed to cycle and if it does repeatedly, it can cause it to fail.
Whelp, here is the update. Replacing the hi limit thermostat and the cycling thermostat did not solve my problem. (and there is NO lint or ventilation problem.)
For clarification, perhaps my stmt that the hi limit thermostat was " cycling" was a poor choice of words. What is happening is that the flame ignites for 10 seconds from cold start (ignites for 5-6 seconds the 2nd or 3rd time around), then cuts out. The drum continues to turn. A few intermittent clicks are heard. After 60-90 seconds, the flame fires up again, burns for 5-6 seconds, then shuts off again. This happens repeatedly (until I get tired of watching it and unplug it).
Thoughts?
I think I will next replace the coils, because that is easy to do, but other than that I am out of ideas. Your assistance is appreciated.
Eric - you out there?
I have since replaced the gas coils ( in addition to the hi limit thermostat and the cycling thermostat ) but the problem persists.
I’m running out of parts to throw at this sucker.
Any thoughts?
Dan
My response was based on your statement that bypassing the hi limit thermostat allowed the flame to stay on endlessly. Apparently, that is not the case now? You may have a faulty flame sensor or igniter. When the igniter is powered, it gets very hot and it’s resistance goes very low. The heat from it causes the flame sensor to open which kills power to the igniter while simultaneously opening the secondary gas valve. The still hot igniter causes the gas to ignite. Heat from the gas flame should keep the flame sensor open and the resistance of the igniter low, current to the secondary valve coil is through the igniter. If the flame sensor closes again or if the resistance of the igniter goes up or it has an intermittent break in it, the secondary gas valve will close and shut the gas off. This will reapply power to the igniter and the process repeats.
Thanks for the quick response.
First I’ll confirm that the flame burns endlessly when the hi limit thermostat is bypassed. If not, I will report back. But if so, I will investigate the igniter and/or the flame sensor.
Thanks again.
Dan
My LDG712 problem is related to Dcarterlaw’s, but maybe different.
Dryer heat isn’t sufficient to dry clothes. At least, not without running for hours, and maybe not even then. Eventually it will cut off, and may or may not have dried the clothes sufficiently. Small loads obviously work better than large ones. Can’t heat a load to remove wrinkles. Not enough heat.
I get a flame, but it looks wimpy; seems like it used to be bigger (6" - 12"), blew past the cone mouth (small end) and made a jet-like sound. Now, it’s quiet and looks more like a large candle, about 4" tops; doesn’t even reach the cone mouth, and not jetting. And so the dryer doesn’t really heat up. It used to heat enough that the cabinet got warm. Not anymore. Cabinet cool to touch, even when dryer has been running a while, with the wimpy flame.
I’ve cleaned everything, gotten all the lint out (yes, it needed it), made sure the air flows well. Gas source is good; it’s jetted for propane, which has worked for decades. Changing tanks doesn’t affect it.
I recently replaced the coils and the high-limit switch. Still doing it.
Could the igniter cause this problem, like it did for Dcarterlaw? Or something else? I haven’t replaced the igniter (at least not in a long time) or the cycling thermostat yet. Could it be the flame sensor by the igniter?
Oh, and it does cycle. Flame lasts for 15 - 25 seconds, goes out, then re-ignites. Igniter seems to work fine, but maybe its Dcarterlaw’s problem manifest differently?
This is a great dryer when it works. Hate to replace it.
Thanks.
Guy
Dcarterlaw said:
Whelp, here is the update. Replacing the hi limit thermostat and the cycling thermostat did not solve my problem. (and there is NO lint or ventilation problem.)
For clarification, perhaps my stmt that the hi limit thermostat was " cycling" was a poor choice of words. What is happening is that the flame ignites for 10 seconds from cold start (ignites for 5-6 seconds the 2nd or 3rd time around), then cuts out. The drum continues to turn. A few intermittent clicks are heard. After 60-90 seconds, the flame fires up again, burns for 5-6 seconds, then shuts off again. This happens repeatedly (until I get tired of watching it and unplug it).
Thoughts?
I think I will next replace the coils, because that is easy to do, but other than that I am out of ideas. Your assistance is appreciated.
I just had the same problem with my Maytag dryer it was the coils. The magnets get weak over time and lose connection I replaced them and all better now
I have a Maytag natural gas dryer model LDG7304 AAE that I just rec’d from a friend who said it needed repairs. It had a worn blower wheel hub so it would turn but made a lot of noise. I repaired it and went on to find the door switch was suspicious in that the terminals were slightly burnt. Replaced it and went on to try and get it to provide heat. Found the thermostat on the burner tube (presume this is the hi limit one) was broken. Replaced that with a spare from another dryer and it fired up but would only stay lit for a short time then it would cut off the gas. I AM USING PROPANE TO TEST BUT HAVE THE NATURAL GAS ORIFICE STILL IN PLACE). It gets pretty warm but only runs a short time before it shuts off. I bypassed the hi limit t-stat and it works fine. The igniter works OK and the flame sensor appears to work OK. I cannot hook up to natural gas easily for testing and I am wondering if the propane gas heating using the nat gas orifice is too hot and causing the hi limit t-stat to signal the valve to shut off prematurely. If I wait a while I can restart it but the flame goes out quickly unless I bypass the t-stat. I am going to install a new set of gas valve coils ASAP but need to get some ideas about using propane w/o changing the orifice (for my testing) . Can anyone advise if this has happened to them.
Bought and installed a new set of gas valve coils and problem persists. The gas valve will turn on and it fires up OK the 1st time but after it shuts off and tries to refire the gas it chatters a bit and will not fire. Igniter is heating OK. I may try a different igniter from another dryer that works fine and see what happens Can anyone help on this problem ?
I am having a similar problem with my HE3 Kenmore gas dryer, and I was hoping someone here might give me some ideas:
With the vent disconnected, it works fine. Gas comes on and burn cycles are 3-5 minutes. If anything is connected to the dryer vent, even just our short length of 4’ of flex hose, the dryer never reaches normal temps and the burn cycle is about 1 min long.
Seems like a vent blockage issue, but I have cleaned out the vent pipes (they are only 8’ long or so) and blown air thru it from a shop vac and they seem clean. And even the short length of flex hose by itself if connected will cause the burn time to go down (and yes I have looked thru the flex hose and it is clean too).
I tried replacing the solenoid coils, and it made no difference. I also have cleaned out the lint from the dryer ducting, at least the places I could reach without major disassembly.
Since everything appears to work fine without any connection on the vent, I am assuming that all the sensors are OK. If not, can someone suggest which ones might be involved here. And there is still air flowing when the vent is attached, enough to open the louvers on the outside air exit, and enough to feel from the end of the flex tube when it is just that.
I considered that it may be that the blower is just not moving enough air, that it is OK with nothing on the vent but even the slightest additional air restriction causes issues. It would make sense, but how can one test that the blower is moving enough air? One other thing I thought of was perhaps there is an air leak internal to the dryer, and it is not sucking enough air from the heater assembly, such that when a vent hose is added it gets critically low. Again, not sure how to test this hypothesis.
Any thoughts or suggested test would be appreciated.
I have a Maytag natural gas dryer model LDG7304 AAE that I just rec’d from a friend who said it needed repairs. It had a worn blower wheel hub so it would turn but made a lot of noise. I repaired it and went on to find the door switch was suspicious in that the terminals were slightly burnt. Replaced it and went on to try and get it to provide heat. Found the thermostat on the burner tube (presume this is the hi limit one) was broken. Replaced that with a spare from another dryer and it fired up but would only stay lit for a short time then it would cut off the gas. I AM USING PROPANE TO TEST BUT HAVE THE NATURAL GAS ORIFICE STILL IN PLACE). It gets pretty warm but only runs a short time before it shuts off. I bypassed the hi limit t-stat and it works fine. The igniter works OK and the flame sensor appears to work OK. I cannot hook up to natural gas easily for testing and I am wondering if the propane gas heating using the nat gas orifice is too hot and causing the hi limit t-stat to signal the valve to shut off prematurely. If I wait a while I can restart it but the flame goes out quickly unless I bypass the t-stat. I am going to install a new set of gas valve coils ASAP but need to get some ideas about using propane w/o changing the orifice (for my testing) . Can anyone advise if this has happened to them.
— End quote
Propane and natural gas are two completely different pressures and not at all interchangeable.
Yes the flame is way too big on propane and God only knows how many BTUs over the limit it would be. Stop it!
I’ve got a very similar problem with my kenmore elite HE3. Although I don’t feel like the flame is wimpy, it just doesn’t stay on for more than 10 seconds. I’ve replaced the coils, gas valve, thermistor, moisture sensor bars and checked the flame sensor, high limit switch, and I think everything else for proper resistance or continuity. The exhaust path is clear and the dryer is cleaned out. It even does this with the dryer vent hose disconnected. I never tried the ignitor, because the flame always re-ignited! But it keeps going off like yours and would never get clothes dry. Could that be it? I was getting ready to buy a new computer module. Like some of these other guys, I’m running out of part s to replace…
I noticed that the dryer door does not stay fully closed, it would push back open 1/4 to 1/2" after clothes hit it for a while when the dryer is on. Did some experiments: If I lean on the door to keep it fully closed everything is fine. As soon as I stop leaning on it the door moves out a bit and the next cycle is short. If I lean on it again back to long cycles. I tried keeping the door in with a bungie cord and that works too, long flame cycles and fully dry clothes.
So it would seem to be a latch and/or seal issue with the door. I will be looking into that, but that seems like the root of the problem.
