After taking everything apart, finding the culprit wire, getting a matching 10-gauge wire to reconnect to the spade on the heating element, I reassembled everything, only to find that now the tumbler would not spin. I have a feeling it’s because of something I did in disassembly or reassembly.
So I took it apart again, and my wife offered to be another set of eyes and put it back together. She did, and this time the tumbler spun very slowly, but still no heat.
I’m 98% certain that the pulley is routed correctly, but if someone feels this is an issue I’ll check that again. The good news is that I’m a pro at taking this machine apart now. The bad thing is our dirty laundry is multiplying.
OK - how would I check if these switches were to blame?
I’ve moved the dryer into a larger room and pulled it apart again … got the heating element out and cannot find any continuity issues there, either. Where else could I look?
Actually my wife said that the motor/pulley got back up to normal speed when she did another dry run.
Yesterday I pulled off the console/facia as I was going to test every electrical connection that existed for continuity.
There was a full schematic taped inside the console (from manufacturing), and I studied this for a bit.
It was then that I realized that the cycling thermostat and thermostat heater are both on the same piece - affixed to the blower motor cover.
There are 4 spades:
the cycling thermostat spades are on the left and right (purple wire on one end and blue on the other)
the thermostat heater spades are on top and bottom of the piece (feeding the red and white wires)
I am using an analog meter. The cycling thermostat reads 0 for full continuity, but the thermostat heater is showing 8 (Ω x 1K setting). I think before - not fully understanding that this one piece actually hosted two separate connections - I just tested the left/right spades and not the top/bottom.
I am guessing that the thermostat heater should NOT show a resistance of 8KΩ and that this very well could be the culprit
I am guessing that the thermostat heater should NOT show a resistance of 8KΩ and that this very well could be the culprit
No, that reading looks OK to me.
An 8,000 ohm resistance will be a 1.8 watt heater (approximately).
Not sure you know how it works so just in case.
In lower heat settings the thermostat heater is turned on by the heat setting switch. It adds heat to the thermostat causing it to cycle more often resulting in a lower heat output from the unit.
OK to recap
You have checked that there is 240 volts, the heating coil, all thermostats and fuses and the timer contacts.
Now unplug the unit and take the two heavier wires (Blue and Black according to the wiring diagram) off the centrifugal switch and short them together. Tape them so they cannot short to anything or get caught in the motor.
Also tape the door switch closed.
Now be very, very careful as this is a live test.
You do not have to put the drum back in. Just make sure that if the heater comes on you shut the unit off right away as there will not be any air flow over it and you could blow the thermal cut-off.
Now plug it in and give it a try.
If it fires up with heat you know that the centrifugal switch is the problem.
OK - I’m working on this, but (and this certainly reveals my novice-ness) I am not 100% sure what the centrifugal switch is. Is it the housing on the motor that the wire harness clips into?
And … assuming this is the case, I cannot get either of the wires to budge from the wire harness.
I ran a continuity test on the black wire with one lead on the spade at the heating element and one lead on the wiring harness, and it showed that the wire itself is good. Don’t know if this helps at all.
Got it fixed! Not quite sure why it didn’t heat when it was put back together, but in sum the only real thing we changed this time was the PULLEY of all things. The sticky that shows the pulley diagrams just shows one option for Maytag dryers, but ours is actually reverse from this (ribs against the drum). When the ribs were out, it would spin very slowly, if at all.
Congrats on finding the problem.
You are definitely no longer a novice at dryer repair.
And thanks for getting back to us. Now when others search for a similar problem they will see what actually worked instead of just suggestions about what could be the cause.
freezer not freezing. it seems like it is about as cold as the refrigerator compartment. stillmakes and ice does not melt but ice cream is soft. kelbro