Thermal Fuse/Thermostat issue?

[jy6748]

30 days ago this dryer wouldn’t dry/heat. I found and corrected severly clogged vent pipe. It still took more than one timed-dry cycle so having this problem for awhile (taking more than one cycle) I figured with age it was time for new heat element. Replaced that along w/accompanying thermostat from here, AP. Worked great for 30 days, dry in one cycle, etc. Last night I used a setting I’d never used, "more dry" under "auto-dry regular fabrics", top left of selector knob, about 11 o’clock. When I awoke, the selector had not moved, clothes were certainly dry and unit would not power up. Checked obvious, found bad thermal fuse per meter, new thermostat is still good per meter but fried & visibly broken coil wire on my new heat element. Vent appears still clean, being cleaned 30 days ago but I’ll verify this again end-to-end. How does this auto-dry work? Is there a dampness sensor I should check relative to this setting? Could this timer just be bad in this area? I can certainly replace the element & thermostat again along with the fuse then just use timed-dry but what would cause this? Trying to decide if I should replace parts again or consider a new unit. Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.