dryer element only half on

[crutch]

whirlpool electric dryer takes forever (not quite) to dry clothes. found only half of element heating up. foolish me, replaced element ($50.00). problem still the same. no problem with duct, i removed it. suggestions? tks -crutch

[HayZee518]

can you send me a diagram of the dryer wiring.

[crutch]

no diagram on unit. have looked at several online but can not tell for sure which one applies.

[596]

Can you give the model #.

Most appliances have a wiring diagram either taped on the inside or outside of the back panel, or sometimes tucked in a manilla envelope, tucked away somewhere away from the heat source.

When you say the element was only heating half, I don't have a good picture of that, because the ones I have worked on, the element was just a single winding, with the voltage connected to the two ends. Is yours somehow a two-section thing, where the sections have separate power leads? This is where a wiring diagram would clear this up.

[HayZee518]

I went to a site that has repair parts for a whirlpool dryer. All the ones I could bring up had two terminals on them. Most were rectangular in form and 10 inches by 6 inches - again two terminals. As I said before and 596 said, a schematic would be necessary to troubleshoot the unit. You said you replaced the unit and still had the same one-half heating???? Did you physically observe one half of the element heating? I mean did you see one half glowing orange? If that be the case then there has to be three terminals on the element.

[crutch]

yes i observed half the element glowing red. and yes, there are three terminals. one heavy gauge red to the end of the element. one heavy gauge red to the end of a close by thermostat? one light gauge orange to the other end of the thermostat.

What is odd, is that the element is one continuous winding. The thermostat does not bisect the element, it appears it would only limit the current going into the element, and therefore seems strange it would cause 1/2 of the element to not work, seems rather it should just decrease the overall glow of the entire element. huh??? what did i try to say?

there are also two other similar units which i called a thermostat, one located at the physical top of the chamber that conducts the heated air into the dryer and on located near the fan where the air exits the dryer.

i appreciate your time and help

[HayZee518]

So there's two terminals on the element one red to one side, and one red to the other side. One side goes through the timer to the line side one through the stat with an orange to the other line side. this is where a schematic would help. get the model number for me. those other two devices are normally closed overloads which open on temperature rise.

[Dan O.]

Model number?

yes i observed half the element glowing red. and yes, there are three terminals. one heavy gauge red to the end of the element. one heavy gauge red to the end of a close by thermostat? one light gauge orange to the other end of the thermostat.

How many wires attach directly onto the terminals of the element?.

What is odd, is that the element is one continuous winding.

That is the way most dryer elements are. The only way 1/2 of such an element coil could be energized but not the rest, if is part of its coil was touching a ground creating a short circuit.

BTW. Such a condition could allow the heater to remain on even with the dryer not running. That could be a very dangerous condition! I suggest you keep the dryer unplugged until you can straighten the problem out.


PS. Please post the dryer's complete model number so we can look up which design your dealing with.

You can find tips for locating the model number identification tag on your appliances in the 'Repair Parts' section of my web site linked below.

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[crutch]

i talked to a local repairman and he said the 1/2 on element is an illusion caused by the availability of air to the lower half of the element and the temperature of that air as opposed to the air surrounding the upper half of the element that has already been heated. he recommended checking out the possibility of restrictions to the dryer vent. i did so as much as possible and found the vent runs under the house's slap about 40-50 feet before venting outside. also two ninety degree bends in the vent pipe after it enters the wall. I have relocated the dryer to remove all turns in the vent flex pipe before it enters the wall. all of this seems to have helped greatly on the drying time. thanks for all of your time and help. crutch

[HayZee518]

40-50 feet is a little too long of a vent for a dryer. you have frictional loss the entire length and the two nineties are a little much! if possible keep the length within ten feet. maybe it's impractical but ...........