Gas dryer had been working trouble free. Yesterday, I put a load of wet laundry in and came back 20 minutes later to find the clothes were wet and cold. No heat. All other functions appear normal. The drum rotates, air flows through vent, light comes on, buzzer buzzes. Gas supply functions for hot water heater and furnace normally.

I removed power and disconnected gas line. I opened the dryer top and then removed the front panel (with attached door) and the Drum Assembly and the Rear panel. I was now in a position to examine all of the components. All appeared normal. No abnormal smells or damaged components.

I used an ohm meter to measure the resistance of the IGNITER (part number 686590) and found it to be electrically open. A new IGNITER measures approximately 5 ohms. I replaced the IGNTER with a new unit, reconnected the gas line and turned it on and connected the AC power and connected the dryer door interlock switch. I then tested the dryer. The drum drive motor runs but, the burner does not burn. In fact, observation shows that the IGNITER is not glowing.

I then measured the resistance across the contact of the Sensor, Radiant part number 338906 and found that is was zero ohms (normal) The sensor is used to tell the IGNITER to turn off once the fire is burning in the funnel, burner # 8066049 by opening the circuit.

I then turned my attention to the two coils that are mounted on top of the gas valve. One coil has 2 terminals and the other coil has three coils. After removing all AC power, I disconnected each coil and measured the resistance of the coils. Both appeared to be normal in that they both have resistance and are not opened circuited. When I apply AC power to the dryer and turn the TIMER control on the front panel to TIMED DRY, I hear the sound of solenoids actuating (to open the gas valves). Again, all appears normal but NO HEAT.

WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST FOR MY NEXT TROUBLESHOOTING STEP. I do not have a wiring diagram of the Dryer system so I am working in the dark.

Thank you,
Loren

I found the answer to my question so I thought it might be helpful to others with as similar problem to pass the information on.

The problem was traced to the THERMAL FUSE, part number 3392519. This fuse in located under the back cover about 2/3rds of the way down and just left of center. The fuse is white and is held in place by one screw. Two terminals are attached to the fuse and blue wires attach to these terminals. The fuse is not labeled nor is there a label on the back of the rear panel to notify users of the presence of a fuse.

In hiddsight, the first thing to check would be the fuse. This can be done with a ohm meter with AC Power removed. Good fuse - zero ohms. Bad fuse = open circuit or infinity resistance.

I hope this helps others.
Loren

That thermal fuse popped for a reason. Lint or a blower problem. The problem may come back to haunt you.

You are absolutely right. Fuses sometimes fail due to mechanical stress but normally they fail (open circuit) because they are doing what they are designed to do and that is to protect the system from fire or other safety issues.

As I was disassembling the dryer I vacuumed up an unbelievable quantity of lint. In places the lint was more than 1/2" thick. The area behind the dryer was packed with lint as was every area within the dryer. In fact, the only area that I did not find lint was within the flexible outlet duct that vents the hot air to the exterior of the house.

In summary, had the fuse not blown, the build up of lint could have eventually resulted in a fire.

The problem I experienced with my dryer does point up a challenge however. Without disassembling the dryer, there is no way to clean and remove lint from the interior of the dryer. Just removing lint from the exterior will not prevent a reoccurance of the problem. From my only experience of cleaning a dryer I would have to say that there was at least three times as much lint within the dryer as there was on the out side.

If a owner of a dryer was to just replace the fuse and clean the exterior of the dryer, they would be misleading themselves if they believed that the problem was solved. The only way to reduce the fire risk is to disassemble the dryer, clean it and inspect all components and then to reassemble the unit.

The best that can be said perhaps is that the designers of the dryer did a good job of providing safety protection.

I hope this information proves helpful to others.

Loren

Nice job on the commentary. When you go looking for lint, you'll find it.

The thermal fuse is a good thing. Nice to know that someone had the forthought of adding one.

While we are on the subject of fuses, I have run into "the intermittant fuse" 2x in my lifetime so far. Drove me nuts the first time I ran across it. It would open in circuit, but it would test good with an ohmmeter.