Hello all, my electric dryer stopped heating up, which it has done a time or two over the last 10 years. I’ve learned how to replace the part pictured in the first image. My wife used to not be so great at clearing the lint trap, but that is no longer an issue and it is cleaned every use. The vent duct is also cleaned annually each a spring.

Today I started a relatively small load kn the dryer and when the time stopped I found the clothes were not dry.

I took of the back panel to switch out the part, as I keep a spare, and found something new: 2 melted wires.





Now, I can easily snip off the burnt connectors, and in fact, did snip off the top one, when I decided I need to understand why this happened before fixing the symptoms.

What caused this near fire?

excessive current beyond the wire's rating. A short.

snipping the ends and repacing the connector is not advised. The entire wire needs to be replaced, and look for other damaged wires also.

I would suggest that happened simply due to a loose connection. If resistance increases, amperage increases, as a result, the heat dramatically increases at the point.

Best case is to replace entire wire, but, I have on numerous times cut back to unaffected wire, installed new connector, and reconnected it.

If it slides too easily onto blade, use pliers to close the gap to make connection tight.

Pretty straight-forward: Something is causing more current draw than the wires can safely carry. They get hot, insulation melts--or even burns.

I might have suspected poor crimps or failing components, but it's happening in two places, which suggests to me a bigger problem.

My SWAG is possibly a short-circuit in the heating elements, themselves.

Personally: I would regard that dryer a serious fire hazard at this point.

If you were handy with things electrical (your question suggests perhaps you're not?), you had a good multi-meter, and you have or can obtain the maintenance/repair manual for the dryer: You could probably trouble-shoot this yourself. Lacking those: A qualified professional is called-for at this point.

N.B.: I question the wisdom of trimming and re-terminating the burned wires. I expect you'd find, were you to strip the wires back beyond the length of the visibly-damaged insulation, that some or much of the wire, itself, is heat-damaged a good deal further. (Will have a dull or burnt appearance. May look "crystallized.") Such wire has lost some of its current-carrying capacity and flexibility, thus is no longer up to its initial current-carrying rating. Further: Removing "excess" wire may lead to increased vibration-induced stress, further-increasing the chances of failure.

Is this not a symptom of a bigger safety concern?

First pic is the thermal 309F fuse which has a fair amount of current on it.

On the wire connector, a poorly crimped connection can lead to a high resistance which causes heating over time thus causing the wire to melt.

You can re-terminate with a new connector, if you feel comfortable doing so.

But if you have a meter, also check the resistance across the thermal fuse. The resistance should be close to zero ohms.

Then run it for a while, unplug from mains, and check for heating on the wires again.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
First pic is the thermal 309F fuse which has a fair amount of current on it.

On the wire connector, a poorly crimped connection can lead to a high resistance which causes heating over time thus causing the wire to melt.

You can re-terminate with a new connector, if you feel comfortable doing so.

But if you have a meter, also check the resistance across the thermal fuse. The resistance should be close to zero ohms.

Then run it for a while, unplug from mains, and check for heating on the wires again.

^^^ Yup!

You guys. Lol. I’m fairly handy with basic electrical things so I know why it physically melted, what I was trying to get to was the underlying reason it happened and if it is an indicator of bigger problems with this dryer.

I can fix the obvious damage, no problem. I snipped away about an inch of wire on the top problem area and found bright shiny copper. It isn’t burnt out very far.

After I snipped that and collected the new connector and the tool to crimp it is when I noticed the SECOND burnt connector and then stopped, figuring I needed to understand more the why.

After investigating more I can tell this isn’t 2 ends of the same wire. The top wire goes to a sensor on the exhaust duct and the other end of that sensor disappears below the drum, to the motor I assume?

The lower damaged connector also disappears below the drum.

I can, and am comfortable with, replacing the connectors. I just don’t want to treat the symptoms without addressing the overall why.

If it was just the one, as someone else stated, I’d have already done it. But with two different places, it gives me pause.

The wife votes for a new dryer. Lol

And to be honest, I’m not totally opposed to the new dryer route. Lowe’s has the matching one for the new washer we got last year, in stock.

It might save me the hassle and buy me some brownie points with the wifey

Apply the Ohm meter you must (yoda)

“It might save me the hassle and buy me some brownie points with the wifey”

Money well spent IMO.

google the make and model, get the wire schematic and trace the wires back see where they go, perhaps to the same part that is causing resistance? Although it's most likely at the end that's heating up the wires.

Not sure cutting and putting it back without replacing the part its connected to is a good idea.

It's not a big deal.

The connections were loose resulting in higher amperage.

Cut off the ends until you get to clean copper and install a new connector. Either clean the male terminal or replace the part in which it attaches too.

Simple, safe and done.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
It's not a big deal.

The connections were loose resulting in higher amperage.

Cut off the ends until you get to clean copper and install a new connector. Either clean the male terminal or replace the part in which it attaches too.

Simple, safe and done.

This is the correct answer.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
It's not a big deal.

The connections were loose resulting in higher amperage.

Cut off the ends until you get to clean copper and install a new connector. Either clean the male terminal or replace the part in which it attaches too.

Simple, safe and done.

Awesome, thank you. This is the info I needed. Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
It's not a big deal.

The connections were loose resulting in higher amperage.

Cut off the ends until you get to clean copper and install a new connector. Either clean the male terminal or replace the part in which it attaches too.

Simple, safe and done.

Awesome, thank you. This is the info I needed. Thank you.

Just a note. Measure the connector to the heating element. I bet its 5/16" (hard to find) not 1/4 (easy to find).

I had a similar issue with the wire between the high safety and the element.
Safety side was 1/4, element was 5/16, i wound up just buying a new wire for a couple of bucks, with the 5/16" already crimped on.

Just curious, what brand is the dryer?
.

I had a similar issues with our Speed Queen dryer and replaced the heater and wiring assembly. Since then we have reduced the load size we were placing in the dryer the problem stopped.

I guess so much current draw from the motor and heating element are what is causing the wiring to exceed its current capacity and short out. YMMV

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
It's not a big deal.

The connections were loose resulting in higher amperage.

The connections may have been loose, but the latter part is incorrect.

If it was caused by loose connections (*): The heat resulted from an attempt to conduct the same current through increased resistance. Were such the case: There would have been less current flow, not more.

I = √(W/R)

(*) Entirely possible, but not certain. Personally, I am unwilling to bet his life on such an assumption.