The motor comes on and the drum turns once and stops. What could be the problem(s)?
TYPICAL DRYER PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
"Typical dryer problems and solutions"
REMEMBER THIS: WHEN MESSING WITH DRYER PLEASE UNPLUG IT!
Top ten problems:
1) Dead:
If a dryer is not working at all thats not good! But
it doesn't mean you need to go appliance shopping just yet.It may be
something very simple like a bad door switch or even a broken door
switch
actuator,in a kenmore dryer there is a tab thats sticks out of a
hole in the wall that allows the dryer to run only if the door is shut,
other models may have button that protrudes out of the dryer and when
the door is shut, this allows the dryer to run. These switches go out
from time to time,also if a dryer is full of lint build-up over time
this will cause the dryer high limit or fuse to blow. The fuse is
located near where the blower is in most cases. When the air in the
dryer gets way too hot the fuse/hi-limit will blow and the house wont
burn down.
2) Runs but drum dont turn:
Usually this means the belt is
broken,the belt may have just been old and worn out and it was time to
replace it,or perhaps the wheels locked up or the idler and caused the
belt to break. Look around for stiff wheels, bad bearings, glides and
idlers. Its a good idea to oil the rollers with some temp resistant oil
such as zoom oil. Dont use WD40 as this stuff is highly flamable and
may cause a fire.
3) Runs but dont heat:
Ok maybe the heating element got old and
brittle over time and finally gave up the ghost. But it may not be the
element. It could be one of the safety Hi-limits have blown. All parts
of the dryer will have continuity if its working properly. Test for
continuity by using a meter set on Ohms,or use a poormans meter. You
can make your own poormans meter by using an ordinary flashlight .
Break the circuit in the flashlight and add a couple of wires to it so
that you can make the light come on in the flashlight ,thats right hot
wire that flashlight. When the bulb lites up you have a circuit! You
now have a poormans meter. The next step is to check each little gizmo
on the dryer that the wires attach to. All the little black thingies
attached to the side of the heat element ,the door switch (when door is
closed) ETC.should have continuity(closed circuit)(the light should
come on in the poormans meter) If you come across any little thingie
near the blower housing with 2 wires attached to it, well that a
sensor, a safety ,(Now so as not to get a false circuit you need to
remove one of the wires to each thingie you check) where was I? oh
yeah.It safe guards you from having to call 911. These things blow
because of lint and too many clothes or blocked vent going out the
house or all of the above.
4) Runs but takes a long time to dry the clothes:
Sometimes
blower wheels will get loose in dryers. Sometimes they will get a whole
lump of lint in them . Sometimes you can hear a rattling noise in the
dryer, this is the blower wheel,its worn out and it can cause the fuse
to blow too,or it can half *** work and take fifty forevers to dry the
clothes.Or it could be just that the dryer needs a good blowing out .I
use a lawn blower to get all the lint out of the dryer as well as the
vent pipe and vent to outside. I take the filter HOUSING out and wash
it also. That is, I remove the housing and clean is good! Making sure
that the dryer is properly flowing air is a good thing!
5) Squeals,Scrubs,Squeeks:
All dryers have to have a way of
allowing the tumbler(thats the thang you put the clothes in) to turn
freely, not all of them are the same tho,some use bearings, some use
slides,others use rollers. Over time these rollers will need to be
oiled,the slides will get thin and start metal to metal contact causing
a noise, The rear bearings will then start to make their way to china
and cause the tumbler to rub into the heating element and OUCH! These
things will cause the motor to prematurely DIE! Its best to examine the
dryers, rollers, and slides when you first hear the noise, but who does?
6) Runs and never stops:
In all probability this may well be the
timer motor has quit,and thus the timer needs replacing right? Maybe,
but you need to first check to see if your dryer has a moister sensing
system, If the sensor board contacts get corroded or goes caput, then
the dryer wont know when to advance and shut off in newer models!
7) Runs for a few minutes then quits:
This is probably the motor
going bad. The sensors wont cause this to happen. The start switch
either, replacing all the sensors in the world wont make the motor be
good again. But their is something you can do to try and make the motor
last a while longer,their isn't any holes to oil the dryer motor so you
must make some,using a 1/8th inch drill bit make a hole in either end
of the motor where the bearings are(taking care not to hit the shaft)
,then add some hi temp oil such as zoom-oil,(dont use WD-40) and work
the motor free as you can by hand . If this frees up the motor it may
go a while longer. Also oil the rollers and check the slides to make
sure they are not pinching and stalling the motor. If the motor can't
reach top speed it will get hot,overload and stop.
8) Runs only if you hold the button down:
this is the motor
trying to get up to top speed but it cant for some reason do it (see
above). Some folks try and trick the dryer into staying on by lodging
something in between the switch and letting it dry,but the sad reality
is the motor is probably shot and needs to be replaced. The switch
itself is not the fault, all it does is start the motor up and then the
secondary windings in it take over, if the motor is dragging it will
not switch over to the run mode, it soon will die anyway.
9) Runs but KEEPS blowing fuse:
Almost all the time this is
because of a heavy lint problem some where in the housing of the lint
trap. Keeping the lint filter housing clean will stop the fuses from
blowing.THIS MEAN REMOVING THE HOUSING AND WASHING IT OUT THROUGHLY!
10) Runs beautiful at repair shop, dead at home:
This an
electrical problem usualy caused by a bad breaker or a bad receptacle
where the cord is plugged in,In fact bad breakers can cause you to
have fits trying to figure out why the dryer wont work. If the dryer
breaker is over 20 years old it may need replacing.
If you need further help, reach me via phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/dan_73bbd84fe1d95b61
SOURCE: I have a Whirlpool Front
If the drum is kinda hard to turn then you may need to get inside the dryer and yank out the filter first.Remove the 2 screws in the filter housing on
top.Then use a putty knife to pop the top. Remove the screws holding
the front panel on. VERY IMPORTANT! Raise the front up an inch before
pulling forward or the panel clips will break! Some models have a panel
on bottom. If they do then this panel must come off first. Then you
remove the door springs and back off the screws holding down the bottom
of the door panel. Then pop the top and remove the screws on top to get
the panel out of your way. Get the drum out and check the wheels and idler assembly. Some of newer dryers have a crappy sliding type idler. I replace that with a generic on with a wheel. I use high temp resistant zoomoil from the hardware store($2). You can also oil the motor if it is stiff but you will have carefull make some oil ports. The manufacturer does not provide any. Zoomoil works well in these motors. hey it might save you a few bucks. It is worth a shot.
If you need further help, reach me via phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/dan_73bbd84fe1d95b61
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You sent me 2 solutions, the first one was short and to the point. That's the one I posted a comment on. You'll find the link below.
I clicked on the fixya icon and thought that was the rating button.
http://www.fixya.com/support/t1398778-wh...
The second one was rather long (the one above this post).
All tho it would have solved the problem, I didn't rate it because 90% of the problems didn't pertain to my problem. To much info can and will over whelm folks and they get discouraged and give up. Thanks for the help and sorry for not rating.
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