Submitted by Lil-Sprankles-2402 t3_10oax1b in DIY
I noticed late last night that our clothes weren’t drying and when I went to remove the lint from the trap it was cold. Stopped the dryer, restarted it and noticed I wasn’t seeing the “red light” behind it. So I’m assuming that means the heating element went out?
This isn’t a super fancy dryer, it’s basic/standard. I looked up heating elements for it and they’re fairly cheap. Is it easy to replace them?
I've repaired our dryer several times. If you can find a YouTube walk through of the disassembly of your model absolutely don't be afraid to do it. Watch and pause the video as you go through.
The first time, mine was a temp sensor. And YouTube helped me troubleshoot. I should have just spent a little more on the entire heating assembly that came with all the sensors because it went out about 6 months later.
There isn't much to a dryer once you get in there.
UNPLUG IT FIRST
If it's electric, it Could be that you've lost one leg of 120v.
Electric dryers are 240 volts for the heating element, but the tumbler motor and electronic control is 120 volt. Could be a bad breaker, or loose connection.
My father in laws mom had this issue when a contractor accidently cut the wire which powered the dryer outlet. But they only partially cut it through one of the hot wires.
So she assumed the dryer went bad, bought a new one and had it installed only to have the same problem.
I'm an electrician so I went over and found the problem.
Thank you!
As long as you have basic tools and a modicum of mechanical aptitude, you can do it.
I'm confident in you. Let me know how it goes.
Oh also, BE VERY CAREFUL when you're working inside and taking the dryer cabinet apart. There are a lot of sharp metal edges inside. Just be real careful.
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Just chiming in to agree. I replaced the heating element and thermostat on our Samsung 3 times during its 13 year life. Find a YouTube video and take photos as you go.
I just replaced my dryer heater fuse about 2 weeks ago, 50 dollar part and 30 mins of time, easy fix
The last time this happened to me it was a thermal fuse that had blown. Most likely the vent had gotten clogged and it just got too hot. A $4 part if I recall, and about 5 minutes to replace it.
Before you start throwing parts at the problem, especially heating elements, you should check for basic continuity with a multimeter.
There is usually a safety cut out in addition to a thermostat sensor. If one is bad then replace them both. One could have caused the other to fail.
Dryers have not used thermocouples since the 40's
Definitely check breakers as in earlier post. Dryer will run on one leg of the breaker, but it will not heat. Cheap and easy fix and hope that is your problem. Sometimes breakers become weak over time.
Check the breaker first. If one half of the breaker is tripped, the heating element will not work, but the light and drum may still work.
I love old dryers. They are super easy to work on!
I replaced the heating element on my Samsung dryer twice. There are youtube videos of exactly how to do it and the part is like 15 dollars on Amazon. It's easy to test to make sure that's it also.
My (limited) experience repairing dryers is usually the temp sensor fails or the gas solenoid on a gas dryer.
You should be able to find a schematic and manual for your unit and go thru and figure out which has failed, or option two is to just throw parts at it.
ObiDan71 t1_j6dioi2 wrote
YouTube will be your best friend for this.
My previous dryer had a heating element that I could get to from the front of the machine. It took some time and a long bit-driver extension but it was done in about 45 minutes. It is not a complicated procedure
It's a great idea to do it yourself considering what technicians charge per hour, plus they will have to order the part and you have to wait 3 weeks before they come back.