I've got a Frigidaire Dryer, model FSEC747GES0, and it won't start when I roll the start dial, but will run if the drum is simultaneously pushed. When I turn the start knob, you can hear the relays switch, and you can also hear the whine from the motor (as if one coil -run, I think- is energized, but not the other).

I read an earlier thread from three years back and the respondent said, "yup, it's a bad motor..."

My question is this: "What's bad about the motor?" I've had the motor out and on the bench and done some testing. The bearings are amazingly good - no play at all, in spite of their 10 year age. There is no roughness in the running of the bearings, and the spindle turns easily. So the mechanicals are good.

I dismantled the centrifugal switch and cleaned the contacts, which had a bit of pitting (brushed out the carbon bits while in there, and blew out the motor with compressed air), then made sure the contacts "made" when the switch was activated. We (friend and I) verified that when the motor spins up a bit the centrifugal switch takes the start coil out and the motor continues to run smoothly. On the bench with the variac on it the motor seems to run just fine. I can't see anything wrong with it, and the only thing we didn't do is test it for torque. It looks like new and nothing degraded, and the winding resistance values measure in a range that looks normal to us (very low ohms). I've got induction motors in appliances a lot older that are going strong as well. So this is a puzzle. I don't want to spend a wad on a new motor to find out it's not that at all. It looks perfect and tests indicate it's healthy, so what could be bad about it that we've missed?

We have been through the direction reversing board and it cycles properly on the bench. The relays cycle according to the timing, so the 555's clock is fine (presumably it's the input to the decade counter), you can watch the timing capacitor charge on the voltmeter, and the relays all checked out (we tested them all against the data sheets for those relays, which I got for both types on that board - though that took a bit of hunting). So that checks out too. The logic gates on the board seem to be fine, and the darlingtons seem fine. We tested the caps and the diodes and they are all okay. The door switch is okay, as is the start switch. I haven't tested the thermal limiter yet (haven't gone looking for it and not sure where it is, physically), so maybe that's an issue. Don't know.

But what's odd is that when I turn the start knob I should see some voltage on the start winding (from pins 5 and 8 on the reversing board), but I get nothing out, even though that relay is good. So far I haven't determined why. The other thing that's odd is that if you do run the dryer by starting it rolling the drum by hand, after a number of starts the clothes eventually dry, however, I note that the cycle dial on the timer motor (in our place always set on "more dry" hasn't moved at all). So does that mean the timer motor isn't running and is there something in the timer that is amiss? I haven't probed that yet because like you, I assumed the motor to be the culprit, but have been working backward through the system to try to sort this out. I now wonder about those switches in that mechanism.

So, based on this, do you have anything to suggest?

Also, does anyone have a printable circuit diagram for this model? I have the one glued to the underside of the dryer lid, but it's all yellow and I'd like to make a copy that I can write on, trace routes on, etc. Tried to photograph it for reproduction, but it is so yellow it won't print and I don't have the inclination to spend the two hours with Photoshop to decolor it.

Any thoughts you have to offer would be most welcome.

thanks,
- web