Thread: dryer heats erratically

Hi,

Pull your dryer away from the wall, then take the exhaust vent hose off, then dry a normal load to see if it fixes it, open some windows if you have the dryer inside your house to let the hot/warm air out.

Because if your vent is clogged or restricted, it will cause a no heat/intermittent heat issue.

If thats ok, then its likely your heating element is going out.


Heating Element
P/N: WE11X103
Dryer Heating Element used on many GE brand electric clothes dryers. Has a coil diameter of 5/8 in. For element restring kit only use P/N WE11X203.

Jake

Replaced the heating element and still no heat on all settings. I checked the hi-limit, safety, and high/low drum themostats for continuity and all checked out ok.

I'm thinking maybe the selector switch might be malfuntioning. The tech sheet in the back of the dryer shows (in a black bar-like graph) the different selector switch settings and associated terminals in black. For instance, the cottons setting shows terminals 6-7, 8-7, and 10-9 blacked out....does this mean I should read continuity between all these terminals when the cottons button is selected?

What else should I check????

Some of those GE dryers had a problem in the timer where the heat contact inside the timer would sometimes not make proper contact. If you have a amp probe you could check it by wiggling the knob when the dryer does not heat and see if the heat wire at the timer draws amperage or not.

Yes, thats true.

Here's the timer for your model:
Manufacturer's Number: WE4X795



Also check to make sure your getting the full 240 volts to your dryer from the power cord, I've seen either the house breakers get weak and start going bad or the 240 receptacle go bad, causing erratic/non heat issues as well.

Jake

Originally Posted by Cascade

Some of those GE dryers had a problem in the timer where the heat contact inside the timer would sometimes not make proper contact. If you have a amp probe you could check it by wiggling the knob when the dryer does not heat and see if the heat wire at the timer draws amperage or not.

Which wire is the heat wire and can I check it for voltage instead of amperage? I'm assuming this wire sends 120v to the heating element.

Can I jump out the timer wires to determine whether it's good or bad? If so, which ones should I put a jumper across?