As the title says I have a Maytag DE8000 electric dryer that recently started drying too hot and if I stop it in the middle of a cycle it continues to heat. It will stop if I turn the dial to the off position. Looking at the heating element I notice that the bottom row of coils stays on when the dryer is stopped. The element was replaced about 6-7 years ago. Do I have another element problem or is it something else this time? Any help appreciated.

Hi,

It sounds like either something metal got caught in your heater housing and shorting the element causing it to stay on, or your element broke and is grounding itself to the heater housing.

Here's the cheapest price I found on your heating element assembly for your model:
Manufacturer's Number: Y303778

Y303778

Read #18, #19, and #36 here on how to take it apart to check:
http://www.applianceaid.com/maytag-dryers.html

Unplug your dryer first.

Jake

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I thought the same thing myself regarding the heating element, especially when I saw another thread that describes the same exact problem. However, I find nothing touching the heater housing and I can see no breaks or cracks in the element. It looks flawless. Is there anything else that might cause this or is it possible to have such a small crack or break that you can't see it?

Nothing else I can think of would keep the element on like that.
You can confirm it with an ohm meter, touch one meter probe to the element terminal and the other meter probe to the heating element housing and see if you get continuity.

Make sure the dryer is unpluged still before you test the element with an ohm meter.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

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Well, not sure what I did that worked, but I took the element out, inspected every coil w/o finding a problem, vaccumed out what looked like a lot of long accumulating metal shavings/bits from inside and around the element, put it all back, and it is now working like a charm. We'll see how long that lasts, but I'm hoping that was the problem. If not, I'll look into it further. Thanks.

Glad its working good again, keep us posted for any changes.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances