Usually this is caused by lint build up in the drier just beyond the filter
and before the vent opening. It can also be caused by kinking of the vent
hose, lint build up in the hose or wall vent opening or any other
obstruction to air flow into or out of the dryer.

Get a flat brush and clean out the area where the lint filter goes or
disassemble the front of the dryer and clean out by hand. This is one of
the most underrated preventative maintenence tasks I can think of. It's
easy to do but few people are even aware that the dryer needs to be
inspected regularly for lint build up. Manuals barely mention it but if
ignored inevitably results in a non functioning dryer and a $25 DIY fix or a
+$100 service call.

The hi temp cutoff is actually a non resettable thermal fuse. The
replacement kit often contains additional parts for gas and electric so you
end up paying for more than you need.

Whan I selected my dryer, the configuration of the lint filter (and how easy
it would be to clean) turned out to be the most important factor to me.



"mikegi" wrote in message
...
Arg! Our Kenmore Dryer has stopped heating again because the high-temp
cutoff switch opened. On 11/02 we had the same problem (I've included my
FIXED post below).

Any ideas as to what could cause the high-temp cutoff to repeatedly blow?
Not enough venting? Why isn't the low-temp switch preventing the blow out?

Thanks,
Mike



================================================== =====================
From 11/02/2005:
I appreciate the posts and suggestions. After reading some of the online
repair websites, I checked the thermostats on the heating element can. The
high temp cut off was an open circuit (#3977394). I bought a replacement
kit
at Fox Appliance in Doraville, GA for $25 and installed it yesterday.
Dryer
appears to be working again.

The guy at Fox said to replace both the open-circuited part and the
lower-temp thermostat (both pieces were in the $25 kit). He said that the
low-temp part should have cut in before the high-temp part. I assume that
one of two things happened:

1) The low-temp part was defective and the dryer overheated until it
triggered the high-temp cut off thermostat.

2) The high-temp cut off thermostat was defective and triggered at a much
lower temperature than it should have.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? #1 concerns me as it would mean that a
true overheat occured and I need to know why. #2 is a simple manufacturing
defect.