Rick wrote:

Jamie wrote:

Rick wrote:

Hi

Our Sears electric dryer went completely dead about 2 seconds after
pressing the "push to start" button. Completely dead - as in no power
even to the 10 watt light inside the drum.

I've located a 196 degree thermal fuse in-line to the motor that
could be responsible for complete power loss to everything 120v if
it's gone bad. With both leads disconnected I'm getting a reading on
that thermal fuse that flips between .5 and .6 ohms. (Lowest scale on
the meter I have on hand is 200 ohms.)

To my knowledge I should be reading zero ohms if the fuse is good. Is
a paltry .5 ohm reading enough to indicate that a thermal fuse is bad?

Thanks

Rick


The protection in your motor is fine, look else where.
Your meter will not read 0 even if you cross the leads
unless you have an analog with cal on it.



Thank you to everyone who replied.

Regarding the meter situation: If it matters it *does* read zero ohms
with the leads crossed. It's an inexpensive, $20.00 LCD display type
meter. I had checked the thermal fuse a few times and it consistently
gives a reading that hovers back and forth from .5 ohms to .6 ohms each
time it's tested. (Yes - both leads to the fuse have been removed for
testing.)

I think I'm going to bypass it and reapply power to see what happens.
I'm not looking to start or run the dryer with the thermal fuse
bypassed. I just want to either rule it in or out - see if the 10 watt
light inside the drum will come back on (or not.)

The way I'm reading the wiring diagram for this model - a Sears Ken"less
these days" - it does not use a drop resistor to supply 120v to the
timer & motor etc. It uses 1/2 the 240v feed to supply 120v to the motor
and electronics. And it's also the first time I've seen a dryer put a
thermal fuse in-line with the motor. (Of course, there is a second
thermal fuse in the 240v supplied to the heater.)

The only other thing I can see in the wiring diagram that would kill all
power to the 120 volt stuff - and make the drum light inoperable as well
- would be a defective dryer door switch. More disassembly... I'm not as
inclined to suspect the door switch because, hell, this dryer is barely
two years old! But with the "quality" of Kenmore appliances these
days... Exasperating. First the dehumidifier that crapped twice in 15
months. Now a dryer that went bust in two years. Kenmore? I don't know
what the hell is going on with Sears, and I thought I'd never say this,
but Never Again.

Rick

A corollary to Murphy's Law is that the component that's hardest to get
at (in this case the door switch) is the most likely to be defective.

Find where the wires from the switch go, and check _its_ continuity.

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