"Rick" wrote in message
...
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

I'll venture that what you are looking at is not a real thermal fuse, a
device with a metal link that melts (fuses) when it fails. Those will not
recover at all after failure.

More likely what you have is a thermostatic switch that opens a circuit by
the motion of a bimetal strip. These will recover when cool. Replace it and
you should be done.

That would be consistent with the symptoms you have.

Charlie