DIYbanter - View Single Post - getting appliance repair info from Sears?

Pete C.

wrote:

On Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:10:12 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Hi all,

a friend has a dryer that is really annoying... Kenmore Elite (electric)
110.62082101 - anyway, it shuts off before the clothes are dry - it
supposedly has some automatic moisture-sensing gizmo in it, but when it
shuts off, the clothes inside are always still damp. Now here's the
annoying thing; other than a parts list (which doesn't have anything
clearly labeled "automatic moisture-sensing gizmo") there is no info
available on Sears' web site and all of the manuals are "technician
required to order." Anyone know of any workaround to finding useful
information online as to how we could fix this annoying thing?

thanks

nate

The "gizmo" is just a thermostat that measures the exhaust temperature
and advances the timer when it gets to the set heat..

Incorrect, most of the moisture sensing dryers utilize a parallel set of
contacts located somewhere in the dryer where the clothes will rub
against them. They work by measuring conductivity across the contacts,
i.e. wet clothes=more conductive.

In the oldest and simplest form I've seen, those contacts were connected
directly across a large timing capacitor. The capacitor slowly charged
during the dry cycle until the threshold which ended the cycle. The
conductivity of the clothes drained off some of the charge extending the
cycle.

While online information from the manufacturer / distributor is normally
crap, just about every appliance I have ever seen had a printed diagram
inside, either on a label stuck to a panel in the appliance, or a packet
of diagrams in an envelope stuck inside the appliance somewhere. Open up
the dryer and you should find the diagram, unless someone already lost
it. I like to take the diagram out, scan it and archive it and put the
hardcopy back where I found it.