On Thu, 14 Nov 2013 19:39:38 -0600, dpb wrote:

The "blinding flash" _may_ have been one of the two heater coils failing
-- does the dryer still reach full temp and otherwise function properly
as far as you can tell? If it's now taking a lot longer for things to
dry, likely you did lose an element.

As far as I know, the dryer works just fine.

My wife said it was making static sounds in the back, when she turned it on
about a week ago, which I had dismissed until I saw the bright spark at the
aluminum vent hose when I turned it on.

The spark happened quickly, so, I'm not exactly sure *where* it was, but, it
was *OUTSIDE* the dryer.

The white spark *appeared* to be between the dryer frame and the
aluminum vent hose, as shown in this picture in a RED mark:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5494/1...9cd016bd_o.png