On 4/5/2014 5:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Since there was a lot of lint, it's likely a
thermal cutout has been activated. These are
known to go bad (or do the job they are
designed to do). I'd pull the box apart,
and check the thermal cutouts. They come in a
kit of three, I think it is. Might be two.
Replace all, if one is bad.

--
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Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
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