I've recently noticed that our Kenmore dryer's heating element will come on
when the dial is turned to set the drying time, but before the "start"
button is pushed. In other words, If I set the timer to 40 minutes or
whatever and walked away without pushing start, the heating element would
continue to be on indefinitely.

The dryer has no problems shutting down after a cycle, but it seems unsafe
to have the heating element going if you set the time, but for some reason
do not start the dryer.

My questions, a Is this a normal operation (we no longer have the
Manual)? If this is a broken state, is it repairable?

Thanks!

--
Dave