I replaced the burned out butterfly-style heating element of my Hot
Point gas dryer a couple months ago. It worked fine for a few weeks
but then my wife complained sometimes it wasn't heating the clothes,
but then she would start it again and it would work fine. I noticed
sometimes the heating element wouldn't get hot. The volt meter told
me it was always getting 120v when it was suppose to but it wasn't
heating, but it wasn't burned out either.

I thought maybe I stretched the clamp too much when I changed the
element so I took it apart and adjusted the clamp to make it squeeze
tighter. This worked for a few weeks. Last night it wouldn't heat
again. I tried turning it off and on a few times, but the igniter
wasn't heating up. Finally on the last try I saw a couple small
sparks near the igniter/clamp then the element heated up and the dryer
worked fine.

Should I buy a new clamp (maybe I over stretched it, doesn't look like
it though), new igniter (maybe I damaged it by touching the unpainted
portions) or should I use a dielectric grease between the clamp and
igniter to help conductivity?

Any help is appreciated.

On Mar 21, 8:23 am, "
wrote:
I replaced the burned out butterfly-style heating element of my Hot
Point gas dryer a couple months ago. It worked fine for a few weeks
but then my wife complained sometimes it wasn't heating the clothes,
but then she would start it again and it would work fine. I noticed
sometimes the heating element wouldn't get hot. The volt meter told
me it was always getting 120v when it was suppose to but it wasn't
heating, but it wasn't burned out either.

I thought maybe I stretched the clamp too much when I changed the
element so I took it apart and adjusted the clamp to make it squeeze
tighter. This worked for a few weeks. Last night it wouldn't heat
again. I tried turning it off and on a few times, but the igniter
wasn't heating up. Finally on the last try I saw a couple small
sparks near the igniter/clamp then the element heated up and the dryer
worked fine.

Should I buy a new clamp (maybe I over stretched it, doesn't look like
it though), new igniter (maybe I damaged it by touching the unpainted
portions) or should I use a dielectric grease between the clamp and
igniter to help conductivity?

Any help is appreciated.

Dielectrics by definition are insulators and I don't think that is
what you need. Seems to me your clamp is corroded and not making
proper contact, so a new one ough to solve the problem. Temporarily,
try scraping the crud off the sparking area and see if that helps. HTH

Joe

wrote:
I replaced the burned out butterfly-style heating element of my Hot
Point gas dryer a couple months ago. It worked fine for a few weeks
but then my wife complained sometimes it wasn't heating the clothes,
but then she would start it again and it would work fine. I noticed
sometimes the heating element wouldn't get hot...

Check the valve coils and radiant sensor.

You need to replace both coils, and probably nothing else.

On Mar 21, 8:23 am, "
wrote:
I replaced the burned out butterfly-style heating element of my Hot
Point gas dryer a couple months ago. It worked fine for a few weeks
but then my wife complained sometimes it wasn't heating the clothes,
but then she would start it again and it would work fine. I noticed
sometimes the heating element wouldn't get hot. The volt meter told
me it was always getting 120v when it was suppose to but it wasn't
heating, but it wasn't burned out either.

I thought maybe I stretched the clamp too much when I changed the
element so I took it apart and adjusted the clamp to make it squeeze
tighter. This worked for a few weeks. Last night it wouldn't heat
again. I tried turning it off and on a few times, but the igniter
wasn't heating up. Finally on the last try I saw a couple small
sparks near the igniter/clamp then the element heated up and the dryer
worked fine.

Should I buy a new clamp (maybe I over stretched it, doesn't look like
it though), new igniter (maybe I damaged it by touching the unpainted
portions) or should I use a dielectric grease between the clamp and
igniter to help conductivity?

Any help is appreciated.

Sometimes there is a safety switch that turns the heating element off
when it gets too hot. This is sometimes because the vent is blocked
or restricted.

To test, take the transition duct (accordian hose) from the back of
the dryer and attach it to some pantyhose and see if that solves your
problem. If so, clean out your dryer vent - the vent pipe in the
wall, not just your lint screen in the dryer.
If you cannot do this yourself, call a chimney sweep to do it for you.

Alisa LeSueur
Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician
http://CleanYourOwnDryerVent.com