have an old kenmore *ultra* clothes dryer ( about 11 yrs old). my wife had just
put some wet clothes into it....close the door...set the temp and
timer....pushed the start button.... and nothing... there is a nice *humm*
when she depresses the start button, but nothing after that....

any suggestions?? i am not sure if it is sound to repair or just to replace
the machine.... after all it is 11 yrs old and it has had a tough life....

on the same stance... our washer is a matched set.... it still works, but
what are the chances that it will die one of these days soon ?

"WARRENRN1" wrote in message
...
have an old kenmore *ultra* clothes dryer ( about 11 yrs old). my wife had
just
put some wet clothes into it....close the door...set the temp and
timer....pushed the start button.... and nothing... there is a nice
*humm*
when she depresses the start button, but nothing after that....

any suggestions?? i am not sure if it is sound to repair or just to
replace
the machine.... after all it is 11 yrs old and it has had a tough
life....

on the same stance... our washer is a matched set.... it still works,
but
what are the chances that it will die one of these days soon ?

Just a hum could be the motor. It will cost about a third of the price of a
new dryer. You can get some information at www.repairclinic.com

Dryers are simple construction. Motor, heating elements, belt, controls.
Not a lot of stuff to go bad, but they will. Could last another 11 years
with the new motor, or another part could go tomorrow.

Washers are more complex and more likely to have problems. Anything can be
fixed, but only you can decide if it is worth tossing for a new model.
Anything mechanical will eventually wear out and break.
Ed

Might want to get a multi meter or a 120 volt bulb screw into a pigtail and
make sure you have ~120 volt between ground and each leg, and ~220 volt
across the 2 outside legs. Thats what was wrong with ours one time, only it
would spin and but not heat.

I'll prob. catch hell for this, but if the voltage is OK, Unplug it, and
Open the machine, and give the motor houseing a mediun wack with a hammer,
and if possible turn the motor shaft about 1/2 turn, and try it again. If it
runs now, its the motor.
Tony D.
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"WARRENRN1" wrote in message
...
have an old kenmore *ultra* clothes dryer ( about 11 yrs old). my wife
had
just
put some wet clothes into it....close the door...set the temp and
timer....pushed the start button.... and nothing... there is a nice
*humm*
when she depresses the start button, but nothing after that....

any suggestions?? i am not sure if it is sound to repair or just to
replace
the machine.... after all it is 11 yrs old and it has had a tough
life....

on the same stance... our washer is a matched set.... it still works,
but
what are the chances that it will die one of these days soon ?

Just a hum could be the motor. It will cost about a third of the price of
a
new dryer. You can get some information at www.repairclinic.com

Dryers are simple construction. Motor, heating elements, belt, controls.
Not a lot of stuff to go bad, but they will. Could last another 11 years
with the new motor, or another part could go tomorrow.

Washers are more complex and more likely to have problems. Anything can
be
fixed, but only you can decide if it is worth tossing for a new model.
Anything mechanical will eventually wear out and break.
Ed

Motor, mine just did the exact same thing. Pretty easy to fix.


"WARRENRN1" wrote in message
...
have an old kenmore *ultra* clothes dryer ( about 11 yrs old). my wife had
just
put some wet clothes into it....close the door...set the temp and
timer....pushed the start button.... and nothing... there is a nice
*humm*
when she depresses the start button, but nothing after that....

any suggestions?? i am not sure if it is sound to repair or just to
replace
the machine.... after all it is 11 yrs old and it has had a tough
life....

on the same stance... our washer is a matched set.... it still works,
but
what are the chances that it will die one of these days soon ?

(WARRENRN1) wrote in message ...

Hi,

have an old kenmore *ultra* clothes dryer ( about 11 yrs old).

That is just a "name"....model#?
http://www.applianceaid.com/model.html
Some model# helps.

my wife had just
put some wet clothes into it....close the door...set the temp and
timer....pushed the start button.... and nothing... there is a nice *humm*
when she depresses the start button, but nothing after that....

Hummmmmmmming and no go is often a bad motor, soemthing caught/jammed
i nthe fan blower, seized drum support holdign the motor back from
starting, motor jammed up with lint....but most times it is a sign of
a bad motor
http://www.applianceaid.com/wp-motors.html
Some common trouble makers.

any suggestions?? i am not sure if it is sound to repair or just to replace
the machine.... after all it is 11 yrs old and it has had a tough life....

I'd never replace an appliance without first knowing what is wrong
with the old one and how much could it cost to be repaired.

on the same stance... our washer is a matched set.... it still works, but
what are the chances that it will die one of these days soon ?

With out a crystal ball no one really knows how long it will
last....average is approx 15 years.

jeff.
Appliance Repair Aid
http://www.applianceaid.com/

A typical Kenmore dryer is a fairly simple machine. Parts are usually
available from Sears and not expensive.
Probably the most costlly are the motor and the timer switch. Things like
belts or the centre drum bearing are usually a very reasonable cost.

Required a Basic mechanical repair skills? Tools? Electrical circuit
knowledge? Some sort of test lamp or test meter.

A dryer basically does 6 things.
It rotates the drum.
It blows air.
It heats the air.
It has a timer switch which you set to the running time; it then shuts off
the machine.
It has a thermostat that controls the temperature of the heated air.
It has some safety overheat switches and a door switch.
There is a wiring circuit that connects it all together.
Most Kenmore dryers I have seen use just the 230 volts to operate all
electrical functions.

If you are lucky there MAY be a circuit diagram on or inside the back panel;
or maybe not.

The simplest fault we have encountered has been a broken belt that prevented
the drum from rotating.
In another instance a spring costing $3.50 broke and while belt was not
broken belt was not tensioned and drum did not turn.
Aonther fault was the dry bearing of the blower impeller'. It stuck and the
belt driving it was slipping, burning and became damaged.
The most extensive and potentially most costly problem has been burnt out
contacts within the motor. These contacts completed the heater circuit so
while the motor would run and drum would rotate the heating circuit did not
operate. Such a motor is expensive. We were able to add a relay that
overcame the problem without replacing the motor.
Another fault with either our dryer or washer (can't remember which!) was a
defective contact inside the timer switch. Potentially somewhat expensive
but we were able to either repair it or substitute a complete timer with
parts from a machine scrapped by another member of the family!

Our dryer is now 42 years old. It has has been repaired about six times;
only twice has it been a major problem. We are estimating that with another
belt or something minor it will probably last 50.

Some years ago somebody gave us another Kenmore which we fixed with one
spring. A couple of years after that we gave it to an acquaintance; she
returned it "because it wasn't blowing air" recently. We found that the
blower impeller belt was broken because the blower had been jammed by a
piece of springy metal from a bra! (Size 'D' by the look of it!).

Hope these suggstions may help you keep abreast of your problem!

Terry.

"Terry" wrote in message news:...

A typical Kenmore dryer is a fairly simple machine. Parts are usually
available from Sears and not expensive.
Probably the most costlly are the motor and the timer switch. Things like
belts or the centre drum bearing are usually a very reasonable cost.

Required a Basic mechanical repair skills? Tools? Electrical circuit
knowledge? Some sort of test lamp or test meter.

A dryer basically does 6 things.
It rotates the drum.
It blows air.
It heats the air.
It has a timer switch which you set to the running time; it then shuts off
the machine.
It has a thermostat that controls the temperature of the heated air.
It has some safety overheat switches and a door switch.
There is a wiring circuit that connects it all together.
Most Kenmore dryers I have seen use just the 230 volts to operate all
electrical functions.

If you are lucky there MAY be a circuit diagram on or inside the back
panel;
or maybe not.

The simplest fault we have encountered has been a broken belt that
prevented
the drum from rotating.
In another instance a spring costing $3.50 broke and while belt was not
broken belt was not tensioned and drum did not turn.
Aonther fault was the dry bearing of the blower impeller'. It stuck and
the
belt driving it was slipping, burning and became damaged.
The most extensive and potentially most costly problem has been burnt out
contacts within the motor. These contacts completed the heater circuit so
while the motor would run and drum would rotate the heating circuit did
not
operate. Such a motor is expensive. We were able to add a relay that
overcame the problem without replacing the motor.
Another fault with either our dryer or washer (can't remember which!) was
a
defective contact inside the timer switch. Potentially somewhat expensive
but we were able to either repair it or substitute a complete timer with
parts from a machine scrapped by another member of the family!

Our dryer is now 42 years old. It has has been repaired about six times;
only twice has it been a major problem. We are estimating that with
another
belt or something minor it will probably last 50.

Some years ago somebody gave us another Kenmore which we fixed with one
spring. A couple of years after that we gave it to an acquaintance; she
returned it "because it wasn't blowing air" recently. We found that the
blower impeller belt was broken because the blower had been jammed by a
piece of springy metal from a bra! (Size 'D' by the look of it!).

Hope these suggstions may help you keep abreast of your problem!

Terry.