Anyone out there spent too much of their time diagnosing TD faults ?

My Creda condensing dryer failed to dry a load a week or so back.
Reached the end of its cycle with damp cold clothes inside. When I
span the dial round and pushed the start button, there was merely a
faint whirring noise inside. I mentally diagnosed a broken belt and
left for work.

Investigated availability of belts, and set aside a bit of time last
weekend to get fettling. Switched the machine on, and of course it's
now working fine. Run two loads through it, but the third is damp
again. Now, the drum is spinning but there is no heat (on either
setting). Hang washing out and do the surfing bit again for heater
parts, while it starts raining.

Return to dryer armed with a full toolbox and remove top and back
panels, exposing all the important bits. Get multimeter fired up and
find no obvious problems. Switch machine on for a laugh, and it's
working again. I threaten it with my club hammer. One of the elements
looks a bit sick, though, and when I prod it gently its (paper) support
splits through. Although it still works, I am minded to replace the
element assembly in case this bit sags and starts shorting across the
element below. However, I am loathe to do this in the short term in
case the whole dryer is on the point of falling apart.

Do we have an expert in the house ? I can't see any real electronics
in this dryer (it's about 8 years old) so there seems to be no "brain"
to fail. I wonder if it has been overheating and causing either of the
two overheat stats to trip ? Both are operative now, but I recall one
failed completely within warranty and was replaced. One appears to be
in circuit with the heating element, but the other is wired directly
back to the front panel somehow.

Any ideas much appreciated. Especially in the monsoon season...

--
"The cream rises to the top. So does the scum..."

The message om
from contains these words:

Investigated availability of belts, and set aside a bit of time last
weekend to get fettling. Switched the machine on, and of course it's
now working fine. Run two loads through it, but the third is damp
again. Now, the drum is spinning but there is no heat (on either
setting). Hang washing out and do the surfing bit again for heater
parts, while it starts raining.

Have you found the reset button on the back? Most driers have one.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Guy King wrote:
The message om
from contains these words:

Investigated availability of belts, and set aside a bit of time last
weekend to get fettling. Switched the machine on, and of course it's
now working fine. Run two loads through it, but the third is damp
again. Now, the drum is spinning but there is no heat (on either
setting). Hang washing out and do the surfing bit again for heater
parts, while it starts raining.

Have you found the reset button on the back? Most driers have one.

No sign of such a thing. As you'll see further down, the darned thing
is (fingers crossed) working at present.

--
"Space is big. Really big."

Hi,

Sounds like a loose connection to the element or intermittent element
itself. Maybe the TD temp is controlled by an internal thermostat too.

If you can safely wire a neon indicator across the element it should
tell whether it's one or the other.

Might as well carefully check all the connections, and the belt too
for wear.

cheers,
Pete.

The message .com
from contains these words:

Have you found the reset button on the back? Most driers have one.

No sign of such a thing.

It's usually under a small rubber bump or disc.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.