Speed Queen dryer, Model # ADG4BRGS116TW01 , not heating. Thermal fuse location.

[soulweeper]

My Speed Queen dryer is not heating, thinking it must be the thermal fuse, and a long time ago, on a different dryer, I bypassed the thermal fuse, just to test to see if that was the problem, thinking of trying that on this, but don't know where it is. Obviously under the back panel, but want to be sure.

 

Thanks in advance!

[evaappliance]

On a gas model you need to start by checking the igniter,  take the panel below the door off to access 

[soulweeper]

3 hours ago, evaappliance said:

On a gas model you need to start by checking the igniter,  take the panel below the door off to access 

What do I look for?

[soulweeper]

It's under warranty, just waiting for the shop that would service it to call, just figured in the meantime, 'maybe' I could bypass the thermal fuse, like I did once on my old Whirlpool(Kenmore) gas dryer, so I can dry clothes.

 

[evaappliance]

37 minutes ago, soulweeper said:

It's under warranty, just waiting for the shop that would service it to call, just figured in the meantime, 'maybe' I could bypass the thermal fuse, like I did once on my old Whirlpool(Kenmore) gas dryer, so I can dry clothes.

 

it is doubtful that will be the issue ,   nothing is 100% certain but i would be very surprised if that is your issue .  i would caution against working on it if it is under warranty

[soulweeper]

1 hour ago, evaappliance said:

it is doubtful that will be the issue ,   nothing is 100% certain but i would be very surprised if that is your issue .  i would caution against working on it if it is under warranty

I agree. They can't come until Saturday, and this is only Tuesday. It's only a few years old, and it was overpriced at $1100, so it just pisses me off. Oh well. My whirlpool wasn't under warranty, a repair guy just told me how to bypass the thermal fuse to see if it was it, and it was. Oh well.

[evaappliance]

I'm sorry !  its just that any of these companies are looking for ways to void warranties,  and i don't want that to happen to you !   

[soulweeper]

1 hour ago, evaappliance said:

I'm sorry !  its just that any of these companies are looking for ways to void warranties,  and i don't want that to happen to you !   

I agree, and thanks! I have one other repair guy in down, but don't know if he does Speed Queen Warranty work.

[soulweeper]

15 hours ago, evaappliance said:

On a gas model you need to start by checking the igniter,  take the panel below the door off to access 

I did take that panel off, because I was actually looking to take this cover off, and make sure it wasn't being blocked by lint, even though we always clean the lint screen. Some still get past it though. I didn't know what I'm looking for with the igniter, BUT, I did start it with that cover off, and it did glow, and then light up. I thought maybe it was resolved, but the flame still goes out after a few minutes. I noticed if it cools all the way down, it will light again, run a few minutes or so, then the flame goes out again. Does that tell you anything? Just to be sure, I ran a small blower down under the lint screen, just in case there was excessive lint. Mostly it blew back into the dryer. Ran that blower from the outside in too, didn't change anything really. Air is coming out of the duct outside. The only thing I can't see, is past that hamster wheel looking thing, which leads to that tube that exits out the back. I'd have to move the dryer out and take that flex hose off, and check it, but I just don't think that's the issue, do you?

[evaappliance]

At least the igniter is good, that also eliminates thermal fuses, what you described is kinda the normal way it works if it is cutting off and back on at the right temperatures.  It is hard to explain what an acceptable amount of airflow feels like . If it were an electric dryer I would say to dry a load with the vent off and see if it works right ,but with it being gas we have to think about safety.  Most likely though if you have a venting issue it will be somewhere between the back of your dryer to where it exits the house    Have you tried using it again since you saw it light up ?

[soulweeper]

5 hours ago, evaappliance said:

At least the igniter is good, that also eliminates thermal fuses, what you described is kinda the normal way it works if it is cutting off and back on at the right temperatures.  It is hard to explain what an acceptable amount of airflow feels like . If it were an electric dryer I would say to dry a load with the vent off and see if it works right ,but with it being gas we have to think about safety.  Most likely though if you have a venting issue it will be somewhere between the back of your dryer to where it exits the house    Have you tried using it again since you saw it light up ?

Yes.....it does the same thing.....it will stay lit for a few, then stop heating. My wife thinks it's in the switch, for some weird reason.

[soulweeper]

4 hours ago, OJ44 said:

I strongly advise against bypassing the thermal fuse in your Speed Queen dryer, even just for testing purposes. It's a safety hazard, voids your warranty, and might not even pinpoint the issue.
Instead, call a qualified dryer repair technician for a safe diagnosis and fix. They'll have the expertise to find the culprit and get your dryer running again.

Yeah, not going to do that after all, and they're coming Saturday. Wanted to avoids the long wait if I could. Odds are they won't have whatever part I need as well.

[soulweeper]

6 hours ago, evaappliance said:

At least the igniter is good, that also eliminates thermal fuses, what you described is kinda the normal way it works if it is cutting off and back on at the right temperatures.  It is hard to explain what an acceptable amount of airflow feels like . If it were an electric dryer I would say to dry a load with the vent off and see if it works right ,but with it being gas we have to think about safety.  Most likely though if you have a venting issue it will be somewhere between the back of your dryer to where it exits the house    Have you tried using it again since you saw it light up ?

I just tried it again. It will light, and heat up, and after a few minutes, the heat will shut off, and it just cools down. I will pull the vent cover off outside and reach down into that hose. It's literally maybe a foot and a half long, comes out of the dryer, up to the vent and out.

[soulweeper]

I don't get it........after it cooled down, tried it again, and it stayed lit, and was 'working'

[pwikoff]

Might have coils failing intermittently or a bimetal of some sort failing.  If under warranty I would just wait until your appt.  Speedqueen has good tech support too

[evaappliance]

one of the mystery s  of the universe !!!! 

[soulweeper]

4 hours ago, evaappliance said:

one of the mystery s  of the universe !!!! 

Yeah, and I pulled the dryer out, and checked the hose and all that, no blockage.

[soulweeper]

6 hours ago, evaappliance said:

one of the mystery s  of the universe !!!! 

Here's something else weird....trying it again tonight, and when turning the dial down, on the times cycle, lowering the minutes....halfway through, it buzzed and shut the dryer off. Could there be any correlation to that switch, and the no/sporadic heating?

[Guest]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:40 AM, soulweeper said:

My Speed Queen dryer is not heating, thinking it must be the thermal fuse, and a long time ago, on a different dryer, I bypassed the thermal fuse, just to test to see if that was the problem, thinking of trying that on this, but don't know where it is. Obviously under the back panel, but want to be sure.

 

Thanks in advance!

Going back to your original statement; you say it's not heating.

How did the perceived issue come to be?  Who noticed what it was doing and what was their specific description of what it was doing by not doing?

As @evaappliance says later in this thread the heating will cycle on and off in normal operation. Even an electric dryer will do this in some cases.

Sometimes people become biased that an issue exists when it doesn't or its a different issue.

Any chance you're using an auto-sensing dry mode or some other mode other than timed dry?

 

[soulweeper]

42 minutes ago, Dr. Horshenschwartz said:

Going back to your original statement; you say it's not heating.

How did the perceived issue come to be?  Who noticed what it was doing and what was their specific description of what it was doing by not doing?

As @evaappliance says later in this thread the heating will cycle on and off in normal operation. Even an electric dryer will do this in some cases.

Sometimes people become biased that an issue exists when it doesn't or its a different issue.

Any chance you're using an auto-sensing dry mode or some other mode other than timed dry?

 

No, I'm not using an auto sensing mode, I know my dryer, it's about 4 years old now. First time I observed an issue, was the other night, when after running the entire cycle on 'regular', which is hot, a load of clothes that would ALWAYS normally be dry, was not. Tried again, and it was not heating. This is NOT cycling off and on, it's all over the place.

It is NOT heating.

[soulweeper]

@evaappliance So......a little fooling around tonight, after discovering the oddity with the cycle switch......my wife discovered it will buzz and stop in the middle of the timed cycle, so she tried starting it past the highest amount of time on that cycle, and it seems to work....she dried a load of clothes. We'll see if it does that again, and if so, for some reason, the timing is not aligned with the switch, so I don't if that means simply a bad switch, or can in re realigned or re calibrated?? Fingers crossed we can dry clothes using this method, and then the repair man will address whatever the issue with the switch is.

[evaappliance]

In light of your last post , I have had a few cracked knobs that slips on the timer shaft, you can pull the knob off by pulling straight out on it , if there is a crack where it fits around the shaft that will cause what you are saying, if that’s the deal you may want to call the company that’s coming and tell them cause knobs is not something all service people bring with them.

[soulweeper]

5 hours ago, evaappliance said:

In light of your last post , I have had a few cracked knobs that slips on the timer shaft, you can pull the knob off by pulling straight out on it , if there is a crack where it fits around the shaft that will cause what you are saying, if that’s the deal you may want to call the company that’s coming and tell them cause knobs is not something all service people bring with them.

I pulled it off, and it is cracked. The D shaped insert in the knob looks intact, not like it's slipping, but I'm assuming it must be. I will call them though.

 

 

[soulweeper]

@evaappliance It looks like that sleeve inside the knob has rotated, because it appears that flat part should be set in that part with the three little nubs, and that jives with how much the needle is 'off' when looking at the cycles. Do you agree?

[soulweeper]

Yep, looks like that's all it is.