whirlpool dryer dry times

[frustrated diyer]

First I must apologize for not having the exact model number  Large capacity dryer that have unusually long dry times

I have fully cleaned vent, and back and inside dryer

Blows plenty of warm air outside at vent, vent is two elbows and 3' of pipe cycles between around 140 and 160  may drop a little lower

cant figure out what else could be wrong

Dry times on the order of 1.5 hours for a load of several towels and two pair jeans

My other dryer at my other house would do the same load in 45-50 min

Any suggestions on what to try next?

Frustrated Diyer!

[abaesemann]

How dry are the clothes coming out of the washer, can you wring water out of them?

[frustrated diyer]

Pretty dry, by no means wetter than usual

 

[abaesemann]

Without the model we cannot look things up, makes it very hard in diagnosing.

Next load of drying, disconnect vent from dryer and dry your clothes, need to eliminate venting from the diagnosing.

If not better then we know it is the dryer.

[frustrated diyer]

Hi some additional info it gets hot at times and then cools off for a long time

 

now I'm guessing it's one of the thermostats

 

model is LER7646EQ2

[frustrated diyer]

Oh one more comment vent blows plenty of air. 

 

Is is this the cycling stat not working till it hits hi limit.  Then takes a long time to cool. Down

[johntech]

Anything restricting the drum from turning like worn out drum rollers or an idler pulley not turning. The dryer needs 2 things to dry heat and air flow. Poor air flow is the number one cause that I see for long dry times. I would reccommend running the unit with the duct disconnected as abaesemann suggested. i would also run it on air dry just to verify the heater turns off. If problem still persists I would pull the drum out and inspect the idler, drum rollers, and inspect the blower wheel and the felt seals. 

[frustrated diyer]

Ok, this is the situation, blower and felt seals work fine  I cleaned them thoroughly and reassembled.  Blows plenty of air

Drum seems to rotate fine, tumbling clothes as it should. 

Problem is some how heat related,  I think I misstated things in my previous post:

Ran dryer with the door open,  it got hot, then cooled down and stayed cool for a long time.  Then later got hot again. 

It is as though the heater runs some, but then it will be cool for a long time.  Is this the cycling tstat not working and it is instead hitting the high limit?

Took 1.5 hours to dry a load of tee shirts and socks.   

After cool down and clothes sat for a bit, turned dryer back on and it got hot again...

 

 

 

[sh2sh2]

Running the dryer with the door open will cause this to happen, there's no airflow over the element and its cutting out on the high limit.

 

Is the lint filter clean of any waxy build up?

[northeastappliance]

do you use timed or sensed/automatic cycles. could be a load size issue.

[frustrated diyer]

OK got it

so I will test again with the door closed.   Lint filter seems clean enough, but will clean again  What should the vent temperature cycle between  

 

 

yes it is just a timed cycle, not sensed

 

 

[evaappliance]

Make sure the vent it 4" inside diameter pipe ,even in the elbows.  It should cycle between about 130 to 170 degrees. 

[frustrated diyer]

it is a 4" pipe, its clean, and blower inside is clean, blows plenty of air  two elbows, and about 3'of pipe

I will check the temps again

I did this before and it seemed ok, that's part of my dilemma

[abaesemann]

If there is good air flow and the heater does cycle, the next thing I would do is find out which thermostat is cycling off, use your meter leads with alligator clips on one thermostat at a time and when heater cycles off, check which thermostat is open, should have voltage between terminals when open.

 

Another way to do this is use a simple outlet test light piggy backed on the thermostat and with dryer running, then when the light comes on you know that is the one cycling on and off.

[evaappliance]

in light of everything else being good , check the timer to see if it is loosing contact on the heater circuit  intermittently during the cycle.

[frustrated diyer]

Thanks for the feedback

 

I will try some of these tests and see if I can clarify things some!

 

[frustrated diyer]

Hello all, I finally have some feedback

I tested the dryer with clothes in it.  at the vent, with the dryer running the temperature was only around 90 degrees

It never reached 140

Lots of air blowing out of the vent, with good force

It took the dryer 1.5 hours to dry load

[frustrated diyer]

by the way, the air was hot, but not the 130 degrees expected

 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

With wet clothes in the dryer when testing you will not get 155-170 degree temps until the clothes are almost dry.

When testing temps do it with no load in dryer.

Did you clean out the lint duct chute, they can get a pretty good build up in the bottom in one at the age that yours is and most likely needs cleaned.  While checking that make sure the seal between the lint duct chute and rear bulkhead isn't a crumbling and missing.

 

[16345Ed]

Yep next step is to look for cool air intrusion. Check all felt seals.

[frustrated diyer]

Seals are all OK as far as I can tell. 

dryer and ductwork as has been thoroughly cleaned

I will test again with no clothes

[frustrated diyer]

Ok tested again

 

dryer vent temps unloaded range from 130 to 165 degrees

typical load takes 1.5 hours to dry

What else can there be here?

 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

That is a perfect cycle temp range to see on an unloaded Whirlpool dryer.

Has to be bad seals, (with clothes sucks air in from somewhere it shouldn't), or a venting problem.

I don't see anywhere in the above where you did as advised to try a load with the vent disconnect, Have you tried that yet?

[frustrated diyer]

I did not disconnect the vent as well, did the test from the outside first.  there is literally 2' of vent pipe and two elbows.  That's it.

Duct work is perfectly clean, I just cleaned the whole thing out, and it blows plenty of air, with significant force.  Enough that it pushes on the thermometer pretty well. 

What seals are you talking about here?  the ones around the drum?  They seemed ok, but I can take it apart again.   Is the suggestion that the fan is sucking in air from elsewhere without passing it through the clothes? 

[16345Ed]

How is the washer's spin cycle working?

 

maybe you have a washer issue, not a dryer issue?