Kenmore Elite Dryer 110.87729701 - hot air problems

[gouldsite]

Hello. I have a Kenmore Elite HE5 steam electric dryer, model 110.87729701. The hot air stopped working; everything else runs fine. My wife and I had an appliance repairman come out to the house, and he replaced the thermal fuse and heating coils. When he left the house, the dryer was working -- we had hot air again. But when we tried placing a small load of laundry in the dryer, the hot air wouldn't come on. If we took out the clothes and left it empty, then the hot air would come on. We also tried placing dry bedding sheets inside the dryer, and the hot air came on again. Something is happening where, if we have damp clothes inside the drum, the hot air won't come on. I checked the two metal strips near the vent that sense temperature, and they are clean. Does anyone have advice? I'm hoping not to have to replace the dryer. Thank you!

[sh2sh2]

How long are you letting it run with wet clothes, the wet clothes absorb the heat, if u only run it for 5-10 min then open door it will feel cold,cool

[gouldsite]

We have let it run a full dry cycle -- so for about 40 minutes. At the end of the cycle, the laundry is still wet and the dryer drum cool. To clarify, this isn't an issue of the clothes being lightly damp -- even when we have dried a bulky load in the past, I know that the hot air is working because the inside of the drum is warm after the end of the dryer cycle and the clothes feel much dryer. Now it's as if the hot air never comes on when we place any wet clothing inside (including after the "repair").

Also, we know that it's not a problem with our dryer vents -- I've tried unplugging the dryer vent hose just to confirm that the issue wasn't related to a clog in the vent.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

It sounds to me like you need to call the person back that charged you to fix it but didn't, (most reputable service companies have at least a 30 to 90 day warranty on the problem they came out to fix).   It's not fixed call them back to do the job you paid them for.

[gouldsite]

I agree. Let me provide some more context. 

After the dryer again stopped blowing hot air after the repair, I did have the repairman come out to the house. He opened the panel and showed me that the heating coil was working and that there was hot air. (Note that this was with an empty dryer drum.) He suspected there was a problem related to moisture, as there was some condensation inside the drum as the dryer ran. He believed that there might be an issue with the circuit board, but he said he couldn't check that without taking the dryer into a shop. In any event, when he left, we had unplugged the dryer vent hose and the dryer was blowing hot air. 

Later that evening, I ran the test with the small load of wet laundry. Again, when there was wet laundry inside the drum, the dry air wouldn't come on. But if the drum was empty—or if it had dry clothes (I used clean bedsheets)—the hot air would run. 

I remain in touch with the repairman, but honestly I don't fully trust what he's doing. That's why I posted here, in the hopes that someone can point me in the right direction with reputable advice. 

[johntech]

Moisture building up inside drum is normally caused by poor air flow. Did you still have the duct disconnected when you attempted to dry the small load? Thermal fuses are designed to blow when the dryer over heats which is normally caused by poor air flow. If the dryer already blew the thermal fuse again just disconnecting the duct will not restore heat. 

[gouldsite]

The duct was disconnected when I tried to dry the small load. So since it's been disconnected, I've:

(1) run the dryer with a small load of wet clothes, no hot air;

(2) run the dryer with nothing inside, hot air working; and

(3) run the dryer with dry, clean bedsheets, hot air working. 

[BrewHobbyTech]

How is the airflow coming out the back of the dryer with no vent? If it's poor I'd say you have a badly clogged lint filter or filter housing or your blower wheel is not turning properly. It sure seems like an airflow issue. 

[gouldsite]

Let me be clear, since I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology

Right now my dryer vent hose is disconnected from my home's dryer vent. When I run the dryer, I can feel air coming out of the back hose. It's not strong like a high-powered hair dryer on full blast, but you can feel it. Again, when I put the wet clothes in the drum, the air blowing out of the hose is cool. When the drum is empty (or when I put the dry bedsheets inside), the air blowing out is warm. 

It probably doesn't matter, but I clean the lint trap after every dryer cycle. I don't know if there is a clog elsewhere. It just seems strange that the hot air shuts off when it senses wet clothing. 

[BrewHobbyTech]

1 hour ago, gouldsite said:

Let me be clear, since I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology

Right now my dryer vent hose is disconnected from my home's dryer vent. When I run the dryer, I can feel air coming out of the back hose. It's not strong like a high-powered hair dryer on full blast, but you can feel it.

Air should be blasting pretty good out of the dryer. Blower housing is probable clogged.....or.....reach your hand inside when the vent connects in back of the dryer and you may be surprised what you find. I've pulled birds nests and other crap out from there. I even pulled out a dead possum once. 

[gouldsite]

I'll check when I get home. A few follow-up questions:

(1) Do you mean that I should stick my hand where the dryer vent hose connects to the vent, or where the hose connects to the dryer? 

(2) How do I check the blower housing?

(3) Regardless, if the airflow was clogged, why would I get some hot air? In other words, wouldn't you expect for there always to be no hot air, even if the drum was empty?

Thanks again for your help!!

[gouldsite]

Update. I had my (trustworthy) dryer-vent cleaning company to my house this morning to check my dryer vent. The vent line is clean—so much so, in fact, that he said he didn't need to clean it. He also checked the back of the dryer itself, which also was clean. 

At this point, I'm guessing there is something more seriously wrong with the dryer—perhaps the circuit board has gone bad—such that it might be time to replace it. But I'd welcome any thoughts. 

P.S.—According to my dryer vent cleaner, the reason for the condensation is a mixture of the extreme humidity outside (we live in South Texas) combined with the cool air from the A/C inside. He said he sees it with other dryers in the area, and it doesn't create a mechanical issue for those dryers. 

[Hiroshi]

With no air flowing over the heat element, it will trip the hi-limit and kill the voltage to the element until it cools down sufficiently to reset itself- which is a possibilty. This is a front-lint dryer, so there is a higher chance of something falling into the blower housing via the lint filter chute... I have seen dryer sheets fall in and plaster over half of the fan blades, resulting in weak air flow. Before I abandoned this dryer, I would tear it down and take a hard look at everything in the daylight- kill the power, take off the kick panel, flip up the control panel and remove the three nuts along the back edge and slide the lid toward you to release it from the tabs that hold the front edge (over the door) then, remove the screws holding on the front bulkhead.(two below at the corners and two on top) The door switch wires will be the next obstacle, i use the corner of a steel putty knife to pry the plastic connector apart, then set the bulkhead aside. The front half of the blower housing will come off when you remove the bulkhead, so you should get a good look if anything has invaded the blower fan area.

This type of problem will not be emanating from the controls, in my opinion,  since you said the air output is a weak hair-dryer amount, what BrewHobby says is correct- the air should be blasting out more along the lines of a lawn and leaf blower and I am betting the flow is resulting in weird heat element function.   If you were going to give up on the unit, ripping it apart can't hurt and will likely lead to an illuminating piece of evidence...

[16345Ed]

Call your repairman back and make him tear it down and find the issue. You paid for an incomplete job in my opinion. 

 

I bet the blower is clogged up or broken. 

We are supposed to be trained that when a thermal fuse blows you need to look for airflow issues in the entire dryer. 

Doesn't sound to me like this guy did. Which is odd if he had the drum out to change the element anyway. 

Edited August 17, 2016 by 16345Ed

[gouldsite]

3 minutes ago, 16345Ed said:

Call your repairman back and make him tear it down and find the issue. You paid for an incomplete job in my opinion. 

 

I bet the blower is clogged up or broken. 

Thanks for the comments. I called the repairman today based on the first comment. I asked him if he checked the blower during his initial inspection. He claims he did. He also insists that it must be a problem with the circuit board being corrupted by the excess condensation moisture. I don't know. I can call him back but he seems pretty sure of himself. (I'm not saying I agree, but FYI.)

Obviously I could hire someone else for a second opinion, but my concern is that I've already thrown away $200 that could have gone toward a new dryer if that's what I need. 

I truly appreciate everyone's input. I wish I could have hired one of you!

[Hiroshi]

If the board was contaminated by "condensation moisture" there would be residue and/or corrosion plainly visible on the board components, but this is academic: the exhaust and drum would be exposed to the moisture, not the control board! 

Most statements made in total ignorance sound confident.

If you are at all able, please follow my instructions to remove the front and look into the blower fan area, keep us posted and you will not need the negligent repair monkey back in your home, then when it is fixed, BLAST the guy and his business on every local review site you can to save the next poor, unsuspecting customer from being ripped-off!

The BBB is useful sometimes, if you paid by check, cancel it. If by credit card, cancel that payment.

If you fix this one yourself, you are gonna feel good afterward, all it takes is 1/4" and a 5/16" nut drive and some patience!

 

[16345Ed]

Yep, what Hiroshi said. 

[gouldsite]

Thanks to all. I will do my best this weekend to get into the blower fan area. I'll report back!

[16345Ed]

Check all internal ductwork as well from lint screen down and out the back. 

Unplug it First!!!  ?

Good luck

Edited August 18, 2016 by 16345Ed

[gouldsite]

So this is embarrassing and demonstrates how little I know...but how do you open the kick panel? It looks like your instructions start after the kick panel has been opened. Thanks!

[16345Ed]

Part number: 661570V

click link for belt. 

Under the item will be a link to a repair video. This video will show you exactly how to take the cabinet apart. 

 

[16345Ed]

On August 18, 2016 at 10:03 PM, gouldsite said:

So this is embarrassing and demonstrates how little I know...but how do you open the kick panel? It looks like your instructions start after the kick panel has been opened. Thanks!

Did you have any luck yet?

[gouldsite]

Honestly, I was a bit intimidated by the video—I would call my handyman skills novice at best. I also was concerned I didn't have the proper equipment (I don't have a putty knife, as an example). 

I called the repairman back, however. I told him that I had received two second opinions, and that both opinions were that there likely was a problem with the  blower housing. I said that, based on my labor warranty, I wanted him to come out one final time to check that. He agreed to do so—I'll note here that he didn't put up a fight, which you'd expect if he in fact checked the blower housing (as he claimed the other day on the phone).

He is scheduled to come on Tuesday. I plan to watch everything he does. If you have any other recommendations, I am all ears!

[gouldsite]

Update. The repairman returned today. We opened up the blower housing. Aside from the expected lint buildup, there were no clogs. There still was no hot air, so he re-tested all parts of the heating element (or so he said). According to him, all of the elements were operating normally. So he again concluded that the problem must be related to a circuit board malfunction, and said I should consider purchasing a new one  

He was at my home for about 30-45 minutes, and I watched him do everything. I'm not sure what else to do. I'm not too keen on paying ~$200 for a circuit board if that's not even the problem, or merely a temporary fix. 

[sh2sh2]

So is it heating when it's empty still, or no heat at all?