what caused my dryer thermal fuse to fail

[luberhill]

Its a Kenmore stackable apartment size wasger dryer combo,,,about 15 yrs old...dryer quit,,,chgd the thermal fuse, works now,,,checked vent, housing all clear NO blockages, checked the Tstat on the element housing, works fine, checked the Tstat on the blower housing that works too.....so why did it fail

[16345Ed]

Just wore out. It happens. 

[johntech]

Air flow is the most common cause. Could also be a loose spade connector at the thermal fuse. A worn out idler, drum rollers or motor can cause poor air flow and  over heating conditions.  Could be the lint trap not being cleaned. Could have just failed for no reason or a power surge could have burned it out. You can test the air flow by running a normal size load of laundry on timed dry clothes should dry in about an hour. You would need to pull the drum to get to the rollers and idler, they should spin freely. If it blew for a reason it will go out again.

[luberhill]

I had the drum out a few months ago to replace the seals..everything rotates smooth...I did notice they had it hard wired and when I moved the dryer I heard a spark and it tripped the breaker...

 It was a cut in the wire grounded out on the connector...

 I rewired with a whip and outlet...but the dryer had already stopped working before this happened..

I just found the receipt, 1995....so it's 21 yrs old!