ASKO T700 Dryer--Fuse blown.....

[scuba415]

Hi all,

Once again my faithless Asko T700 dryer has betrayed me.  I turned it on and it immediately turned off completely.  There is no power light, and nothing happens when I push start.  I opened it up and found one of the two fuses was blown.  I didn't hear or smell anything at the time, but from the pictures below you can see there was some electrical damage to the fuse holder.

http://s288.photobucket.com/user/steveatwurk/media/IMG_5424_zps13snksob.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

http://s288.photobucket.com/user/steveatwurk/media/IMG_5425_zpsfp0cq2do.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

http://s288.photobucket.com/user/steveatwurk/media/IMG_5426_zpse92f6sgu.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

 

Since the dryer has two fuses, I am not sure if this damage just happened or if the dyer could have been functioning with this blown fuse for some time.  I checked the heating element, and it looks fine, and it was not hot when the dryer stopped.  Both fuse holders are pretty much shot so I would like to replace both.  My questions are:

 

1.  Could the fuse have blown like this based on its own failure, or is it likely some other part failed/arced to cause this? 

2.  Can I replace the fuses with generic in line fuse holders and like-rated fuses?  The manual describes the fuses as: 15A, 250V, slow blow P/N 8058140

3.  Looking for fuses, I came across the ceramic variety.  Is there any advantage to using this type of fuse?

Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Scuba415

 

[scuba415]

Hi all,

I was hoping someone could help me with my problem in the original post.  My main question at this point is do fuses blow by themselves, or will they only blow when another part fails?

TIA,

Scuba415

[AccApp]

That's some serious looking damage, I doubt the fuses simply failed on their own. You can use any similarly rated 15 A, 250 v slow-blow fuse in any holder rated for such use. Be sure to cut back the damage to good wire as it looks like it got overheated as well. Do not increase the amperage of the fuse. Be sure to check for short circuits to ground before replacing anything and correct any that you find.

[scuba415]

AccApp,

Thank you for your reply.  Other than a loose wire, how would I check for short circuits to ground? 

I pulled the start capacitor, when I attach the ohm meter, the needle has a slight bump that last a half a second, but stays pegged at infinity.  Does a capacitor that is reading like that sound like it could have caused my short?

Thanks again,

Scuba

[howdryiam]

I'm glad you've brought this up. Years ago a senior tech told me these fuses were an artifact of European electrical standards, were unnecessary and prone to fail without cause. I was instructed to to simply bypass the fuses with fresh wiring. Was I led down the garden path? Curious to hear a bona fide Asko mechanic chime in. I will tell you what I've done only after assurances that my professsional appliantology membership is ironclad.

 

[AccApp]

1 hour ago, howdryiam said:

I'm glad you've brought this up. Years ago a senior tech told me these fuses were an artifact of European electrical standards, were unnecessary and prone to fail without cause. I was instructed to to simply bypass the fuses with fresh wiring. Was I led down the garden path? Curious to hear a bona fide Asko mechanic chime in. I will tell you what I've done only after assurances that my professsional appliantology membership is ironclad.

 

Guess what? You now own that machine and any damage it may ever cause in the future because you removed a safety device installed by the previous owner of any damage (in this case Asko). Not worth it in my view.

 

If it was my own in my own house, maybe but never for a customer. 

Edited October 4, 2017 by AccApp

[AccApp]

1 hour ago, scuba415 said:

AccApp,

A: Thank you for your reply.  Other than a loose wire, how would I check for short circuits to ground? 

B: I pulled the start capacitor, when I attach the ohm meter, the needle has a slight bump that last a half a second, but stays pegged at infinity.  Does a capacitor that is reading like that sound like it could have caused my short?

Thanks again,

Scuba

A: Check for any wire having even slight resistance to ground. Everything should read infinite resistance to ground.

 

B: That's how a normal ohm meter sees a capacitor. Doubtful it caused a fuse to blow.

[scuba415]

Thanks AccApp,  I checked for a short but didn't find anything.  I did come across some information that the fuse holders themselves are often a problem with these units, so I plan to change them out and go from there.  I found the 15A 250V slow blow fuses easy enough.  But the fuse holders seem to all be rated AC 15A 125V, AC 10A 250V.  Will that work?  Or do I need 15A 250V exactly?

TIA,

Scuba

[AccApp]

I would try to find a 15a, 250v fuse holder, use ones that mount to the cabinet if you can't find  inline ones

[scuba415]

So I finally got the correct fuses and fuse holders and installed them.  I powered the unit back up and it is working!  After that I had a sinking feeling, wondering if the terminal connectors I used are sufficient for the 15A/250V load.  Here are the terminals I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VWMP73S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are just run of the mill connectors.  The wires themselves are fairly small gauge and fit easily into the A.W.G 10-12 connector.  Any thoughts?

TIA,

Scuba

[scuba415]

I should explain that I was crimping a female connector crimp onto the end of a wire, and attaching that to a male connector tab that is part of a panel mount fuse holder.

[AccApp]

That should work fine

[scuba415]

AccApp,

Thank you for your quick response and clarification!