# Kenmore electric dryer blowing fuse



## capetish

Hi
My Kenmore electric dryer app.five years old blows 30 amp fuse after it runs for half hour.works great till it gets hot,then fuse blows.Ffuses are tight and no bad connections in box .Could defective t-sat cause this.

Thank you( capetish):help:


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## capetish

re

checked voltage drop with dryer at high (Full of clothes) from panel to dryer,About 3 volts 238-241.
With amp probe on black lead 20-22 amps.
wire seems fine no change in voltage or current even when all other appliances on.
Did find a loose wire in box that shuts power of to dryer.
clothes went through cycle and shut off normally.Is that the proper way to check it

Than you for your help and any advice 

Capetish


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## Nestor_Kelebay

No, I can't see how a thermostat would cause the dryer's fuse to blow.  A stuck thermostat is only going to keep the heating element on.  However, on dryers there's a high temperature limit switch that shuts off power to the dryer if it gets too hot.  So, a faulty thermostat would be causing your high limit switch to shut the dryer down, not cause it to blow fuses.

Be careful around 220 volt ac appliances.  Each of them will have TWO fuses or breakers in the electrical panel, not just one like regular household circuits.  There will be one fuse or breaker on the black wire going to the dryer and another on the red wire going to the dryer.  You need to turn BOTH voltage sources to the dryer off to work on it safely.

I would take the front panel off the dryer and look around the rotating drum for wires that may be rubbing against the tumbler.  I'm thinking that eventually the tumbler would wear the insulation off the wire, and you could get a short to the tumbler drum.

Another place I'd look is at the heating element.  Check that the heating element wire isn't coming close the metal chassis of the dryer anywhere.


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## Blue Jay

capetish said:


> re
> 
> checked voltage drop with dryer at high (Full of clothes) from panel to dryer,About 3 volts 238-241.
> With amp probe on black lead 20-22 amps.
> wire seems fine no change in voltage or current even when all other appliances on.
> Did find a loose wire in box that shuts power of to dryer.
> clothes went through cycle and shut off normally.Is that the proper way to check it
> 
> Than you for your help and any advice
> 
> Capetish



You are on the right track, check the current draw on the red wire also should be real close to the same (the heating element is the only part that is 240V so the motor will un-ballance it a bit) . If that loose wire was on the breaker that would have caused the breaker to heat up and trip. If it should continue to trip it could be a week breaker and would need to be re-placed.


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## capetish

Thank you Blue jay and Nestor

yes I am care full around all voltages and would pull dryer plug before I check for frayed wires.

Let me explain a little further 100 amp service to square d to main panel

This main panel has fuses,and old one  14 circuits or so,not enough to have proper circuits.
The dryer is feed from  a buss system  (which I have only seen a few in my day) to supply power from panel to square D's to main 2nd third floors,
To a box which I call small sq d
through #8 cable to another small two fuse box to Dryer.I checked the line voltage and current draw to see if there was leakage ,but like i said all was fine.Before checking the current at the box feeding the dryer I checked screws hold cables in box.Black one was loose .I tightened it before I checked current and all has been fine  so far .When heat come up to temp in dryer current will shut down to 3-4 amp (Motor running) which tells me t-stat is working Hope you can make out what i am trying to describe,not the best at typing.getting to old I guess.
This system I am going to replaced with a new panel that is up to code.
My grandson is in the military for a few years when he came back from over there he bought this house for him and wife  and my great grandson (old sucker aren't I) here  where he will be posted for five years Thanks guys if it happens again I will check out that dryer as you suggested Your a swell bunch


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## capetish

Hi all
Found out what was blowing fuse in this dryer at least the problem.
After checking all wiring etc like you guys advised found no problem.
Here is what I found out,
When my grandson did the drying ,he could do up to ten loads no prob.
When his wife dried it blew fuse.
Believe it or not she was overloading dryer so much some times drum would not spin,and fuse would blow.Maybe something wrong with drum rollers or motor drawing to much current with it overloaded.It works fine with normal load.
Just thought I would pass it along.as it drove me crazy for awhile

capetish

have a great day all


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## hsperazza

I'm new to this site so I apologize if I'm coming in with a slightly different question with a similar problem.  My dryer works but does not produce heat.  I have considered replacing the heating element but now I'm wondering if there is a blown fuse.  Do I understand it correctly that there is a fuse in the dryer itself that could blow that would, in effect cause no heat to be produced?  It's not a fuse problem in my electrical box because as I said the dryer works but no heat is generated.
Thanks, 
Harold


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## jeff1

Hi,

Fuses are in your house fuse box...some dryers ( no make or model# mentioned ) have thermal fuse inside but these do not look anytihng like a house fuse.

Q - My electric dryer runs but will not heat, what could stop my dryer from heating ?

A - Things that could stop a electric dryer from heating:

- house fuse or breaker ( needs 2! )... - heating element ... - burnt wire ... - thermostats ... thermal fuse ( not all models )... - motor heat switch ... - timer ... - selector switch ... - burnt power cord/plug ...

jeff.


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## hsperazza

I have a kenmore dryer, I'll have to take it apart this evening and see what the model is.  Where would I find the fuse?
Thanks a lot,
Harold


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## jeff1

Kenmore is made by several different companies...model#?



> Fuses are in your house fuse box...some dryers have thermal fuse inside but these do not look anytihng like a house fuse.



-Some- common Kenmores...
http://www.applianceaid.com/wpdryer_how-to.html
http://www.applianceaid.com/whirlpool-dryers.html#four

jeff.


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## hsperazza

Hello Jeff, I finally took the Kenmore dryer apart that I referred to in my earlier email and was able to remove the heater element.  There were no obvious breaks in the coil and I checked it with an ohm meter and received a reading so I assumed that it was fine.  I then checked the two gadgets to the left of the element with the ohm meter by pulling off one wire and testing with the other terminal and got a reading on the first gadget ? And then checked the second one the same way and did not get a reading so I removed it, it's a small white flat object with two terminals and it says microtemp on it.  I checked the two terminals and then got an ohm reading.  Any suggestions? 
Harold


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## jeff1

Hi,

Don't remember the email, but I get approx 75 a day.
Did you find a model#?
http://www.applianceaid.com/model.html Some model# helps.

jeff.


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## hsperazza

The model number is 110-6394211.  The motor works but no heat is generated.  Thanks
Harold


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## jeff1

> 110-6394211



Canadian model?
Most Canadian models are not online so we cannot look up what the design/style is.

I found these close ones...
110.63942101 110.63942100 110.63942102

Those 3 styles are the heater on the bottom ( instead of the heater at the back ) style.






Dryer thermistor assembly Manufacturer Number 8577274

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mCmGRijX_14





Heating element thermal cut-off (thermal fuse) 360 degrees and high-limit thermostat 250 degrees Manufacturer Number 279769

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nicyh6EUHc&feature=player_embedded[/ame]





High-limit thermostat, 2 wire, 250 degree limit, 60 degree cool down before reset Manufacturer Number 3390291

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJB8Y2tjYks&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

See help videos.

jeff.


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## juicer1

i have a kenmore dryer which blows fuses when it goes on the heating cycle. what causes this


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## jeff1

Hi,

Fuses in the house fuse box?

LINK> http://www.applianceaid.com/general-dryer-information.php#fuse

jeff.


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## derek100

have a similar problem..fuse panels is older than me....has a double baelite connector 2 30 amp fuses one runs the motor and one controls the heat ..the one thhat controls the motor is good but the one that controls the heat blow after about 10-15 minutes..what gives?


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## Wuzzat?

derek100 said:


> but the one that controls the heat blow after about 10-15 minutes..what gives?


Mild overload, confirm with a clamp-on ammeter. 
If no excess current, then bad connection near the fuse causing local heating.  Due to age, this might be more likely.


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