[Dogger]

K, so here is the dealio. we have an 18 yr old dryer and 4 newfoundland dogs needless to say we expect a lot of our dryer. All of a sudden last week it quit drying clothes. the drum turns but there is no heat and i think no air. I can not find our owners manual but from what i can assertain on line, there is a fuse blown... we do not even know how to get to the fuse or what it looks like. if anyone can point us in the right direction, that would be great! Like I said i think it is a fuse but I am not even sure of that.\

Thanks so much for your help,

[jmchenry4]

Yeah, it could be a fuse. Is this an electric dryer or gas operated?

I would turn the dryer on and then go out and feel the air coming out of your dryer duct. You should feel the air blowing out nice and strong. If you don't feel any air, or very weak air then you should check for lint, or something else, in your vent. If it is blocked then you may have blown a thermal fuse, or a high temp limit thermostat.

If it was clear and the air is good then you could still possibly have a bad fuse, or it could be another issue.

Basically, make sure you have good air flow first because if you have a blown fuse it could be the air flow problem blowing the fuse. If you have good air flow then we have to start checking for bad components and such.

[denman]

If it is electrical, check the power at the plug
Should be 220 volts (L1 to L2) and 120 volts (L1 to Neutral) and L2 to Neutral)

Sometimes only one side of a breaker will open and it will not trip the breaker all the way. The only thing that uses the full 220 volts is the heater element hence no heat.

Blowing the breaker could be a machine problem but also could be a circuit breaker problem. Could also be a bad connection/wiring problem in the breaker box to dryer hookup.

If the breaker blows and you cannot restart the unit right away but have to wait awhile then this is an indication that your blower/drum motor has overheated and may be on its last legs. Feel the box at the breaker just to make sure it is not hot which would indicate a bad breaker.

If you can reset it right away, I would check the dryer hookup connections, wire size etc. If all OK I would replace the breaker as this is the easiest to do.