[vtphilk]

I have a Maytag dryer that has 4 heat settings.

Regular
Medium
Delicate
Air Fluff

After a year ago I started noticing no matter which setting (Regular,Medium or Delicate) the tempature seems to be really hot. I have had a few fights with my girl over this as well cause we have had things shrink

Air fluff turns off the heat however as expected.

Anyhow have any ideas of if this thing has a temp sensor or something that could be shot? I have done all the normal stuff like checking the vent cleaning out all the lint in the trap and everything else i can think of. I tried taking the thing apart to try and get to the internals where the heat sensor might be and couldn't figure how to take it apart. I'm sure there is a secret trick but I don't know it

Of course I had a 3yr warranty from BB and the darn thing lapsed like a few months after I started noticing this. I'm one step away from calling the maytag guy but don't know how much that will cost me and wonder if you had any clues/hints on if I might be able to fix this myself.

thnx,

-Phil

[denman]

Here is a link to a service manual your dryer is included
Free Appliance Repair Forum - Downloads

And here is a link to the parts
Maytag MDE7600AYW

The most likely culprit is the cycling thermostat
It has an internal heater so cycles by itself, the internal heater is probably burned out

Best way to check is with a volt/ohm meter. You can purchase a basic digital multimeter for under $20.00. It is nice if the leads are at least 2 feet long.
If it saves you from ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself.

If possible remove one wire from the device you are measuring when measuring ohms. This prevents measuring a parallel path.
Always mark the wires or make yourself a diagram when disconnecting multiple wires

[vtphilk]

Thanks so much for the document. I just did not pull hard enough when I was taking the front cover off. After reading the removal instructions I pulled a bit harder and it came right off. So now I can see what appears to be the dryer exhaust vent and the heater. On the dryer exhaust vent I think I found from the electrical sche what is the Cycling TStat which has 4 pins coming out of it (5wires but one of the pins has two purple coming out of it).. On the actual heater itself there is also the HI-LIMIT TStat I think.

So my question is, how do I test these things? I have my own multimeter (I'm a EE so I have all sorts of gadgets) but don't know what impedance I'm looking for.

Looking on the schematic of page 90 in that PDF you linked above, I found:

BK32
RD42
WH38
PU37
PU36 (goes to the hi-limit tstat on the heater)


So which do I read the impedance across to see if it's fried and what is the impedance I'm looking. I went across the high-limit tstat and it was .1 Ohm. But, I did not remove the wires from it (They are hard to get to on that one).

Thanks so much for your help! I'm gonna leave this thing apart so any tips you can give ASAP would be much appreciated before the wife kicks my butt

[vtphilk]

I attached a few pics I took. I think I found the cycling Thermostat you talk of just trying to figure out how to test if that is whats causing my problems or not.

thanks much

[denman]

Yes that is the cycling thermostat

The red and purple is the contact
Should read 0 ohms

The black and white is the heater
Should read around 6 to 7 Kohms

Make sure you remove one wire from the thermostat's heater when measuring, because of the higher resistance you will definitely read an alternate circuit path.
Use the 10 or 20 K scale on the meter. If it is open (infinite ohms) then the it is bad.

[vtphilk]

I removed all the wires from the thermostat and tested impedance.

It was .1ohm for the red-purple which I assume it about 0.

Black and white was 28.3 Kohms. NOt exactly open but alot higher than 6-7kohms. Sound like I need to replace that part?

Thanks

[denman]

No it is probably OK
I could not find specific info on your dryer so used a rating from a different Maytag model. As long as it has some resistance with one lead disconnected it means the internal heater is good.

[vtphilk]

Any other ideas? I found the thermastat for ~$20 http://www.partstore.com/Part/Maytag...06911/New.aspx and just wondering if I should replace it anyhow if you think my symptoms match a failure in that device. Or should I look at the other hi-limit thermastat on the actual heater in the back?

It makes sense it's a thermastat issue as the no-heat air fluff mode works fine, it's just all three temp settings give the same very hot air.

Thanks in advance.

[denman]

I hate spending money on a may be but for the life of me I cannot see that any other part could cause the problem.
Replace it!!!
Would be extremely rare for the thermostat to increase it's resistance but I guess stranger things have happened.

It cannot be the High Limit, this should only open if an over temp condition occurs, then if it does not, the final resort is that the thermal fuse blows.

[vtphilk]

Sounds good. I'll cross my fingers and pick up a new one.