[murphythefatcat]

My Whirlpool dryer is not providing any heat. I can tell it's blowing air into the dryer but it is not heated. I tested the outlet to confirm 240v service. I took the heating element, thermostat and thermal cutoff out of the dryer. I have a multimeter and think I am checking for connectivity for all three. I get a reading of .01 ohms for the heating element (tested from where the wires are supposed to plug in to the element), a reading of 0 for the thermostat and a reading of 0 for the thermal cutoff. What can possibly be the problem?

[denman]

Your heater resistance seems very low
It works out to a 24,000 amp draw when it first turns on
Remove one of the wires that attaches to it and then measure across the heater
It should read about 25 ohms, this would be a 10 amp draw

[murphythefatcat]

So, I should reconnect the heater element with one of the wires and check the resistance with the dryer plugged it? This must not be right, because it sounds dangerous.

[denman]

No, do not read ohms with the dryer plugged in
From your response I assume that you measured the heater element with both wires disconnected. This does the same thing as disconnecting one side. Sorry did not understand that you had the heater disconnected,earlier.
The meter reading of 0.01 ohms still seems very low to me, you've got basically a dead short
You could reconnect the heater and thermostats, plug the unit in and measure to see if you have 240 volts across it.
But be carefull 240 volts will kill if it passes across you heart

[murphythefatcat]

Thanks, I was hoping for something more obvious than what this is turning out to be. I am very afraid of working around 240v; 120v I can deal with (and have on several occasions!!). So I am turning it over to a professional, although I hate doing it when I have already invested so much time into this already

Thanks for your help Denman!

[denman]

Just found this, a link to Whirlpool Duet Dryer Service Manual GEW9200L should be close to yours.
http://appliancejunk.com/forums/inde...tpmod;dl=get24

As you can see it says your heater should measure 7.8 to 11.8 ohms
Are you sure you are not reading on the Kohm scale 0.01 Kohm is 10 ohms
Make sure you are on the 1X scale