[denman]

Here is a link to your dryer parts
Kenmore Parts for Models 110.96585210

You will notice they sell a Dryer Cut Off Kit
It includes a High Limit Thermostat 250 degrees F and a Thermal Fuse 360 degrees F. The fuse is different than yours but is metal so once screwed down it will have good heat transfer.

If I understand your last post you used your shop vac to blow up the vent.
Could you check it with a flashlight afterwards? Was it clean all the way?

I doubt this did a very good job. To clean it properly you have to go from the top down. I think it was kayakcrzy who said he uses a chain with a couple locks on the end and runs this up and down the vent. Wouldn't hurt to have the shop blowing down also or sucking at the bottom. If you blow down, take a pair of pantie hose put one leg in the other and attach this to the vent to capture the lint.
Then with a flashlight at the top someone at the bottom can check it for cleanliness.

If it is good and clean already then perhaps it is time to throw in the towel and go shopping.

If you do shop I would not buy fancy often it means fancy problems. Just look on this forum how many people are replacing circuit boards after a couple years.

Good Luck
denman

[dryerfix800]

denman, thanks for the reply. When I used the blower, hardly any air came back, so I assumed it was making out the top. The roof is too high and steep to blow from the top down. If I do I again, I may have someone watch the roof exhaust to see if it looks like dust is coming out. One thing I hate about our set up is that the metal vent tube behind the dryer has to be about 4-5 feet long so we can slide the dryer in and out to get behind it. That means the air has to flow through a couple of curves to get out. I may just buy another thermal fuse which will give us a few days so we do not have to rush out and buy a new dryer.

Any thoughts on GE vs. Maytag? Thanks again. Tom

[denman]

Problem is until you rule out the vent, your new dryer may do the same thing.
Still sounds like it is partially plugged.
You could try snaking something up it with the shop vac blowing up, like a plumbers snake. Only thing is you would have to be sure that whatever is on the end would not get caught / stuck in the vent.
Do you have a leaf blower, it should have more power than a shop vac

I live where it gets cold / snow in the winter so we never vent through the roof.
Perhaps someone else will take a look and have a nifty trick that works.

I would get rid of the curves if at all possible. If you need to run it to check something you can always use the pantie hose trick.

This may help if you do buy a new one
Appliance411 The Purchase: Who Makes What?
Whirlpool now owns Maytag

As to GE or Maytag
I prefer Maytag because they are a little more open with their information which is a good thing for a DIYer. I believe they all make decent units and they all make junk.

[dryerfix800]

I made some progress and maybe the problem is fixed. I found the thermal fuse locally and the dryer is now running. I used the leaf blower (instead of shop vac) to blow out the vent through the roof and there was no obstruction. I am thinking the problem was such a long flexible vent pipe with too many bends and too many dents. I bought some new pipe which is more flexible (more like aluminum foil), and so far so good, except this pipe might be too soft. It sorta looked like Jiffy popcorn the way the aluminum expanded when it heated up. I am not sure what I will do next. The exhaust tube on the dryer is only about a foot from the vent tube in the wall, but there is no way for me to get behind the dryer without sliding it out. That is why I have to use several feet of pipe. Anyway, thanks for the help. I may be back in a week or two. Tom

[bettyboop]

Did you take off the lint chute & clean out the area around the blower? this is allways full of hard packed lint

[dryerfix800]

I did take that part out last time and this time and wiped it out, but I have never found hardley any noticeable amounts of lint anywhere, not even in the vent tube, which is why I cannot really figure out what caused the overheating, except maybe the long winding tube I was using. When it stopped working yesterday, after several loads and one long load of jeans, the outside of the dryer felt hot, and that was abnormal. We'll just see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe this thing is just getting tired, like I am of working on it. Tom