The Electric dryer heating element helps in heating the air in the dryer drum. The heating element is installed in the house depending on the model of your dryer. The element is meant to heat the air passing via the blower. Alternatively, a circular heating element can be placed behind the dryer’s drum, thereby heating the air in the drum.
Reasons behind your dryer heating up yet failing to dry your clothes
A dryer can run for over an hour but still fail to dry your clothes. This could be triggered by several reasons which include;
- Lint trap clogged
- Clogged or damaged air vent
- Faulty heating element
- Faulty thermostat.
If you notice that your dryer takes too long to heat your clothes or the air inside the dryer doesn’t heat at all, that could only mean that the heating element isn’t functional. To be sure, check your heating element to see if it needs to be replaced. Let’s see how you can check your dryer heating element.
How to Check Dryer Heating Element
Disconnect the dryer from the wall outlet of the utility room. To disconnect the vent from your dryer’s back, just loose the screw on the vent clamp. Remove the dryer from its installation spot to enable you to access your dryer’s rear if need be.
Look for your dryer’s heating element. The heating element could be behind a panel on your dryer’s back, or behind the drum of the dryer in your dryer’s cabinet. But the position of the heating element will depend on your dryer’s model.
Different manufacturers make dryers, hence the difference in structure. For instance, you may realize that your dryer features a separate rear panel protruding from the cabinet. In such a case, you can look for the heating element from the rear of your dryer.
But if the rear panel is fairly flat, you’ll have to disassemble the dryer to remove the drum to find your dryer heating element. Nevertheless, not all dryers can be assembled in this manner. You can check the resources section to read guidelines on how to open the cabinet of your dryer.
Now search for the high-limit thermostat found beside the heating element of your dryer. Also, it could be located on the rectangular heating element housing. Note that the high-limit thermostat limit is round and comes with 2 wires attached to it. It’s black. Once you find it, pull those wires from the terminals of the thermostat. To do that, you’ll need needle-nose pliers if you find it hard to pull those wires with your fingers.
Also, pull those wires from the terminals of the heating element. The terminals are below the high limit thermostat located on the heating element housing. Lock the alligator connected to a continuity tester’s wire end to either of the terminals of your dryer’s heating element. Touch the needle found at the end of the tester. If you see a glowing light inside the continuity tester, that’s a sign that the heating element is in perfect condition. But if the tester does not glow at all, you should consider replacing the heating element. Below are the things you’ll need to achieve all that. They include;
- A screwdriver
- Continuity tester
- Needle-nose pliers
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