Last week my wife tells me, "there is a funny smell coming from the dryer and smoke, I think". A few seconds later, it is dead.
I pulled the top off today. There are two connectors running from the back to the front panel. One is 2 pin, the other, about 12 pin, give or take a few. They are both charred and melted.
A few weeks ago I had the top off to diagnose a noisy rear bearing. I had the drum out. I did notice at the time a little discoloration of one side of the 2 pin connector, suggesting a bad connection and some heat build up. I cleaned it as best I could and put some anti-oxidation paste I had sitting around on the connection. This stuff is made for joining aluminum wires.
Maybe that was a bad idea. :(
It seems as though there was an awful lot of heat as the 2 pin connector is burnt through and the larger one is a dark brown blob.
Could the bad connection on the 2 pin connector have caused all this? From looking at it, I think there was heat build up in the larger connection as well.
Is it worth replacing the connectors? Or is there likely a problem elsewhere? If a replacement connector is cheap enough, I figure it is worth a shot.
There is one other issue that may be related. The wall connector is old and has seen better days. I suspect there may have been a problem there which could cause the dryer to not get enough current and have a drop in input voltage. And I don't know about dryers, but with other devices this causes excess current flow in some circuits. Whatever I do, I will definitely be replacing this outlet.
Any advice appreciated. It is an older dryer, likely well over 10 years (I bought it used). Maybe I should just cut my losses and get another.
Pete
I pulled the top off today. There are two connectors running from the back to the front panel. One is 2 pin, the other, about 12 pin, give or take a few. They are both charred and melted.
A few weeks ago I had the top off to diagnose a noisy rear bearing. I had the drum out. I did notice at the time a little discoloration of one side of the 2 pin connector, suggesting a bad connection and some heat build up. I cleaned it as best I could and put some anti-oxidation paste I had sitting around on the connection. This stuff is made for joining aluminum wires.
Maybe that was a bad idea. :(
It seems as though there was an awful lot of heat as the 2 pin connector is burnt through and the larger one is a dark brown blob.
Could the bad connection on the 2 pin connector have caused all this? From looking at it, I think there was heat build up in the larger connection as well.
Is it worth replacing the connectors? Or is there likely a problem elsewhere? If a replacement connector is cheap enough, I figure it is worth a shot.
There is one other issue that may be related. The wall connector is old and has seen better days. I suspect there may have been a problem there which could cause the dryer to not get enough current and have a drop in input voltage. And I don't know about dryers, but with other devices this causes excess current flow in some circuits. Whatever I do, I will definitely be replacing this outlet.
Any advice appreciated. It is an older dryer, likely well over 10 years (I bought it used). Maybe I should just cut my losses and get another.
Pete