With the rate things have been breaking at our house lately, we’d be bankrupt in no time hiring people to fix them!

What happened now, you ask? Our dryer. It’ll tumble some clothes like a champ, but apply heat and actually dry them? Um, no.

Fortunately, Sears has a generous amount of documentation online for their appliances. With that and some other resources, I was able to get the flame lit and the clothes dry. Yay!

To fix it, the first thing I checked was the thermal fuse. Apparently it is pretty common for it to trip and then it must be replaced. Ours had continuity, so I moved on. I tested every other thermostat and tester I could find. They all appeared to be fine.

I wasn’t sure what to do next. So, I turned on the dryer and watched the burner while it ran. The ignition coil would glow red hot, then it would make a clicking sound and shut off. It turns out, that clicking sound is the electricity going to the ignition coil being redirected to the gas valve. So, it was apparent that the gas valve wasn’t opening. Looked up that part online and the gas valve is over $100. Not cool. There are also 2 little coils on top of the valve, solenoid coils, they are only $20. It seemed to be worthy gamble to replace those first and cross fingers.

That worked. They were really easy to replace, and only cost $20. Now our dryer is spitting out fluffy warm clothes again. 🙂

Here are some great resources for fixing your dryer:

• http://www.searspartsdirect.com – Find and order parts. Also, they have exploded diagrams of all their appliances so you can find the part number you need.
• http://www.homerepairforum.com/forum/appliances/4556-maytag-gas-dryer-no-flame-after-10-min.html – A forum of users whom had the same problem as me. Solenoid Coils.
• http://www.davesrepair.com/DIYhelp/DIYthermalfuses.htm – more than you wanted to know about thermal fuses
• http://www.partselect.com/dryer+dryer-wont-heat+repair.htm – a number of How-To guides for testing parts and fixing dryers.
• http://www.ehow.com/how_4840208_replace-fuse-kenmore-dryer.html – How to get at and replace the Thermal Fuse.
• http://appliancedoc.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Wont-My-Dryer-Make-Heat – General help troubleshooting no-heat problems. Gas and Electric dryers.