June 14th, 2017 12:07 PM by Elizabeth Washburn
Typically, I'm good with calling a repairman or heading to the store for new appliance, but a dryer seemed... interesting ...and expensive. So I googled a few videos about dryer heating problems. Once I found my machine, it was clear where the problem was so imitating Wonder Woman, I grabbed my tools and faced the machine.
I discovered the secret of my 12 year old dryer.
You see, being the law abiding citizen that I am, about every 12 months I pulled out the vent tube and cleaned it thinking I had done my civic duty as a person with home insurance. Wrong!! I mean right, but that's not the whole story.
I found lint inside the dryer. Not just "makes you sneeze" lint. I mean piles and layers and floating lint. Handfuls of lint! I think I could have weaved three shirts from all the lint fibers in my dryer. Lint was everywhere inside the dryer. This was such a surprise because I thought the lint went out the vent.
Once I got past the lint, (actually under), I found more screws to remove so I could replace the broken heater. Fox Appliance Repair had the part in stock and ready to go. They even tested another part I brought in for a potential problem, but all good there!
So, after purchasing the new heating element for $90 minus the $4.21 found in the dryer (no whole socks though) and a total of three hours (accounting for drive time and obsessive vacuuming), I have a heating dryer and feel safer from the threat of a decade of lint. I also know how to open my dryer for an annual cleaning scheduled with Siri.
Oh- one last thing. When you plug your dryer back in, give it a minute if your dryer has a brain. Initially it appeared like there was no power, but after 30 seconds, the computer rebooted and things worked great. I hope this information is helpful. Happy house management my mortgaged friends!