June 20th, 2007 by The Bosphorus
What gives?
Two weeks ago the washing machine went kerpootz, now the drier won’t heat. It runs and runs and puffs and puffs, but there’s no fire in it’s belly. Perhaps it just can’t live without the old washing machine.
I’ve got a repair book coming from the library. We’ll see what happens. I hope I can at least read my fortune off its entrails.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Bos, I don’t know how old your dryer is, but replacing the heating element really isn’t that hard to do. Of course if you have already replaced it a dozen times it may very well be time to get a new one.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I feel your pain Bos.
At CasaV we’ve got an ice maker, a central A/C, a front door (cosmetic stuff)and a section of downstairs lights that need attention.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Damn Bos, that kinda sucks. Swing by and borrow mine if you need to.
June 20th, 2007 at 9:33 am
When I was working the troubleshooting checklist they neglected to add: “First make sure the dryer hasn’t been set to Cool Tumble”… doh!
June 20th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Did I read correctly that you got a NEW washing machine? If so, here’s your problem. It’s not that your old dryer couldn’t live without the old washer; it’s that the new washer missed his shiny friends in the appliance store.
It happened to me once. My hubby and I installed a dishwasher into our kitchen. A week later, our refrigerator died. We borrowed one from someone that was just sitting in their garage, until we could save up the cash to buy a new one. We rejoiced and went grocery shopping. No sooner did we fill it up when it died, too. We bought a new one. A month or so later, our washer died.
We moved. And left the dishwasher behind. ;)
June 20th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Thats an excellent theory, Valbee…
June 20th, 2007 at 10:14 am
This sounds weird, but check your circuit breakers (or fuses, if you live in the bloody 19th century). Dryers usually run on 2 breakers (hence the funny 240 volt plug), which are usually coupled together with a piece of plastic. The heating element is on one breaker, and the spinny motor and controls are on another. At our house, the breaker for the heating element went funny and would attempt to break at some amperage well below its 15 or 20 rating (I forget which, and it might well have been 30 for all I can tell without having the box in front of me).
The thing was, when I checked the breakers, all looked normal, because the plastic coupler held the heating element breaker to the motor breaker, which apparently was manly enough to hold them both in place. When I would flip the combined breakers, the dryer would work fine (until the next time it got angry about something and the heating element breaker would break again). Finally I replaced the faulty breaker and all was well, but in the meantime you may be able to just flip the switches and get back to drying properly for a while.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Valbee, I bet that diabolical dishwasher is stalking you even now.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Good point Matt.
June 20th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Bos, you could fix the current lack of rainfall by simply stopping by Home Depot and picking up a clothesline and some wooden clothes pins.
Soon as you started hanging laundry outside to dry, our drought would end. You’d still have wet clothes, but we’d all have more tomatoes!
June 20th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Oh Netmom….simply brilliant! Evil, but brilliant!
June 20th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Bos, you do realize I will have nightmares tonight, yes?