One thing I think you should be aware of when taking apart your dryer to fix it is that the edges can be really sharp. All right. So here is the back and there’s probably about three screws there, three there, maybe like nine screws overall. Take the back cover off the dryer and there is the back. Right here there is this white clip, there’s two blue cords that connect to that and this is called the thermal fuse.
According to the guys at the Tucson appliance repair shop (http://appliancerepairtucsonaz.org), more then likely what happened is where the lint comes out, that probably clogged somewhere in the line and caused it to heat up and that’s the safety protection right here, this fuse, that will keep the dryer from overheating and it’s a safety precaution. I am checking in the back right here to see if there is a problem with the cord. I don’t see any in here that looks like it’s burnt.
It looks like it’s getting the power correctly, here is the four prong plug, it looks pretty good. All right. This is the old one right here, this is the new one and we are going to run a continuity test on it. In order to do that, here is the sound you want to hear, so you know that electricity is going through. Here we go.
We’ll test these two ends. The old one, nothing. Here is the new one, touch that end. All right. So we know we have electricity going through there. This one is burnt out, so we know that’s the problem. As long as I have the back opened and I have the thermal fuse replace, I think I might take this off here, there are just few screws to remove this section right here.
The reason that thermal fuse broke is probably because there is build up lint. So I am taking these last couple of screws out right here and I pull this back a little bit already and you can see a large build up, looks like some saw dust and part of an ink pen, it won’t be a bad idea to just clean that up and I am going through and clean the hose going out to the outside of my house, that’s probably where the majority of the build up is.
If we look outside, that’s supposed to be some of the high-tech dryer vent and I think the way this works, it’s supposed to be a more efficient design, but I think this traps all the lint inside, so I bet if I reach in there, I’ll probably get a brush and I’ll stick it in there and try and clean up and get all the lint. You can see in there, there’s plenty of lint, so time to do a thought clean and I think I am going to change the outside to a more standard dryer vent.