Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
Linda Ronstadt
D Vautier 10/2014
home
My Maytag gas dryer stopped drying so I went into
DIY mode. It ran but there was no heat. It would ignite and
flame up but after a few minutes the flame would stop.
First of all I took it apart and cleaned 10
plus years worth
of dust--a lot of dust. I also replaced the two drum rollers while I was at it
because they were beginning to squeak. Rollers cost less than the
belt. It's also good to add some axle grease. I tested all the usual components and they
checked out OK.
I then reassembled it all leaving the front off. if you do this
you have to cover the door with some cardboard to create airflow.
Close the door switch too. The dryer worked so I put the front cover back on but
drilled a small inspection hole at the base so I could observe the igniter and
gas flame. Later Maytags have an inspection hole. The way these things work is the igniter goes on with a
click then it glows. About 10 seconds later you get another click
that opens the gas valve and you get a flame. My dryer only worked part of the time so I
began to suspect that it was the timer.
THE TIMER
These timers are very hard to buy new but they are built very well and are very easy to take apart, inspect and clean. The older dryers have a lot of connections but they are all clearly color coated and should not be too challenging. Snap a few pictures just in case. There is also a schematic under the control panel.
So remove all the wires and then remove the dial
and the two mounting screws on the chassis. The sprocket is mounted on the timer body
with these two screws. Take the screws out and gently rotate the
sprocket out counter clockwise. In this way you don't bend the
contacts. This timer unit is built pretty sturdy. Clean all the contacts with a small file
or sandpaper. Remove the timer drive motor because it's harder to
get the sprocket back in place with the drive motor already in.
Now carefully turn the sprocket back into the timer body trying not to
bend any of the contacts. Replace the drive motor and you should
be good to go. You can even test the contacts if you want to but I just
put mine back together and it tested fine. There was some burning
on some of the contacts but I did not suspect that the timer had
failed. It appeared to be in good shape after many many years.
THE SOLENOIDS
The only thing left was the solenoids but they tested out fine with no open circuits and correct resistances. I replaced them anyway and fired the unit up. The burner stayed on so It fixed the problem. So if you get the igniter to light and you get the flame to fire and then it shuts down after a few minutes it's probably weak solenoids. They don't cost much and are common to many dryers.