Thermal Cut-Off Kit

Our dryer is 8 years old and had been slowly taking longer and longer to dry clothes, to the point that I was ready to purchase a new one. When the dryer stopped heating completely, I removed the bottom panel and found that the heating element was no longer working. I checked online and found this website. The top two recommended fixes for this issue was to replace the heating element and/or thermal cut-off kit (two sensors). I chose to purchase both, delivered to me very quickly (two days). I figured for $80 you can't go wrong. Here's the procedure I followed:

On my particular model, the back does NOT come off and all of my repairs had to be made via the front, bottom panel.

(1) disconnected 6 wires (3 pairs) from the heating element and two thermal sensors
(2) removed entire heating element 'sleeve" which contained both the heating element AND the two sensors. The space is way too tight to try and do this any other way (and I highly recommend this method to save a ton of time and frustration.)
(3) vaccummed out the entire inside of the dryer, clearing all lint and debris, including tons of lint creating a blockage, thus slowing the ability to dry over the years
(4) replaced sensors and heating element
(5) installed heating element & Thermal sensors back inside and reconnected all wires
(6) tested dryer to ensure that heating element lit up and produced heat - it worked beautifully!

Besides fixing the heating issue, cleaning out the clogged lint pipe at the back of the dryer and wall have made the old dryer new again. It's working better than ever!

First I removed the back cover (several screws). Then, I disconected wires from the high-limit thermostat and the thermal cut-off fuse (both of these parts were included in the Thermal Cut-Off Kit). Then, I removed four screws that hold these two parts, replaced the parts, put the screws back, and attached the wires. Finally, I put back the cover.

Removed the back of the dryer. Used a multimeter set to read Ohms to check each Thermal cut-off switch. Each one read with continuity and some resistance. The one that was bad read open. So i replaced this one and the other one that came in the kit since i already paid for both.Then i replaced the back ran the dryer and it worked great.

Replaced the thermastat first, then the cutoff switch, still the same, I then replaced the thermister, and still have the problem.

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires, then connect the two wires into new element, and put the element back in place, and put the back cover, now it getting really hot, and save me a lot of time and money on energy too.

Took back cover off
Disconnected part
Put new one in
Reconnected wires
Put back cover on

To verify that this was the needed part, I used a digital multimeter to confirm there was no continuity.

My Whirlpool dryer had no heat. I removed the back panel and within minutes diagnosed the problem to a blown thermal cut-off fuse. I ordered a thermal cut-off kit on a Sunday night and had the parts at 7:30am Wednesday morning. Total time for diagnosing and repair was no more than 15 minutes. PartSelect saved me a ton of money and aggravation!!! AWESOME!!!!

Gary

Popped the lower cover off the dryer, found the thermal fuse and thermostat mounted on the heating tube. Removed the screws with a nutdriver, swapped wires to the new parts, and reinstalled. Then I spent 30 minutes vacuuming 13 years worth of lint and crud out of the machine - it was pretty gummed up in spots, which is probably the cause of the failure.
I have a 25 foot run of hose from the dryer outside, so I replaced that with 4" metal ducting. Clothes dry much faster now!!! Maybe my electric bill will go down (fat chance :) )

My dad was ready to spend $2000 on a new washer/dryer (he has to have a matching set!). Anyway, his dryer would not generate heat. A google search turned up partselect.com, which walked me through the procedure to see what we needed.

It turned out to be a simple to replace $25.00 part! The dryer is drying as if it was brand new. Saved $1,975. Hehe.

Thanks, partselect!

the igniter worked so replaced the two coils on the burner, did not help, read the diagram that came with the machine and replace the high limit cut out. that did it, however the mounting bracket needed to be modified by grinding a tab off, so that the cut off switch would fit in to the bracket.

Took of the back cover, and removed the vent connecting the blower motor to the drum. It was completly full of lint, so cleaned it out completly, and tried the dryer again. The heater element was still cutting off early, and the clothes were not getting very warm, but better than before. Decided to change the thermal cut-off switches. Ordered the parts on Sun, they came in on Tuesday. Dryer was up and running Tuesday night. Just 2 screws per switch, took less than 1/2 hour. The dryer now runs like brand new, and my wife was ready to fork over $800 for a new one!

First I did a search on dryer repair. Found a website that described easy things to check with an ohm-meter. I then performed the continuity checks on the items and found the high-limit one was open, in other words, no good. It works similar to a fuse. All this was done after removing the back panel, just a few screws. The reason it exceeded the high limit, possibly because I never opened the back up and cleaned it. Found out it should be done every couple years. My vent line had a hole in it and was letting lint get drawn into the heating element, could have been a fire.

Was not sure what was wrong but the Part Select site allowed us to view other repair issues and solutions. We ordered the kit, it arrived the next day (how is that possible) and easily put the parts in and chaching...money saved and dryer works better than ever. THANKS PartSelect, we give you an eleven and we will recommend you to everyone.

After removing the exhaust pipe and clamp, I unscrewed the back panel with a 1/4 inch drive socket set. That exposed the wires and the wiring skematic. I used a multimeter to track the power to the element and found that no power was reaching the element. I then unplogged the unit removing all power and tested the resistance on each thermal fuse. The lower fuse had no resistance and the upper fuse did. I then disconnected the upper fuse, used a jumper wire the connect both wires together to bi-passed the fuse. I reconnected the power and turned on the dryer. The dryer element worked, confirming my suspicions of the bad fuse. Once I ordered the fuse and only paid for regular delivery I had the fuse with 24 hours and dryer back together within very little time. It took me more time to clean up the lint dust then it did to fix the problem.

I followed the tips from the repair video. Easy as 1-2-3. I changed both the heating element as well as the thermal cut off. Went ahead and repaired the door catch. Brand new DRYER for the next 10 years. I do advise to pull out your shop vac and remove the tons of lint that accumulates in the bottom. A definite fire hazardous. I do attest that this web site is the best by far.