How to repair a whirlpool dryer that won?t start

Posted by Susan California on September 30th, 2018

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Alright, guys I recently had problems with my electric whirlpool dryer. I tried to get whirlpool appliance repair in Los Angeles but the repairman had a lot of backlogs and so he would not show up to my house for weeks. So I took some time to research and fix it myself. I managed to do it, and I thought that this kind of information would help you guys.

So before I tell you about the probable reasons the dryer won’t start. You should know that you will need a millimeter or multitester (same thing) to diagnose the problem. If you know how to open your dryer then skip the next paragraph, otherwise read the next paragraph attentively.

Opening the dryer

Note: Before we start you will need a screwdriver set, you will need a putty knife or if you have a burger turner that will do as well, you also need a container to keep the various screws. Keep different screws separately and mark them so that you don’t get them mixed up when you are going to put your dryer back together.

1-Open the lint screen cover. See the two screws inside? Take them out.

2-Now at the front of the dryer, about an inch or two from each corner is a locking tab. You will find it in the space between the front panels. Slide the turner or putty knife through space and press it against the locking tab then apply leverage to open the top. Do it for both sides.

3-Now that it is open, look at the corners, you see the wires there? They are in a wire harness. This is the door switch. Use the screwdriver on the harness to flip the switch and let it come loose.

4-Now there are two screws that hold the front panel in place. You need a hex head or nut driver to turn them loose. Then you gently lift the panel from two little clips at the base. Pull forward and viola front panel is out.

5-Now under the drum, there is the belt that is set on a pulley that is connected to the drive motor. Be extra careful when doing this step. Press the pulley towards the drive motor of the dryer and take the belt off the pulley out.

6-Now you can remove the drum out of the dryer by using the same belt to lift the drum.

7-Now it is open you can do repairs.

Putting the dryer back together

There are some tricky steps to putting it back together. I will only mention them. The rest is doing the earlier steps in reverse.

1. When you set down the drum back, make sure it sits on the roller wheels. Now, look at the circumference of the drum. You see that striped material? That is the felt. Sometimes the felt folds when you put it back. So roll the drum and check that the felt is evenly flat.

2. Putting the belt back in the pulley requires that you pull the pulley away from the drive motor. Then you loop the belt around the pulley and put another belt loop on the motor. To help you understand check the earlier image of the drive motor.

Phew! now that we are done with this, let us look at the main reasons your driver won’t start.

Dryer won’t start.

Bad Start Switch

Sometimes the problem can be really simple. The start switch stopped working. When you press the start switch and you don’t hear any sound this could be a sign of a faulty start switch. Flip open the housing for the switches. Find the wire that connects to the start switch and removes the circuit. Test the circuit on the multimeter. If it does not register the switch has failed and needs to be replaced.

Broken Belt

Most dryers today will not start if the belt has broken (the same belt around the drum and drive motor). This is the easiest one to fix. Just turn the drum, spot the broken belt and replace it.

Bad Door switch

So dryers are designed not to start unless the button of the door switched is pressed. But sometimes the door switch stops working. Once you open the dryer, remove the door switch. Then test the door switch with the multimeter. Once again if the multimeter does not show any change, then the door switch is not working and will need to be replaced.

Blown Thermal Fuse

The thermal fuse can blow up because of overheating. This is a safety device and if it blows the dryer will stop working. Now your dryer may have 1 or 2 thermal fuses, and you will find them on the blower housing or the heating element. Sometimes it is easy to spot whether the fuse is blown, but not always. So here is where you need the multimeter. Remove the fuse, then follow the instructions on the multimeter to test it. If the meter does not move the thermal fuse needs to be replaced.

Drive motor.

The drive motor turns the drum and powers the blower wheel. You must first do a test before disassembling the dryer. Press the ON button and check whether the motor makes a humming sound. Then disassemble the dryer, and check the blower wheel. See if there is nothing tangling the blower wheel. Sometimes things get stuck in there. If you can’t see anything, then turn the wheel a couple of times. If it is turning perfectly then there may be a problem with the drive motor. To remove the drive motor you will need to open the wire harness attached to it. Then you can pull it out.

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Susan California

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Susan California
Joined: August 12th, 2018
Articles Posted: 127

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