Shoutout to the tech who showed me a trick with a multimeter on a tricky dryer circuit

I had a Kenmore dryer with a weird intermittent heat issue, and the choice was between spending hours tracing the whole circuit or using his method to jump the thermal fuse as a quick test. I went with the jump test, found the bad fuse in under five minutes, and the customer was happy. Do you guys think quick diagnostic shortcuts are smart or do they risk missing bigger problems?

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_mitchell11d ago

That bit about jumping the thermal fuse as a quick test is smart. A buddy of mine who fixes appliances had a similar thing with a washer that wouldn't drain. He could have taken the whole pump apart first, but he used a jumper wire to test the lid switch circuit real fast. It was the switch, fixed it in ten minutes. Those shortcuts are just a first step, not the whole job. You still have to check nothing else got fried while that part was bad. But starting with the simple test often gets you right to the problem.

spencer_johnson2211d ago

Ever had a dryer that just stopped heating? I mean, that thermal fuse trick saved me a whole weekend once. You just gotta make sure to actually replace the fuse after, not leave the jumper in.