220 V smoke missing!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey folks,

This is NO April's Fool thread. A couple of nights ago, was doing the laundry, and noticed that the dryer seemed to be running a long time. Checked the clothes....and they were still damp and COLD! Rechecked the settings, changed from SENSOR dry to Timed Dry, same thing, NO HEAT!

Read up on it...a Maytag Commercial Grade dryer from some 16 years ago, found a parts/price listing....and figured the most common cause of loss of heat was a fried/broken heating element! Found one for about $85.00! But I also found some other repair links, learned about testing it with an OHMMETER first!

Tonight after dinner, got into it, had to pull it out from it's upstairs hallway slot, disconnect the power and exhaust vent, then pulled the front off first.



Then got down and looked up/back towards the heating element...and was a bit surprised to see this!



Pulled the bottom loose so I could get better access, and pulled the wire and crimp on clip off and laid it against the dryer for this shot.



This plug is at the END of the heating coil elements, and apparently gets rather warm/hot...note the blue discoloration of the prong! The copper wire was STIFF, the crimp on clip was actually MELTED apart from the wire!!!



So...I went to my local auto parts store, got some nice 10-12 gauge 1/4" crimp on clips for a few bucks, cut about 2" off of the end of the burnt wire to get to clean copper, stripped the insulation back a bit, and crimped on a new connector, plugged it back onto the heating element prong, put it all back together, and VIOLA it's heating again!!!!



SO....nice not to have to replace the $85.00 heating element, just a $0.50 crimp on connector and a couple of hours of labor....now I can do my laundry this weekend!!

Hope you enjoyed the show! T.C.

[Gmac]

That right there

is a reason dryers start so many house fires.

I'm really glad you found it before something bad happened.

[3Phase]

Nice job!



Make sure you clean the lint out of the exhaust duct and vent line before you put everything back together.

If the heated air doesn't exhaust freely it can hold in heat. Long-term it cooks things like the upper wire terminal and the ceramic block you just fixed; short-term it'll trip the overtemp sensor or the lint will catch fire.

.

[IanDMacDonald]

Like the old electrical saying: "to measure is to know." Good thing u did your research prior to purchase. However, I'd be more curious to know what caused the resistance for that connector to super-heat . . .

[madmax-im]

Great job TC...you may have fixed the problem but i would stll pay attention to things under there...thats alot of heat to melt the connector and i would be concerned as to why and if its still doing it...16 years is a good run....

[MPittma100]

Burned Connector

I have been involved with a lot of these failures in various voltage ranges and it turns out that the culprit causing the problem is the crimp-on connector itself. Over time resistance builds to a point that something is going to smoke/burn. There are theories that the metal type that the crimps are made of cause the problem. Another theory is that the crimp loosens after repeated loads. These types of connectors are not able to carry a lot of current and thus fail. The feature of the "quick connect" is why they are used. They save manufacturers lots of $ in assembly costs. They work best when used to trigger a relay.

TC that was a good find and fix on your dryer. Still a good idea to keep a fire extinguisher nearby. By the way, Maytag needs more people like you.

[fredintoon]

Hi TC,
yeah, they cheap out on the connector size and wire gauge so they will do that.
BUT the $2 fix don't always work on a newer appliance.
When my son's modern dryer quit he had it all apart on his basement floor and phoned me for advice.
I told him, the heater connector has burned out and he said no, it's fine.
The internet told him what to check with his multi-meter so he did and WTF was a thermistor anyway?
And thanks to this list's information about the XS11Special fuel warning light, I was able to tell him!
3 weeks & $30 later his dryer's new thermistor arrived and we ain't doing his laundry any more.
"Gee Mom, you folded the shirts and paired the socks, too."

[b.walker5]

Hey TC. Not to rain on your parade, but the crimp you used will likely fail in short order. Did you notice that the remaining brass terminals have a second crimp point on them. One to hold the wire, and the other to hold the outer sheath. They are also a folded crimp, not just a squashed one. In an element circuit the second crimp has a very important job. To stop the joint flexing and coming loose in the high current, high heat environment where it work. Because the element is typically pulsing on and off to maintain the heat, and prevent overheating, so is the current load in the joint pulsing in and off. What this translates to for the poor old spade terminal is rapid, and repeated expansion and contraction of the wire, and terminal. Without something holding the outer sheath this very quickly allows the wire to flex and come loose, creating a high resistance joint, and an end result such as you've seen. Automotive crimps have their place but it's not inside a 220v drier.
And to add, most dryer fires are actually caused by failing to clean lint filters, not failed joints as mentioned above. Most joints that fail in appliances simply stop working, as in your case, or short out to earth and blow a fuse. When insulation overheats in appliance wire it rarely causes a fire due to the insulation having self extinguishing properties. Only time It's an issue is when there's combustibles in the immediate vicinity.

[jetmechmarty]

I believe it's an open barrel crimp tool that you need, but my experience with these is limited. I'm sure one of you experts will correct me if I'm wrong.






This is what you use on our old Yamahas at the connectors.

[IanDMacDonald]

You're right as always Marty. As always, Tony is the place to go for those connectors and crimpers.

[3Phase]

Good Work, T.C.!

Sheesh! T.C. fixes his dryer and gets flamed for the crimp job!

Man, he has clean, dry clothes and and and the dryer works!


"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for one night.
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!"

[jetmechmarty]

Scott,
I wouldn't call that flamed. That was constructive criticism. There's a big difference in my book. Learning is the purpose of this forum. Yes, TC is far more capable than the average bear.

[crazy steve]

Ok, I'll rain even more on this parade.....

TC, it's going to fail again. I went through this with my furnace, so I've BTDT.

The crimp connectors used in high-heat applications (furnaces, dryers, stoves, particularly for heating element connections) aren't the same as 'regular' crimps; they look the same but are usually made of plated steel or special alloy brass to take the heat involved. The heat cycles will quickly cause the joint to fail again with a 'standard' copper or brass crimp. You can buy the correct crimps at most appliance repair shops, and yes, you'll need the correct crimper.

But that may not be the whole problem. Many of these heating elements (particularly furnaces and dryers) aren't one element but multiple elements connected together. If the element is starting to fail, or one section has failed, you can have increased current or spikes that can overload even the 'right' connector. I went through this on my old furnace. Furnace quit, found a burned-off connection. Replaced it with a 'regular' crimp. Burned off again several times... Found out about the high-heat crimps, switched to those. They now lasted longer, but still kept burning off. Finally checked the elements (my furnace had 12 separate elements), found 3-4 failed 'open' and another 2-3 that were partially internally shorted. These high currents don't do the switching relays any good either.

Now, you may get away with this. But if it fails again, check the element over carefully; if it looks overheated or damaged anywhere, you'll need a new one. You should also replace any burned sections of wire, once it's got that hot the electrical properties are changed. Again, this is special wire, same source as the crimp connectors.

As a side note, I ended up replacing the furnace. The 'obsolete' heating elements were going to cost way more than a whole new furnace did....

[3Phase]

Yeah, I know it wasn't a Genuine Flame(c) but what else can you call it in a electric dryer fire thread?

Steve, where they are allowed a lot of the crimp connectors I've used for single and poly phase heating elements are stainless spring steel. Barring ''spendy exotic metals and connectors for stringing NASA booster stages nothing else could handle the current and the heat.

And I know you don't want to know about the crimp tool I've had for a going on thirty years now that came (FREE!) as part of a 99 cent terminal kit.

.

[natemoen]

I realize the element wasnt your issue but Something we used to do when I was young, instead of replacing the heating element you just hook the coils of the heating element over eachother so that it is reconnected. Not saying it is the safest but we did it for my whole childhood, probably a dozen+ times with one coil, and never had a issue with it. Still worked fine when my parents got rid of it because the washer died and they got a new set.

And this was one of those sweet avacado green appliance sets!