Mailbag: Electric Dryer Stops Running

Leslie Van Dyke wrote:

Maytag Dryer, Model MDE9420AYW, SN 10068760YS, Purchased 2001.

Electric dryer stopped running.

I reset the home’s circuit breakers.
Pressed the START button again.
Checked the door switch.
Nothing worked.

Next day, I pressed the START button, dryer ran. Did one and one-half loads. Dryer quit running again.

Checked continutiy of thermal fuses, and door switch, good.

Checked venting, clean. Dryer started, quit in minutes.

Next day, dryer won’t start at all.

Help? Thanks – Leslie Van Dyke

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This sounds like the classic symptoms of a motor overheating and kicking out on thermal overload. You can confirm by measuring the continuity across the motor’s run winding next time it quits on you. If it reads open, then you know the motor’s internal thermal overload protector is open, which means the motor is overheating…