Went on another dryer service call the other day. Complaint on this one was that the dryer was completely dead, no lights, no beeps, no nuttin’. It was, as we master appliantologists say, dead on arrival.

Pop Quiz: What’s the first thing you check when you’re dealing with a dead appliance?

Answer: The power supply. In this case, make sure you have proper voltage at the wall outlet that the dryer plugs into. These pics show you the anatomy of both the three-wire and four-wire outlets. Click ’em for a larger view.

Anyway, did that, all good. So the dryer must be getting voltage, right? Ahh, grasshoppah, not necessarily. Like the yellow brick road, we must follow the pigtail into the back of the dryer, remove the little cover for the power strip and check power there. Only then can we say the dryer is getting voltage… or not. After I removed the power strip cover, my bloodshot eyeballs immediately grokked the problem. See if you can spot it in the picture below:

Did you find it? I knowed you could! Loose connections make heat… sometimes LOTS of heat. Be sure the nuts on those power strip studs are GOODNTIGHT!

In this case, so much of the pigtail wire was burnt up that I had to install a new one. You can, too. Piece of pie, tovarish– come git you one!

To learn more about your dryer, or to order parts, click here.