Dryer Problem

[jefehbk]

the other day the dryer shut off during a cycle. The breaker in the garaged was tripped. Upon trying to flip the breaker, it sparked a little and immediately went back to being tripped. I unplugged the dryer and reset the breaker...this time it stayed set and no spark. When I went to plug the dryer back into the wall, there was a small spark and the breaker tripped immediately again.

Possible causes and solutions?

[Randy]

The plug on a dryer is put on when being installed at your house, pull off the cover and make sure they havent come loose. also check for cuts in the plug wire as well.

[juiceweezl]

The plug on a dryer is put on when being installed at your house, pull off the cover and make sure they havent come loose. also check for cuts in the plug wire as well.

This would be my bet. The other possibility would be if the receptacle in the wall were bad. I've had GFI's do that before.

[jefehbk]

when i pulled off the cover a couple of the connections were loose( 3 connections in all), not overly loose but they tightened up none the less... one of the connections looked to be burnt, maybe from the sparking I described earlier. it was clearly darker than the other two and the copper wire i could see was black where the other two were still copper color.

other suggestions I have had suggested the heating element went out. do i dare try plug it back in or what at this point?

[mstng86]

Same thing happened to me. I bought a new plug set and rewired it per the instructions I found online. Apparently my dad wired it wrong when we moved in.

[jefehbk]

well the wire I am referring too is not nearly that bad. but you can surly tell that is was scorched a bit. i just dont want to do something stupid that gets me electrocuted or wasted money on replacing a part that is not needed or something.

[mustngacman]

Chances are the heat element is burnt in 2 and shorted. If you have an OHM meter you can check it. Just pull the wire off of each side of the heat element and ohm it out to ground.

[jefehbk]

Chances are the heat element is burnt in 2 and shorted. If you have an OHM meter you can check it. Just pull the wire off of each side of the heat element and ohm it out to ground.

i got the heat element out...it is blackened on one end, but I don't see any coils that are broke anywhere. nothing I can see touching that might short out anything. it looks fine other than than being a little black on one end.

[jefehbk]

im just going to get a new heating element just in case along with a new power cord since the other one looks a little cooked.

anybody have any place in Dallas...preferably close to Carrollton area that sells dryer repair parts. i found some online places, but if I can pick one up monday morning that would be even the better

[EW]

A loose connection will result in lots of heat at the connection.

[jefehbk]

A loose connection will result in lots of heat at the connection.

the electric plug on the back of the dryer was loose...a couple of turns and they were tight again. the screws were in no danger of coming undone, but I guess they might have been just loose enough to cause a problem.