Gas Dryer Repair

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Mar 30, 2014
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NJ
My 18 year old gas dryer is malfunctioning.

It's a Whirlpool Duet. Has been a great dryer. Now, the burner won't stay lit. The igniter glows and the burner lights and stay lit about 5 to 10 seconds then turns off. About a minute later the igniter will glow and the burner lights and stay lit for about 5 to 10 seconds. It does this on timed and sensor dry, with exhaust vent hose removed. The blower fan works great and there is great airflow out the back of the dryer. When the gas does light, it looks like a nice blue flame. Thermal fuse has continuity.

I assume it's not the igniter or thermal fuse. My main suspects are the gas valve solenoids or the flame sensor.

Any ideas?
 
Could be the flame safety circuit. If it has an ionization rod or equivalent, clean it up with some scotchbrite and try again. If it's the other style detector, jumper it out and test that way. It may only need the lens cleaned. Ohmeter will tell the tale. Otherwise start looking at youtube and other internet resources. I'm sure your answer will be there and the parts for a talented homeowner to fix themselves cheaply.

 
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Flame sensor or thermocouple could be just dirty. It's just a metal rod, not much to go wrong with it other than deposits collecting on it over time.
 
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Thanks, all. Glad to see we're all on the same page. I ordered the flame sensor part Sloinker mentioned. My dryer doesn't have a thermocouple or high limit switch but I think the flame sensor part serves the same purpose. Trigger warning: I don't have the tool to remove the flame sensor. My plan was to remove it and clean it and hope it works. But I can't get it out. The little screw that holds it in is underneath the drum and I don't want to remove the drum. My 1/4" socket is too tall to fit between the drum and the screwhead. I just need to loosen it about 2 or 3 turns to wiggle the flame sensor out but can't do it with my tools. I need a 1/4" wrench and my set only goes down to 3/8". I've ordered the flame sensor, gas valve solenoids, and a small wrench set.
 
Have you checked the dryer gas valve ignition solenoid coils? I know that happened on our old Kenmore dryer and these fixed it immediately.
 
I know this is an old topic but I wonder if the gas coils can be tested at room temperature and then using heat gun (or hair dryer) to check if the fail under load. I only found electrical testing numbers and nobody has suggested this method. Of course, since those coils are cheap enough to replace, I guess it is not worth this type of testing.
 
Coils on gas valve bad. Cheap, easy fix, I keep couple sets for spares.To access screw on flame sensor purchase 1/4” stubby nutdriver.
 
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