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Posted by mm on March 1, 2008, 11:26 pm
I have a very old clothes dryer, a Kenmore that I'm pretty sure is
made by Whirlpool, that has never given me any trouble, and maybe it's
time to ask 2 questions about it.
1) The machine has a device to turn the dryer off when the clothes are
the desired dryness. You point the dryness knob to the chosen dryness
and turn on the dryer. But then the knob rotates and the pointer
moves. How does the dryer know where I set it? I can move it
clockwise and counter clockwise at any time. Sometimes I've moved it
CW to make it stop soon, but if that new position had been the
original position, it should have stopped already, and yet it
continues to run after I move the knob far clockwise. How does this
all work?
2) For the last 40 years, at the laundromat and with my own machine, I
always dry clothes on the lowest temperature that is warmer than fresh
air. I also usually take the clothes out when they aren't quite dry,
so they also aren't really hot yet.
But the air with this machine, even on gentle, must be a lot hotter
than gentle. Even after I've opened the machine and taken out the
clothes for a few seconds, the clothes seem hotter than gentle. I'm
afraid to try the next temp up, because I think that hot air is bad
for everything but 100% cotton, and I always have elastic, polyester,
nylon, or other fabrics in the load. I don't think I'd be successful
trying to measure the air temp, but would you all describe the heat on
"gentle" as still pretty hot?
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Posted by Bob on March 2, 2008, 1:36 am
mm wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> 1) The machine has a device to turn the dryer off when the clothes are
> the desired dryness. You point the dryness knob to the chosen dryness
> and turn on the dryer. But then the knob rotates and the pointer
> moves. How does the dryer know where I set it?
With the "auto dry" feature, the timer advances in relation to the
demand for heat. The heater has two levels -- on and off. When the
dryer starts, the heater is on until the exhaust reaches a predetermined
temperature, then the heat stays off until the exhaust reaches a cool
point and the cycle repeats. The timer advances only when there's no
demand for heat. With a wet load, heat is lost in the moisture, so more
heat is necessary. As it drys, there is less opportunity for heat loss.
show/hide quoted text
> ...But the air with this machine, even on gentle, must be a lot hotter
> than gentle. Even after I've opened the machine and taken out the
> clothes for a few seconds, the clothes seem hotter than gentle. I'm
> afraid to try the next temp up...
Is this different from what you experienced before? If the dryer has a
switch to select between two or more heat levels, is could be stuck at
the hot setting. In some dryers the low setting is determined with a
resistor near the thermostat that warms up to "fool" the thermostat into
opening (shutting off heat) at a lower temperature.
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Posted by mm on March 2, 2008, 11:27 am
show/hide quoted text
>mm wrote:
>> 1) The machine has a device to turn the dryer off when the clothes are
>> the desired dryness. You point the dryness knob to the chosen dryness
>> and turn on the dryer. But then the knob rotates and the pointer
>> moves. How does the dryer know where I set it?
>With the "auto dry" feature, the timer advances in relation to the
>demand for heat. The heater has two levels -- on and off. When the
>dryer starts, the heater is on until the exhaust reaches a predetermined
>temperature, then the heat stays off until the exhaust reaches a cool
>point and the cycle repeats. The timer advances only when there's no
>demand for heat. With a wet load, heat is lost in the moisture, so more
>heat is necessary. As it drys, there is less opportunity for heat loss.
I'll have to cogitate on this. :)
show/hide quoted text
>> ...But the air with this machine, even on gentle, must be a lot hotter
>> than gentle. Even after I've opened the machine and taken out the
>> clothes for a few seconds, the clothes seem hotter than gentle. I'm
>> afraid to try the next temp up...
>Is this different from what you experienced before? If the dryer has a
No. I should have said that explicitly. It's always been this hot,
and as long as I get there, or as long as the dryness setting makes it
stop, before it is totally dry, everything is fine. A couple times
that didnt' happen, and the clothes would be very hot, and the shirts
needed ironing etc. No clothese were ruined yet, but since I no
longer iron, I looked pretty wrinkled (until my body humidity and
warmth fixed the shirts while I was wearing them (except I don't think
I warm the collars.) So I've always thought something might be wrong.
show/hide quoted text
>switch to select between two or more heat levels, is could be stuck at
>the hot setting.
Aha. (Slaps forehead)
show/hide quoted text
> In some dryers the low setting is determined with a
>resistor near the thermostat that warms up to "fool" the thermostat into
>opening (shutting off heat) at a lower temperature.
Uh-huh.
OK. Now it's on my list to take it apart and check for problems with
whatever of these this dryer uses.
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Posted by mm on March 2, 2008, 11:27 am
And thanks.
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Posted by SRN on March 2, 2008, 5:29 pm
show/hide quoted text
>I have a very old clothes dryer, a Kenmore that I'm pretty sure is
> made by Whirlpool, that has never given me any trouble, and maybe it's
> time to ask 2 questions about it.
> ..................................................
> But the air with this machine, even on gentle, must be a lot hotter
> than gentle. Even after I've opened the machine and taken out the
> clothes for a few seconds, the clothes seem hotter than gentle. I'm
> afraid to try the next temp up, because I think that hot air is bad
> for everything but 100% cotton, and I always have elastic, polyester,
> nylon, or other fabrics in the load. I don't think I'd be successful
> trying to measure the air temp, but would you all describe the heat on
> "gentle" as still pretty hot?
We have an old Kenmore elec. dryer (circa 1990), and several years ago when
troubleshooting and replacing one of the thermostats, I measured the
temperatures on the various temp. ranges running the dryer empty.
The low temp. had a cut-in temp. of 105° and a cut-out of 157°
The med. temp had a cut-in of 107° and a cut-out of 166°
And the high temp. had a cut-in of 116° and a cut-out of 169°
As you can see, there is hardly a difference.
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> the desired dryness. You point the dryness knob to the chosen dryness
> and turn on the dryer. But then the knob rotates and the pointer
> moves. How does the dryer know where I set it?