So two weeks ago, our fairly new budget Dryer from Roper (made by Whirlpool) just stopped working right after doing a load of laundry. The dryer being less than 3 years old began to make me mad and drink a lot as I embarked on a two day mission with a multi-tester, a screw driver and a virginesque view of 220 wiring. I broke some nails, cut my hands, but I never could find anything wrong with the dryer. It was getting voltage everywhere it should. That's when I decided to open up the timer and check the contacts. Sure enough they were burnt. I later figured out a quick test for people with a Roper or Whirlpool dryer who find themselves in a similar situation to test if it's the timer before you call out the repairman. After all, if this happening to me, it's happening to other people... and let's be frank.. this crap dryer isn't worth a repair visit. I have my suspicions that the timers burn out quicker on the dryers with the energy saving feature because they constantly turn-off-and-on by themselves to conserve power.
Here's my model number for reference:
and as you can see here's the energy saver feature, which on the back of the knob is the timer.
So here's the trick. It will only take 10 minutes to see if your dryer quit because of the timer as well...
- 1) Unplug dryer.
2) Access the upper rear panel and remove:
3) Locate the timer on the right hand-side directly behind the large knob.
4) Now see that white harness on the right hand-side of the timer with the tan and white wires? Double check you've done step #1 (Be a bit O.C.D.... it's worth it.) and remove the harness being aware of how it's positioned on the timer. Grab a jumper wire and connect the tan to the white. (on the harness) Plug the dryer in and carefully start the dryer. If it starts right up, you need a new timer.
In my case I disassembled the timer for a visiual confirmation which can clearly be seen:
Now I'll warn you, the timers aren't cheap. The cheapest I found was for $63.88 and about $17 in shipping on E-bay. (It came direct from Sears though it's sold through a company called Mel-Co) If you have the exact same model dryer I have (RED4400SQ0) then you'll need timer:
- 3979617 Timer 60 Hz Dryers for Whirlpool or Roper
You can google it here.
Installation is a breeze. Remove the knob then the two screws that hold the timer in place. Then replace each wire for wire on the timer. (which are color coded just in case). Do be careful re-installing the tan-white harness because it can go on more than one way and you will blow a breaker if it's offset on the wrong connector. (Don't ask how I know this.)
So what if it's not the timer? Well it could be several things but most likely it's the white thermostatic fuse located behind the tin cover on the lower half of the dryer. Since it's somewhat more cumbersome to get to and requires a multimeter to properly test, I would have to probably recommend you call someone at this point. (If your comfortable with testing it, unplug one lead on it and check it for continuity.) On the other hand if you find your vent clogged with lint, something you can check without much difficulty then that's probably the issue. (The thermostatic fuse overheating from the lack of air flow.)
A few things I've learned (or questioned) out of this experience are:
- 1) Dryers are stupid. They suck in my A/C which I've already cooled, heats it, then tosses it out the external vent. I can't believe in 2010 this is as good as it gets. (The smart Japanese have heat-pump and microwave dryers.) It would seem to make sense to me that during the summer, running a vent to the intake of the dryer would be a huge energy saving modification.
2) There are no Energy Star Dryers. When I started shopping around believing all was hopeless I would have ended up with nothing better than what I have now.
3) Why does does Whirlpool sell under the name Roper then print the name Whirlpool on the dryer? Why not just call it a Whirlpool?
4) A clothes line and pins costs about $7 and actually dries the clothes quicker than the dryer when it's above 90F.
