It is over thirty years old.The automatic shut off thingy quit working about twenty years ago.I usually hang my clothes on the line to dry.I can use the clothes dryer, but I have to remember to shut it off after a while.I always keep the lint filter cleaned out.Why doesn't the automatic shut off switch work anymore? cuhulin
I'm guessing that this is not a serious question, but here is an answer anyway.
Best guess would be that the motor in the timer went bad or a gear broke in the timer. Easiest solution is to replace the timer. Of course you could also repair the timer if you were inclined to do so.
Mike
The timer motor burned out on my dryer, first time I'd ever seen that happen but the winding was open, maybe the dryer lost neutral and it fried the 120V motor? Anyway I needed it working quick so I cut open the motor, removed thousands of turns of hair thin wire from the form and wound it with the smallest magnet wire I had. Connected it to 9VAC from a small transformer and it ran, figured it would get me by for a while but that was over 3 years ago and it still works so I haven't bothered to get a new dryer.
The easiest way to make an auto-shutoff "dryness" control is to stick a thermostat in the output air stream. As the clothes dry, the air temperature rises. The higher the temperature, the dryer the clothes.
If the thermostat fails, the dryer will not longer automatically shut off at the selected dryness.
That's almost as good as repairing the plastic pinion gear in the timer of my 35 year old Maytag washter with hot melt glue. That was a few years ago as well. :)
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Adn start a fire? :( :) Don't depend on the thermal protector....
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Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.
The "dryness" thermostat isn't intended to provide overheat protection.
I am serious about my old Maytag electric clothes dryer.I always unplug it from the 240 volt outlet when I am not using it.I have had to have my old Maytag washing machine (it is the same age as my Maytag clothes dryer) repaired a few times over the years.I guess it is about time I buy a new clothes washer and clothes dryer.Probally Whirlpool.Only a basic clothes washer and basic clothes dryer is all I need, don't care for the fancy bells and whistles. cuhulin.
Hi!
There could be a few reasons for this. The little motor that runs the timer unit itself is usually very reliable and will run for a long time. The most common problem I've seen is dried up grease. Gears with broken teeth are a close second. The gears may break if the grease is stiff (or gone!) and the motor has enough torque to force and break them. Many times the little motor just stalls from the extra load of the grease, or lacks the strength to push the timer dial past some positions.
My grandmother had a Norge washing machine that was like that. It would run normally to start out, but if you forgot it, it would stay in the spin cycle all day long without someone to advance the timer past the "bad spot".
There is also the possibility that the contact points for the automatic shut off feature are burned or out of adjustment.
William
snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3257.bay.webtv.net:
Some of the old Maytag dryers had a simple dryness control that consisted of two sensors in the tub that were located on the paddles in the tub (looked like coilled up wire), an electronic dryness control that had a large value resistor (from rectified AC) feeding a capacitor that was tied to one of the sensors in the tub with the other end grounded to the frame of the dryer as well as thr second sensor was grounded, and a solenoid that released a holding switch.
------->|---/\/\/\/\/\/---(Sensor) | = |
--------------------------(Sensor)
as the clothes dried the voltage was allowed to rise across the capacitor....
When the voltage was high enough a neon bulb fired and triggered the SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) in the electronic controll to engage the release solenoid, ring the bell and shut off the dryer.
The electronic controll had the capacitor right on top of it with a strap around it...
This replaced the standard timer system...
Note I simplified the discription quite a bit, left off such things as fabric settings and such...
R!
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