Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Need help with a dryer blowing one of it's two fuses

Hello,

I have a dryer thats running on 220 Volts AC. Two days ago it began blowing one of the two 30 amp fuses. It's the same fuse all the time. After I change it, the dryer wil run between 5 and 10 minutes, then the fuse lets go. I'm assuming I'm losing one of the 110 volt supplys. But it's always the same side thats blowing. Theres also some apperent burn damage on the fuse block, which is mildly warm immediately after it blows. Would it be fair to assume that its a dryer problem? There has never ever been a problem with wiring in the panel. Any ideas?

Thanks

The main load in an electric dryer is the heating element which operates at 240 volts. There is also an electric motor (~1/3 h.p.) that turns the drum. I checked the manual on mine and it says it has a 5400 watt element (22.5 amps @ 240 volts) and a 120 volt motor with a full load amps of 5.9. This means there is 28.4 amps on one leg and 22.5 amps on the other leg if everything is normal and there is 120/240 volts at the dryer location. The actual voltage could be lower, or the rolling friction of the drum could have increased due to age or if the washer leaves the clothes very wet, this load on one leg could easily get over 30 amps. The higher current drops the voltage to the unit which results in less heat from the element and even higher current to the motor. Restrictions in the dryer vent could cause longer run times. Also, as mentioned in similar posts, you could also have some loose connections at either the dryer terminals, the plug-to-receptacle connection or at the panel which could be causing one fuse to blow.

Since the fuse blows after 5-10 minutes its not a short in the circuit.Check for tight connections at the fusepanel, receptacle & dryer connections to be sure.You may have a bad heating element that the problem leg is feeding or the drum motor may be bad

Ok, I ran the dryer without anything in it. It made it through a full cycle without blowing the fuse. I did observe the heating element cycling. I'm going to assume that the drum motor is tired seeing as it made it through 40 minutes with no load in the drum. I don't have any service manuals for this so it is kind of hard to troubleshoot. I did notice that the fuse block was warm but that has to be the normal result of 40 some odd amps running through the two fuses. By the way the dryer is a kenmore Series 70. Is it econimical to replace the drum motor? Or should I start looking for an upgrade?

Thanks

In my opinion, if the dryer is seven or more years old, replace it. Around this time, the drum rollers are about worn out, the belt idler pulley is on its last leg and the heating element could go at any time. Also, the drum probably has scratches which could be transferring rust to clothes. Of course, this all depends on how much it has been used. The timeline I mentioned certainly varies.

Hey,
have your fuse box checked out :coffee: