dryer was working fine one day then the next went to dry a load of clothes and nothing, no lights, no power, checked the cord and its fine, checked power to the board and its fine, any help please
"kory hentges, here is what the service manuial says to try first. Check to see if you can get in the diagnostics mode
""The Diagnostic Tests will test and verify all of the inputs to the machine control electronics board. These tests are an overall check of the dryer electronics and the related components. The tests should be run prior to making any of the troubleshooting tests.
ACTIVATING THE DIAGNOSTIC TEST MODE
1. Make sure that the dryer is in the “Standby” mode (plugged in and all of the indicators are off).
2. Press the following control panel keypad sequence all within 5 seconds:
More Time—Less Time—More Time—Less Time.
3. All indicators on the console should nowbe illuminated with “88” showing in the “Estimated Time Remaining” display, if this test mode has been entered successfully."" Also, check to make sure that ribbon connectors P3 and P4 are inserted all the way into the machine control electronics board. The service manual also suggest that, if you unit should not power up, to:
"" 1. Check the 120 VAC electrical supply.
2. Check the wiring harness connections.
3. Check the control electronics.""
The attached image is the wiring diagram for the dryer. you can clearly see that the door switch is a definite possibility. If your door switch is not functioning, your drum light will not come on. Hope this helps, good luck."
If the door switch or the door-switch actuator is defective, the dryer won't work and you need to replace the failed component. The switch is inside the dryer main housing near the door frame. Sometimes you need to raise or open the top or front of the dryer to reach the switch. To determine if the door switch has failed, watch the part testing video at the link on the bottom of this page.
Thermal fuse
On many dryers, there's a thermal fuse (a heat-sensitive fuse that blows if the dryer overheats) mounted to the exhaust duct inside the back cover panel. The fuse is about an inch long. It's usually embedded in black resin and mounted in a white plastic housing.
If the fuse has blown, it has no continuity. When this happens, your dryer either just stops heating, or it doesn't work at all. Be sure to inspect the venting/heating system before replacing the fuse to put the dryer back into operation. (You can't re-set this type of fuse.) To determine if the thermal fuse has blown out, watch the part testing video at the bottom of this page.
Wiring
Often the main wiring connection from the house, at the dryer, burns and the connection breaks. In this has happened to your dryer, you need to replace the power cord and the terminal block inside the dryer to which the wire is attached.
"This has happened to me three times. The first time, the problem went away after I unplugged it for a while and fiddled with the breaker turning it on and off a few times. All of a sudden it started working again.
The second time, about a month later, after trying the above to no avail, I cleaned out the dust at the bottom, replaced the burned out drum light and fiddled with a few other things. Nothing. Then I lifted the head (slide a putty knife under the ends from the front). The whole thing flips back on plastic hinges at the top. I disconnected and reconnected the ribbon. That worked! I am genius, I think.
Today, a month or two later, same thing happens. So, I try ribbon deal again, and again several time, disconnect and reconnect a few other things, testing after each step. Nothing. Stop to search the net for a while for some other solution. Finding nothing, go back and try disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbon again. And, this time it worked. I'm back in business. Who knows for how long. The ribbon connections are marked P4 and P3.
After writing the above, I went back to check the dryer which was drying my clothes as I wrote. The clothes are dry but the head is now dead again. Nothing happens when I push any button. Shoot! Must be something to do with the ribbon and its connections. Can't see paying $250 for new control board. Might as well just get a new dryer."
"Here's the answer for me (I inherited a set of the he4's). I removed the plug (didn't want to get zapped) then removed the top, exposing the board that the electronic ribbons are plugged into. I removed and reseated these ribbons (if I recall correctly there were only two). Plugged back in to test. Pushed buttons to see if display would light up...and voila!
I realize that the problem could be completely different from what my machine was experiencing... but for mine it was a connection issue with how the ribbons are seated. There's a way to improve the contact on those connections with a contact cleaner spray/lubricant. I haven't messed with any yet, but will do the next go around when it needs another fix."
"There is a design issue with the Kenmore HE4 dryer, and this is likely similar to the HE3 line. The HE4 (correct me if the HE3 is different..) has it's air exhaust below the front door. What happens is, clothes will tend to block this vent as they slump around. Moisture will build up in the cabinet , which isnt a big issue in itself, as you did put wet clothes in... but enough of this moisture makes its way thru the cabinet onto the two control boards., causing issues. On mine, it would intermittently refuse to start (no lights , no response to buttons). This turned out to be one of the front panel microswitches.. it had corrosion around the pin connectors. The chipset does a self-check before startup and it found the switch apparently in the fully pressed mode (the corrosion). Replacing the small switch ($2) solved the issue.
The design fault can be worked around. All you have to do is make sure the clothes dont block the vent too much. One way to do this is do only dry very small loads. The better way, IMHO, is to elevate the front of the machine a little (1"" etc). You can do this with the adjustable feet, or a simple bit of wood block etc. Now, the clothes will tend to 'walk' towards the rear of the drum , allowing proper airflow.
I found our HE4 dryer at the local dump (small rural community).. I presume the previous owner refused to pay the $400 cost of new circuit boards and instead tossed it. Appliance repair guys just swap boards nowadays.. no one wants to replace cheap electronic switches etc.
As a bonus.. we discovered another HE4 a coupla years later, also at the dump (no, these were not in the 'pit' with the regular garbage.. ick.. theres a separate place for scrap metal etc), so now I have a box of spare parts for mine !
If you have an HE3/4 and dont suspect you will have an issue.. check out your dryer vent while it's running a full load. If the vent flow is very erratic , you will have a circuit board problem eventually !"
