How To Diagnose A Dryer

The best way for non-technicians to check a part in a dryer is to first inspect it for obvious damage then check it for electrical resistance. What do we mean by resistance? A very good example of resistance is the dryer heater. Dryer heaters produce heat by resisting the flow of electricity. Consider this, if a dryer heater did not have resistance it would be a conductor just like a wire. Resistance is checked using an ohmmeter. Today ohmmeters are incorporated in multimeters. The meter sends out a small amount of electricity from its battery and measures how resistant the circuit is to the flow of electrons. The resistance to the flow of electricity is measured in Ohms. The higher the resistance a circuit has the higher its Ohm reading will be.

Bottom line be safe conduct all your
tests with the dryer unplugged!