Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Jumpstarting a Dryer

1) Find another fully functioning dryer, and connect via jumper cables. If this fails, proceed to step 2.

2) (two people are required) Have one person push the dryer down a downhill slope. Have the other person inside, with their foot on the clutch, and when enough speed is generated......

nevermind.

Seriously, you can jumpstart a dryer (in some cases) that will not run. Here's how I found out.

Katherine and I had bought a new washer and dryer when we bought our first home. About a year into it, one day, our dryer just wouldn't start, and we couldn't figure out why (commentary about grumbling over new expensive appliance going on the fritz intentionally omitted). Well, we lived in a real remote place where there weren't many options for repair, although we found a local guy that did that kind of thing. When I called him, though, he was really sick, and said he couldn't come out today. but he said try this, and by golly, it worked.

You DO need 2 people to do this, so you have enough hands.

1) Open the door of the dryer, and then use one hand to press and hold down the door switch so the dryer "thinks" it is actually closed.

2) Take another hand and start spinning the dryer's clothes basin around manually. Generate a decent speed and try to keep it moving.

3) Set the dryer for a cycle, and have someone push the start button while the clothes basin is still being manually rotated (and you're still holding in the door switch). Voila. It should crank right up, unless you are having more serious problems, AND, it should function properly without the jumpstart after that.

The repairman said that somehow, a piece of lint or something can get caught up in the circuitry and cause the misfire. But this process nearly always solves the problem!

Here's hoping I save someone $75 or more sometime!