I finally tried the 'bad' way to test a dryer heating element and it worked

Everyone says you have to pull the element out and check for continuity, but last week on a tight Whirlpool dryer I just checked for voltage at the terminals with it still wired up. It showed 240V, proving the element was open, and I had the part swapped in 20 minutes. Has anyone else found a shortcut that goes against the usual advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_dylan2mo ago

Checking for voltage like that is my kind of shortcut, right up there with my diagnostic method of just hitting things.

jenny_jackson2mo ago

My old foreman at a logging crew had a rule. If you hit something and it starts working, you just made a future problem for the night shift. That voltage check is the real shortcut because it tells you what's actually broken, not just what's loose enough to rattle. Percussive maintenance is just lazy troubleshooting.

ryan95216d ago

Wait, so @the_dylan is out here hitting stuff and calling it a diagnostic method? That's basically the same as guessing and hoping the problem goes away. Your foreman had it right though, voltage checks tell you if its a real issue or just a loose connection vibrating into place. Hitting something might make it work for an hour but that same loose wire is gonna come back worse when the night shift is trying to sleep.