Melting dryer wires - Sears Kemore front loader

[XXitanium 1,087]

I tried Money-yards er manure-yards  er Menard's. They had a poor collection of undersized parts that really seemed mismarked.

 

I think I need to make some soldered connections and replace the female spade connectors. The old wires have about 4" of melted/burned insulation. The copper is corroded.

 

They melt when I put an end back on.

 

Amazon has parts, but they're astronomical for what you get.

 

Amazon Sale Part

 

I'm definitely not doing this right. My day job is getting in the way of my evening home gig.

 

 

 

[Zero Knievel 992]

Do you know why the insulation melted?  May be a symptom of a larger issue.  What year is the unit?

[RXX 1,828]

6 hours ago, Zero Knievel said:

Do you know why the insulation melted?  May be a symptom of a larger issue.  What year is the unit?

 

Yeah, this is actually a pretty good question.

[Redbird 2,139]

Poor connection=heat. You mentioned corrosion?

[Furbird 676]

If the wire is corroded, you need to do two things.  First of all, figure out why it's corroding.  Secondly, you have to cut past all that corrosion and get to clean wire before you put a new connector on.  On Furbird, I had to replace entire runs of wire because it was so corroded from the test connector.  I have no idea how it even ran as bad as some of those wires were.  If you have corrosion so bad it's causing heat that far back in the wire, I'd want to know why, otherwise you'll keep fighting a problem that will never go away.

[superhawk996 1,820]

The corroded wires will need to be removed to have a reliable connection.  At the very least you'll need to clean the wires down to clean copper at the connection points.

Edited June 30 by superhawk996

[Zero Knievel 992]

Also, where is the dryer located.  Some people put theirs outdoors or at least exposed to outside air, and even if it’s not rained on, the moisture in the air isn’t good for the appliance.

[Biometrix 397]

16 hours ago, Zero Knievel said:

Also, where is the dryer located.  Some people put theirs outdoors or at least exposed to outside air, and even if it’s not rained on, the moisture in the air isn’t good for the appliance.

Where is this happening? The only outdoors dryer I've ever seen consisted of a line strung between two points suspended above the ground or some variation of that specifically designed to expose clothes to the outside air...and sun. Is this a southern thing?

Edited July 1 by Biometrix

[Zero Knievel 992]

It’s a southern thing, I guess.  I don’t see it often, but people are known to put their washer and driers on a patio/porch...sometimes a deep freezer too.

[SwampNut 6,955]

I've had several dryers outside, and occasionally the washer too.  It's AZ so there's no humidity to kill it, and keeping heat outdoors is always good.  In houses with a swamp cooler it would be more humid inside the house.  And no dryer vent to clean.  I lived in a house with a weird semi carport/garage thingy, which had hookups for it.  There was a garage door, and roof that was part of the house, but the other two sides were totally open.  Weird but also useful.  Many older AZ houses had odd arrangements like this.

 

On the original question I'm confused why this needs to be a "part" and not just some wire and connections.

 

[XXitanium 1,087]

On 6/28/2019 at 6:34 PM, XXitanium said:

I think I need to make some soldered connections and replace the female spade connectors. The old wires have about 4" of melted/burned insulation. The copper is corroded.

 

The wires that supply the dryer heating element .

I do plan on going back to where the old copper is clean.

 

I don't think a dryer outdoors would be good in my climate.

 

I bought new spade connectors, but they were aluminum, not copper. ...and smaller although marked the same .

 

 

Edited July 2 by XXitanium

[Biometrix 397]

Ok so I learned something new...some people have outside dryers. Honestly didn't know that was a thing but doesn't seem to apply in this case anyhow. However with regard to the melting wire issue, I have no input on the repair but am also concerned about the cause. Two things I have heard that can cause overheat are blocked dryer vent and/or dirty lint filter. Assume you have checked both of these? Perhaps look beyond the obvious. Sometimes lint can get jammed down in the filter if it's the kind you slide in and out. Also vents can get clogged by a number of things including mice getting in through the outside vent and expiring. Just because you can feel warm air coming out the vent doesn't mean it's not at least partially blocked. Anyhow if it's neither of those then good luck and I hope you remedy the issue. Would hate to see it cause a fire or worse. 

[SwampNut 6,955]

1 hour ago, XXitanium said:

but they were aluminum, not copper.

 

Sure it's not zinc coated copper?  Also, who cares if they are aluminum?

[XXitanium 1,087]

It's extremely light. I'll see if it says on the blister pack.

 

Dissimilar metals/corrosion.

 

I'd just like it to fit correctly. 

 

I should probably buy a new element also. I'm considering that the elements resistance may have risen due to the exterior slowly corroding away. It's a fairly light wire.

 

[SwampNut 6,955]

I've never heard of an aluminum terminal.  I'm not sure you could buy one if you wanted to.  In a quick search, I couldn't find that as a material for terminals at all.  It's going to be something like tin/zinc over beryllium/copper.  The best material for a terminal.

[XXitanium 1,087]

Ok. I got them for 15 for about $7 I think. Maybe I'll cut one up.