Gas dryer problem

[Shamus]

If you fire it up and the burner goes on for a bit then off then back on, off etc. while leaving the thing running that is an indication of coils. Coils are simple to replace and you wont be messing with the gas system. Last time I bought coils they were $36.00 for both, repair guy will nick you 2 bills or so. You said you checked for lint, make sure you check from the filter housing, on,off,on, off is a symptom of overheating as well.

shamus

[Max]

You said you checked for lint, make sure you check from the filter housing, on,off,on, off is a symptom of overheating as well.

shamus

Not sure what you're saying

[TequilaChaser]

He is talking about how the gas dryer might be operating... on, off, on, off ...the gas being lit for short period then shutting down via safety high limit switch or sensor, etc....

TC

[Max]

 

[Slate]

Not sure what you're saying

   The tube that goes outside to exhaust the gasses can become clogged with lint and shutting down the dryer. Also you should have a lint filter that needs to be cleaned occasionally.
   I have had the area below the lint filter become clogged also and a vacuum with a skinny adaptor can go and clean it out.
    If it's not a lint problem the other posts about the igniter are a correct assumption. With modern dryers the igniter is also the flame sensor. Not too much for that repair if you know what you are doing.   

[Max]

Problem fixed. Faulty gas coils were the culprit and were relatively inexpensive to replace.

Appreciate the replies. 

[ROC]

Faulty gas coils?  Your dryer was constipated? 

[morfiend]

If you fire it up and the burner goes on for a bit then off then back on, off etc. while leaving the thing running that is an indication of coils. Coils are simple to replace and you wont be messing with the gas system. Last time I bought coils they were $36.00 for both, repair guy will nick you 2 bills or so. You said you checked for lint, make sure you check from the filter housing, on,off,on, off is a symptom of overheating as well.

shamus

  Hmmm looks like it's Shamus for the win!







     

[PJ_Godzilla]

Not sure of the model, or if this applies to yours or not.  An old gas one I fixed a while back had a sensor on it that was in the flame.  Tells if the fire is lit or not, if it can't sense the heat it shuts off the gas.  Pulled the sensor, wiped the oxidization off with a light brillo pad, put it back in.  Worked fine for years.  Same thing was done to my heater last winter.  Same principle. 

 My guess as an engineer aligns with your wisdom: most gas burners, be they furnace, dryer, or oven, have a thermocouple to sense whether a flame is up. If no flame, the board will tell the gas valve to kill the gas -and for obvious reasons. A lot of times, the thermocouple or whatever sensor they're using these days will start putting out a bad single and the fail safe is to kill gas in event of any unexpected signal.

[HawkerMKII]

I agree. Will call a repair guy out tomorrow. With my luck I'll wind up burning the house down.

^^^this is the best thing you can do when it come to gas

[Meatwad]

Had a furnace that would just cycle on and then off. It had a bad high limit sensor. Bought a new one for about $20 or so and fixed it