Beaumark clothes dryer

[Ken Weitzel]

Hi...

Would appreciate info from anyone who might have a bit of
experience with Beaumark clothes dryers.

Bought one of these used (2 or 3 years old). No owner's manual,
and I can't decide whether I need to learn how to use it, or
whether I need to fix it

Manual works just fine. Timer advances, buzzer sounds, and
all is well.

The "auto" settings for delicate works fine. Starts hot,
gets cooler, times out, buzzer sounds, and all is well.

However, the normal "auto" seems to go on forever and ever.
Starts real hot, eventually cools down to lukewarm, but
the timer never moves. (I can hear the motor running)

Left it run for a couple of hours with one pair of jeans.
The jeans were super dry and badly beaten up, but the timer
never advanced at all, and it appeared to be willing to go
on forever.

Anyone any ideas? Anyone know where the humidity sensor is?

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken

 

[Ken Weitzel]

Hi...

Would appreciate info from anyone who might have a bit of
experience with Beaumark clothes dryers.

Bought one of these used (2 or 3 years old). No owner's manual,
and I can't decide whether I need to learn how to use it, or
whether I need to fix it

Manual works just fine. Timer advances, buzzer sounds, and
all is well.

The "auto" settings for delicate works fine. Starts hot,
gets cooler, times out, buzzer sounds, and all is well.

However, the normal "auto" seems to go on forever and ever.
Starts real hot, eventually cools down to lukewarm, but
the timer never moves. (I can hear the motor running)

Left it run for a couple of hours with one pair of jeans.
The jeans were super dry and badly beaten up, but the timer
never advanced at all, and it appeared to be willing to go
on forever.

Anyone any ideas? Anyone know where the humidity sensor is?

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken

Hi...

They say that one of the early signs is talking to yourself.
Hope that doesn't also apply to replying to your own messages,
but I'll do it anyway in the hope that it may help someone else

Found the humidity sensor - not in the exhaust duct where I had
expected, but rather in the drum itself. Very large, can't miss
it if you stick your head in with a flashlight. (another sign?

It's nothing more than a snakelike maze of pc trace wannabe's.
Check it with an ohmmeter, should read open. (there's many megs
in series with where it goes)

Inside the control panel there's a 3 x 3 inch pc board mounted
beside the timer. It's job is to disconnect power to the timer
motor in auto mode, until the humidity sensor in the drum is no
longer "shorted" by wet clothes against it.

On this board are perhaps a dozen resistors, two diodes, one filter,
two transistors, and another perhaps transistor (scr? triac? dunno?)
The maker has nicely removed every last trace of id from these
transistors.

Figured it would be cheap, so called GE to buy another. Only
costs $285 plus shipping. Crazy.

Tried my best to figure out how it did what it does. Decided
that the electrolytic's job was to filter rapid changes. Turns
out that it slowly charges, unless and until the in-drum sensor
is shorted when it rapidly goes back to zero volts. I guess this
way the timer motor doesn't start every time the sensor is at the
top (away from the clothes) and stop again every time it's back
at the bottom in contact.

Did our old guys equivalent of what you younger folks call ESR,
and sure enough - cap as good as open.

Had a 100 ufd 16 volt lying here; installed it; and it's good
as new and working perfectly

GE, I'll keep my 285 plus tax plus shipping, thanks, Hope it helps
some of you to do the same

Take care.

Ken