Friday, May 28, 2004

I Fixed Our Dryer

The heating element in our clothes dryer stopped working yesterday. Since I am home alone today while Tracie is at work, I decided to fix it. There were two pairs of wires that had been obviously joined some time previously, so I joined them both together.

I plugged the dryer back in, and started a drying cycle. There was an enormous spark, like only 220 (volts, watts, amps, or mhz?) can provide. I couldn't figure out how to shut it off for a few seconds, then I realized that I had to open the door asap.

One of the leads to half of the heating element got zapped. Two little pieces of it landed on the lino and burn holes in the floor.

Now when the timer is running, so is the good half of the heating element, regardless of whether or not the fan and drum are spinning. You can actually hear an electricity buzzing noise. That can't be a good sign. I wish I had paid more attention to the dryer before I "fixed" it. Maybe the heating element is supposed to come on, even if the fan and drum aren't going.

Maybe it is fixed after all. I don't think a huge spark is a good sign though. Fixing it sure would have put me in a good mood. Nothing make you a real man like actually fixing something you know nothing about, and having it actually be fixed.

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