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Usually not worth it if you have to hire a repair person. It can be if you DIY. The repair people have to charge at least $100 to drive to and from your house. If they have to order parts, you are paying them to search the internet to finr them.
Thank you all for your helpful replies. There are some great ideas here. Life is rather chaotic this week, so I may not get to the DIY stuff for a few days, but I'll try to remember to let you all know whether I was able to resolve the problem myself.
I hadn't even thought of looking for helpful videos on YouTube; thanks to those who suggested that.
I agree with those who say it probably would not be worth it to have a professional come out and repair the thing as opposed to buying a new one. They charge so much just to show up at the house; charge a heap o' dough for parts and labor; then there's no guarantee the problem is really resolved. I'd hate to go through all that and end up having to buy a new dryer anyway.
You all are great. Thanks again for your help!
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Keep in mind, there's hardly anything to a dryer. Being gas it might be a teeny bit more complicated in that you've got a spark igniter, maybe a combustion fan, and a flue. But basically a dryer is a big box with a rotating drum in it. Pretty much any part in the thing can be replaced in an hour or two. Because it's dry, there's no issues with corrosion and leakage as in a washing machine.
What I'd do is call the local appliance parts house, tell them the make and model, and ask for guidance. The folks behind the parts counters know a tremendous amount. I mean a REAL appliance parts house, it'll be called something like ”Smith Appliance Repair Supply”. Not a big box store.
1. No. A visit by a repair service is going to cost $100s.
a. Follow K'ledgeBldr's advice.
b. Research problems/solutions using YouTube.
2. If you cannot fix it, then buy a new dryer.
maybe in Berkeley. I've always located trouble shoot guys that make a first call pretty affordable. Even employed a guy that had gone blind and brought his son along to describe. Rebuilt a large side/by/side fridge my wife is still using after 26 years!!!
I had my cheap dryer repaired. It was about 8 years old then i got it fixed. It was a $350 deal at Home depote back in 2011 i think or 2010. If it goes this time then i would get another cheapy.
I will echo what many have suggested - to search Youtube. Doing so has been invaluable to us to fix our washing machine and dishwasher. Most recently our washer stopped agitating. Youtube showed us the problem, and we would have kicked ourselves clear into Sunday if we had ordered a new machine - for $4.13 we replaced the dogs in the agitator column and problem solved. It may be the same with your dryer - a very cheap and simple fix.
My wife bought a house in 1988 and the owner left the washer and dryer, because they were "old" and she was getting new ones. That dryer served us until we left it, still functioning, for the next people in 2018. I'd guess it was close to 40 years old by then. I had to do a couple of repairs (and remove a mouse nest once) but there was never any reason to replace it.
Unless your clothes dryer has a bunch of unrepairable (unnecessary) electronics, it should have practically indefinite life. You'll have to replace belts every so often, and maybe eventually a gas igniter (ours was electric), and I eventually had to reface the little bearing pads where the drum rides, but that's about all there is in the thing.
A gas dryer should have a flame detector. If the flame detector is not working properly, the igniter will not function and there will be no heat. A flame sensor should cost $25 or less. You can test the current one to determine if it is or is not the problem. Or, you can just get another and see if that fixes it (like some 'mechanics' do these days- keep replacing parts until the problem goes away, instead of following correct troubleshooting procedures).
It could be that the igniter is failing to function, or the gas valve failing to open, but the flame detector is the place to start since neither of the first two will operate if the detector is dirty or has gone bad.
My wife bought a house in 1988 and the owner left the washer and dryer, because they were "old" and she was getting new ones. That dryer served us until we left it, still functioning, for the next people in 2018. I'd guess it was close to 40 years old by then. I had to do a couple of repairs (and remove a mouse nest once) but there was never any reason to replace it.
Unless your clothes dryer has a bunch of unrepairable (unnecessary) electronics, it should have practically indefinite life. You'll have to replace belts every so often, and maybe eventually a gas igniter (ours was electric), and I eventually had to reface the little bearing pads where the drum rides, but that's about all there is in the thing.
Stuff made in the 60's and 70's lasted 4ever. When i got my house in 04 it sill had the 1973 washer.
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100's? Really?
