How to fix a bum dryer: a cautionary tale

I will now accept my honorary degree in Electrical Engineering.

(By the by, if you are a potential employer reading this post … please consider my other talents and abilities. For examples, I can play the guitar solo for “Man In A Box” behind my back. In Rock Band 2, that is. Consider what an asset I would be for your company!)

Meet my dryer.

It doesn’t have the name, but it certainly deserves one: it’s been a champ. An absolute warrior.

Ken and I picked this baby up at a garage sale, for a tidy sum of $50. We immediately realized a $0.76 return on investment (ROI), from the change we shook out of it while finagling it down to the basement of our old house.

Well, recently, the old sport lost it’s dragon’s breath.

That is, it stopped heating my clothes, while spinning and bouncing them in endless circles.

Moog–excellent Electrical Engineer that he is–diagnosed a failed thermal fuse.

So, we ordered a replacement thermal fuse online.

In the mean time, though, we had wet clothes.

No worries, though–I’m quite qualified to deal with these … challenges. I was trained from an early age in the nuances of short-circuiting a fuse. Christmas lights blow out? Wrap the fuse in tin-foil. Fireplace give out? Short it with a paper-clip.

240 volt electric dryer stop drying? Short it with a paper clip!

So that’s exactly what I did. And, boy, did those clothes get dry.

Not until the replacement fuse arrived did I discover … this:

and, this …

In retrospect, I suppose that 240v is a lot of current. And, in retrospect, I realize that the paperclip I used to short the dryer was about as thick as the wire used for its heating coils.

Boy, don’t I feel clever now!

Good news is: the house is still standing (near as I can tell, there aren’t even any scorch marks on the wall).

Bad news is: the replacement thermal fuse (which burns out at 325 degrees Fahrenheit) burned out right quick, soon as it was replaced.

Guess I should have left the paperclip!