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Honestly, I see a lot of guys skipping the amp clamp on dryer calls and it's costing them time.
Tbh, I was guilty of it too for a while. I'd just start swapping parts on a no-heat dryer, maybe the heating element or the thermostat, and hope for the best. Ngl, it felt like a guessing game. Then about six months ago, I got a call for a Whirlpool dryer in a condo complex and the tenant said it just stopped heating. I pulled out my clamp meter first thing and checked the current draw at the terminal block. It was pulling almost 18 amps, which told me the element was actually fine and the issue was upstream. Turned out to be a failed high-limit thermostat that wasn't sending power down the line. That one tool saved me probably 40 minutes of unnecessary disassembly and a wasted part. Has anyone else made this switch to checking amps first, and what was the weirdest load reading you've found?
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noah_webb6mo ago
Yeah, that "weirdest load reading" thing... my buddy had a dryer pulling like 2 amps. He was sure the element was open. Ended up being a broken wire in the harness right at the terminal, looked fine from the outside.
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jesse_nguyen6mo ago
Check the wire where it goes into the crimp terminal. Did the break happen right under the insulation, so it looked connected but wasn't making contact inside the terminal barrel?
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the_thea6mo ago
Ugh that's the worst! Like @noah_webb said, it looks totally fine until you wiggle it. I swear half my "broken" stuff just had a sneaky break right at the connector. Always check the simple stuff first, saves so much time. Makes you feel kinda dumb when you find it though lol.
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