If a thermal fuse for an electrical appliance is blown, it could be among the top reasons why your clothes dryer might stop blowing hot air when drying your clothes. A common culprit in this situation is a clogged dryer vent. Believe it or not, the dryer's blown fuse is the result of it operating exactly as it was designed to. If the heat source has suddenly stopped working, there is a possibility that the clogged dryer vent caused the dryer to overheat. As a result, the thermal fuse for the appliance disables the heat source.
You may also hear a thermal fuse for an electrical unit referred to as a thermal cut off. They are small, temperature sensitive switches that are able to stop the electrical current whenever an appliance heats up to its trip temperature rating.
One of the biggest differences between a thermostat and a this thermal protective device is that a thermostat resets itself following a trip temperature rating. The thermal fuse for your dryer is unable to reset itself. If it is tripped or fails for some reason, it will need to be replaced.
Since the 1980s, most clothes dryer manufacturers install a thermal fuse for each unit to act as a safety device. Other manufacturers of heat producing appliances, like coffee makers, have also followed suit by installing a thermal fuse for their products as well. The thermal fuse acts as a safety device by stopping the flow of electric current from reaching the heat source which could cause a serious malfunction. Examples of this type of occurrence include a defective thermostat or a clothes dryer vent that is clogged with lint.
If overheating were to occur in these situations, the temperature might continue to increase to such a dangerous level that it could potentially ignite a dangerous fire. Hundreds of homes have fallen victim to spontaneous fires that began in a clothes dryer vent that was clogged with lint.
Do not mistake the function of a thermal fuse for a circuit breaker. Thermal fuses are designed to only react to higher than normal temperatures. They do not react to high electrical current unless the current flow is high enough to cause the thermostat fuse to heat up and trigger the temperature.
The thermal fuse for clothes dryers is a major component of the heating circuit. It helps control the heat it delivers. By contrast, the thermal cut off is a separate device located in the motor that completely shuts down if the motor overheats.
If you ever notice that your clothes dryer is not producing heat when you dry your clothes, the thermal fuse for it's electrical circuit system could be to blame. If this is the case, do not just sit back and do nothing. Remember that a functioning thermal fuse for your dryer could save your family and your home by preventing a fire from occurring. Make sure to replace the blown fuse, otherwise your clothes dryer could end up putting your home at risk.
The engineering team at DeVale have been very helpful with their guidance and support through our product design stage. We have not seen that level of support from any company in their industry.
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