[Leighton888]

Last fall we bought a brand new GE dryer for our vacation home. This vacation home we only visit a few times a year, for much of the year the dryer sits unplugged in an empty house. It worked when I was last at the home in January, but now that I'm here again, I've found the automatic functions have completely failed. The knob never advances, it would continue drying for 8 hours if I didn't stop it manually.



What are the usual causes of the automatic function on a dryer failing? The "timed dry" function still works.

 

[RAL238]

It could be a bad moisture sensor, thermostat, control board or timer, or a number of other things, such as a loose wire or bad connection between components.

If it is less than a year old, it should still be under warranty. I would just call and have it repaired under the warranty.

 

[DexterII]

Having a second home myself I know that it has sometimes been more difficult to coordinate onsite visits with utility companies and so on, so it might require a little extra effort, but, particularly being that new, I definitely agree with RAL in getting a technician to look at it. Meanwhile though, I would check the receptacle to make sure that your hot and neutral are not reversed. For south of $10 you can buy a checker at your local hardware or big box, small enough to fit in your hand, easy enough to use, just plug it into the receptacle, and the lights on it will tell you if it is good or needs to be corrected. It should be right regardless, and although I'm not 100% convinced myself I have heard that having them switched can mess with electronics.