Use a digital multimeter to check your appliance's thermal fuse
Most home appliances such as clothes washers, dryers or dishwashers utilize a safety feature known as a thermal fuse that disrupts the flow of electricity to your appliance's heating element in the event that your appliance begins to overheat. A tripped thermal fuse will render your appliance unable to produce heat until the offending thermal fuse is replaced. Because the inability to produce heat could be caused by a number of faulty parts, including the heating element, it's always a good idea to test your thermal fuse with a digital multimeter before attempting to replace it.
Instructions
1. Disconnect your home appliance from its power source before disassembling its components to check your thermal fuse. Make sure to disconnect any gas appliances from their gas supply as well before proceeding to the next step.
2. Determine the location of the thermal fuse in your home appliance. Thermal fuse placement can vary by appliance, brand or model. Remove the bottom toe or back panels to locate the thermal fuse in most residential washers or dryers. Look behind the bottom toe panel to locate the thermal fuse in most residential dishwashers.
3. Locate a 1-inch white plastic strip with two wires connected to it; this is your appliance's thermal fuse.
4. Pull gently to disconnect both of the wires attached to the thermal fuse.
5. Set your digital multimeter, also called an ohmmeter, to the Rx1 setting. A digital multimeter is an electronic device that is used to test the continuity of the thermal fuse in your appliance.
6. Touch the probes of your digital multimeter to the ends of the thermal fuse. Monitor the display on your digital multimeter to determine if your thermal fuse needs to be replaced. Note that a functioning thermal fuse will cause the needle of your digital multimeter to move to "0," while the needle will not move at all if your thermal fuse is faulty.
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