The Curse of the Electric Dryer
October 12th, 2006 by Grant in: General
Evidently, I have a problem with electric dryers.
After multiple battles with used electric dryers in my rental house, I broke down and bought a brand new dryer. I haven’t had any problems since.
However, now I’ve got a problem with my own electric dryer. It’s a blowin’, but it’s not bringin’ the heat!
Evidently, I have a bad temperature switch relay; a little black box that 4 wires plug into to control the heat level.
Naturally, I can’t buy just one. I have to buy a pair (even though I only need one), and the whole thing will run me $144.
Stack this bill on top of a previous repair bill to the same machine no less than 18 months ago, and the grand total is $322 to keep my Kenmore Elite electric dryer running. I only paid $300 for the unit four years ago…
Hindsight being 20/20, I would have been better off buying a new dryer when mine broke the first time.
Kenmore won’t stand behind their product for more than a year, so when it comes time to buy a new dryer, you can be sure I won’t buy a Kenmore.
On a similar note, my parents just replaced their 25 year old Maytag, not because it quit working, but because the top loading door was finally starting to rust.
Maybe I should go get their old machine, a jar of Bondo and a can of Krylon…
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October 13th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Oh, now, that’s just sad. I do only buy lightly used appliances for our rentals, though. I figure one of these days, we’ll have to replace one. But, so far, so good! I looked forever and finally found a place that purchases used appliances from Sears after people go into the store and buy new ones. They toss the gross ones and keep, clean up, and warranty the slightly used ones. We get a 30-day warranty on all parts and labor, then an additional 30-day warranty on parts. You should flip through your yellowpages and see if there’s such a place in your local area. In general, I don’t advocate buying new appliances for rentals. You can’t count on your tenants to respect your investment. I can generally get a dishwasher and range/oven for a total of $300. A vent-a-hood will cost about $30.
October 13th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Hey Trisha, that’s essentially what I did for my rental, but now my problem is with my dryer in MY house.
For my rental, I found a place just like you were talking about and picked up a washer and dryer for about $200 total. They both seemed like they were in good shape, but as it turned out, the dryer drum was turning off center and eating my tenants clothes.
Unfortunately the parts labor required to fix it were going to be more than just buying the cheapest NEW dryer I could find. So my cost saving efforts really bit me in the rear this time.
The tenants I have in the rental take really good care of the utilities. They like to have fun, but they’re the level headed type of college kids that seem to have some sense of responsibility. Hopefully it works out for a long time…
Thanks for contributing!
-Grant
October 21st, 2006 at 11:39 am
You’ve got terible luck with dryers! I understand that you want to eliminate your headaches with appliance repair calls, but you also have to watch your bottom line.
Do you have a good relationship with an appliance repair guy? I’m a firm believer in a “you scratch my back, I’ll give you business” kind of relationship…
Nice blog!