Customer Questions and Answers for Thermostat by Whirlpool

Hello Albert, Yes, Albert, the thermostat could be bad when showing continuity. The way this could happen is when it gets hot enough that it should open, the contacts inside the apparatus can be stuck and never shutting the heater off. This of course would cause the opposite of your complaint. The thermistor could be part of the issue, but it is more likely to be a control issue than the thermistor, if it ohmed out to the proper resistance (10KO @ 77°F). There could be a lint build-up on the thermistor inside the duct causing it to short cycle. I would suspect the thermistor or the control as the issue. I am suspecting that you are referring to the highest temperature of the cycle. Here is how the average temperature should be obtained. Insert the temperature probe of your digital meter into the exhaust of the dryer. Start the unit and allow it to top out on its' temperature and cool down twice before annotating any readings. When it tops out, write the reading down.When it bottoms out, write the reading down. When it has done this three times, this is three cycles. Add the six numbers together and divide by six. This number is the average operating temperature. Checking the average temperature this way should be cycling from about 110°F to about 180°F for an average operating temperature of about 145°F with the unit set to a normal setting.