Getting a gas dryer connected -- all done, but no heat (dryer is mechanically fine)

In My Humble Opinion
1

The house was very helpful with my shower plumbing issue last summer. It’s now time for what I hope will be a much simpler fix.

Long story short: Our 50-something year old home needed some of the original gas cocks replaced – they were starting to leak noticeably. One of the gas cocks was the one behind our gas dryer, so when we originally smelled gas one of our original fixes was to replace the gas connector leading from the main rigid gas line to the back of the dryer.

Our home’s gas service was turned off at the meter while the repair work was going on. After a successful inspection, when it was time to restore service, the gas utility technician came into the house and re-started the water heater, checked that the gas valves for the central heat and stove were open, etc. He did not check the gas dryer – since it has automatic electric ignition, he figured it would work as normal after reconnection to the gas line.

Not so much. It is apparent to me that the dryer is getting no gas. It does not heat the air when it is running.

The new hand-turn gas cock behind the dryer is, indeed, open (see first image below). I am able to get to the new gas cock and turn it on and off with no problem.

So. There’s either something with the new gas connector pipe (I like to call it a “flexi pipe”) or with some other part of the gas assembly. The dryer worked perfectly before the gas was disconnected, and I’m satisfied that there are no mechanical problems with the dryer itself. The dryer was moved across a smooth floor a few feet during the repair work, but was not handled roughly at any point.

Anyone got any ideas? I really feel like a step in the reconnection was missed. Something needs to be turned on, something like that (remember, electric ignition – no pilot light). Here are some photos that may help:

New hand-turn gas cock and connection to flexi pipe (leads to dryer):
Imgur

Other end of flexi-pipe in back of dryer:
Imgur

Image of flexi-pipe package’s label – what are those Safety-PLUS 2 things? Is one end of the flexi-pipe supposed to be turned or oriented a certain way? This confused me:
Imgur

Anyway – thanks in advance for anyone who has any advice to offer.

2

Looks like the hose has check-valves built in. They permit flow in one direction only, so the hose needs to be oriented correctly, but it seems like it would be difficult to put in backwards.

3

You may have a lot of air in the line from when it was disconnected. You might have to try starting it a couple of times to bleed the air out. I think the appliance automatically shuts off the gas supply if it doesn’t light withing as set time.

Another issue may be the electronic ignition. My first gas dryer (a used unit I picked up cheap) didn’t light when I first installed it. I found that I could hear the solenoid click on and smell gas for a second when I tried to start it, then another click when the solenoid shut off. There was a black spiral gizmo about 1/2 inch in diameter where the gas came out. This gizmo had electrical contacts and I checked continuity between the contacts and there was no continuity. I went to an appliance store and bought a new one (called an igniter), put it in, and all was fine.

Good Luck!

4

Open a window. Disconnect the flex line from the dryer. Open the valve just a little.

Any gas coming out? Yes, open the valve more to clear out any air. It only takes a few seconds. Close value and Reattach flex to dryer.

Let the room air out for an hour before trying the dryer or flipping a light switch.

A little gas in a room is ok. I assume you don’t smoke and there’s no standing pilots in the house.

I agree with excavating_for_a_mind that air in the lines are confusing the dryer ignition system.

You’ll have to look for other closed valves if no gas comes out. That’s unlikely but possible.

5

You should leak test that flex line after reattaching.

You can mix dish soap with water. Or buy it in a small bottle at home depot. The commercial stuff has a applicator brush. I’ve always used the commercial stuff. It’s cheap.

Apply on fitting and wait a couple minutes.
No bubbles, No Troubles.

Has anyone told you not to over tighten plumbing fittings? Snug it tight. Bubble test. Snug it a little tighter if needed.

6

Thanks for the tip. I let the dryer run for about three hours tonight, listening to the solenoid click open and closed (?) over and over again. I don’t know how fast the air can bleed out this way. So far, the dryer doesn’t seem to be able to heat air. We can sort of feel what seems like “room temperature + a few degrees” air inside of the dryer, but it’s probably just wishful thinking.

This has been one of the rare times that YouTubing for a repair has yielded absolutely nothing. All the “gas dryer won’t heat” videos assume that something is mechanically wrong with the dryer, and that the appliance has to be stripped down to a pile of loose parts before getting anywhere close to a fix.

I’ll get a pro in during the week. It’s something easy, but it’s escaping me.

Ace’s fixes sound simple enough, but I don’t want to futz with the gas lines like that. I don’t have the right kinds of tools, anyway … not to make it an easy job, anyway.

FWIW, the gas stove works fine and the gas water heater works fine. Air had to be bled out of the line for the stove to resume normal function – the electric ignition on the burners had to clack-clack-clack several dozen times … probably for a good 45-60 seconds before that familiar blue flame appeared. Immediately afterward, the water heater took multiple tries, as well, to get going.

7

Something may be weird about the connector. The label on the package suggests that the two ends of the connector should look visually different, but they actually look exactly the same. I wonder if the connector was mis-packaged somehow.

8

I just remembered modern gas appliances can be very fussy about venting.

They have oxygen sensors and won’t open the gas valve without enough O2.

I had my hot water tank replaced two years ago. Was annoyed that the plumber had to cut a much bigger hole in the closet door. My old 2001 tank was trouble free in that same closet.

I know gas dryers are in utility rooms. There’s a lot more available air compared to a closet.

Venting is something your plumber needs to consider. That’s after he bleeds the air from the line.

9

A friend who works for the gas company stopped to return something right when I finished hooking up our new dryer. I asked him if he had a bottle of soapy water in his truck.

Instead of getting that, he went over my work with his bic lighter. He explained that he couldn’t smell gas and any leak would be tiny. :person_shrugging:

10

No (apparent) worries about venting. I didn’t make clear – this is not a new install, but a re-installation of an existing & working gas dryer after repair of a gas leak.

…

When I wrote the OP, I was thinking maybe there was something obvious and simple that I could do to get the dryer back to heating again. A button we neglected to press, a just-so twist of one end of the flexi-pipe. Something like that.

I’m really interested in what the eventual solution ends up being. To someone with experience, it almost certainly IS something easy and obvious.

11

One thing of note: The new flexi pipe (aka gas connector) does not exactly resemble the package label (third pic in the OP). The two ends of the new flexi-pipe are identical – the label suggests that the gas-line end of the flexi-pipe should have a “nut” much larger than the “nut” on the appliance-end. Something to do with the Safety+Plus 2 feature advertised on the package.

In actuality, the new flexi-pipe we used looks like one WITHOUT the Safety+Plus 2 feature – the “nuts” on both ends look identical. IOW, the actual flexi-pipe did not match the packaging that it came in.

This is not an especially surprising development, because when I went out and purchased a new flexi-pipe, I first purchased one that was the wrong size – but didn’t realize it until I brought it home and opened the package. HOWEVER, the package was resealable with a “Zip-loc” closure. The clerk accepted my return uncritically, apparently unaware that the package had been opened and re-closed.

The Safety+Plus 2 pipes are a little more expensive than the ordinary gas connectors. I suspect that someone opened two packages at the home store and switched out the respective pipes. The area where the appliance gas connectors were sold looked a mess – several torn packages, and just generally disheveled.

Anyway. Not sure this all lends any clues … but again, to someone with experience, perhaps something obvious comes to mind.

12

The Safety Plus 2 connector is not a check valve. It is an excess flow valve. If your flex line should break the high flow will close the Safety Plus connector automatically. Looks like you don’t have one anyway but if you look into one cannot see straight through like an ordinary. So it is possible one can stop the gas flow. If you had one.

13

I’m not familiar with a Safety Plus 2 connector. It sounds interesting.

I have seen small regulators installed next to furnances. They provide a constant supply of gas to the appliance.

My generator is connected directly at the gas meter. It’s not recommended to connect into a existing supply line. You wouldn’t want the pipe (branch line) supplying the gas kitchen stove also feeding the generator.

I’m curious now what the plumber finds wrong with the dryers gas connection.

14

Does your dryer have a panel you can open to watch the ignition? Start it and see if your glow bar is getting hot. It should glow with a bright orange, then the valve should try to open.

Some dryers have an additional shut off valve inside–could that be off?
https://www.fixya.com/uploads/images/8618146.jpg

15

I’d have to remove the entire back panel. In theory, I could do it. I would really, really, really prefer not to have to do that – though I realize that many may feel removing the panel is dead simple.

Some dryers have an additional shut off valve inside–could that be off?
https://www.fixya.com/uploads/images/8618146.jpg

If it’s a mechanical component like that, it’s a mystery to me how it could have gotten disengaged (unless that shut-off valve is very sensitive to movement). Maybe when the gas connector (flexi-pipe) was connected into the back of the dryer, something odd happened that I didn’t pick up on.

16

Let’s take step back. What is the make/model of your dryer? I can try to look it up.

The old Whirlpool/Kenmore models had a bottom panel that was hinged so it was easy to see what was happening, but a newer model is probably different.

The earlier advice to disconnect the gas line and crack the valve would let us know if the dryer is getting gas, so we may need to come back to that.

17

It’s a General Electric, model DVLR223GG7WW manufactured in 2008. We have a PDF copy of the owners manual (downloaded from here), but I didn’t find anything of help in there.

Here’s a photo of our exact dryer – control panel is identical and everything:

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-pacto3wrn2/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/6324/181611/Dispatcher_RequestType_Image&Name_0104490__36832.1602442097.jpg?c=2

18

Is disconnecting the yellow gas connector/flexi-pipe from the back of the dryer (second image in the OP) particularly risky without an actual pipe wrench? I’ve got vice grips that can get around the “nut” and probably turn it with a lot of force applied. However, I’m concerned that the vice grips will afford me too little mechanical advantage/torque, forcing me to “muscle” the connection and perhaps break the gas connector/flexi-pipe.

19

I’ve used channel locks, vice grips, even simple pliers to connect/disconnect gas dryers.

20

Definitely don’t rule out coincidence. Safety/overheating sensors on gas dryers seem to go out all the time.