Electric dryer - repair or replace?

[Max T.]

Got a call from my temple university rental property that was just purchased a few months ago, so not much experience with this particular property or tenants yet. He tells me that the dryer spins but doesn't heat up. He checks for lint blockages but there are none. I put him in touch with my appliance repair guy who is very good an fair but does charge a flat fee to just for his trip $65. So if he tells me it's not worth fixing I'll have his cost on top of the cost of a new dryer. Now I'm second guessing myself. Should I have just ordered a new dryer? Part of me is being lazy: I'm in the airport headed out of town for a week and didn't want to think about rushing to the property to install it as soon as I get back in town. The property cash flows about 400/month. A new dryer would kill a whole month, while a repair would probably eat half.

[Kyle Hipp]

i sI normally get a good used dryer for $100. Lately I have a couple extra washers and dryers lying around from friends, neighbors or family that just give them to me. The older dryers last a long time whereas washers have given me more trouble. I do my own property management and repairs and most of the times it s an easy and cheap fix. That said I did just junk dryer that was probably 25 years old that had a drum belt break and since I had 2 extra dryers I figured I would upgrade for the tenant. The major issues I have had with dryers are lint build up which is resolved by cleaning out the the line from inside the dryer itself to where it is piped outside. The other issue was a bad hi-temp switch which i found with my multi-tester. The part was a couple bucks, popped it in when it was delievered a couple days later and worked perfect since. So that said if the dryer is old anyway, might as well go head and just replace it as you seem a little more hands off and dinking around with repairing stuff gets expensive. For me I can troubleshoot furnace issues but if I have a tech come in and tell me the repair will cost a couple hundred bucks I'm replacing an older furnace o a more efficient model every time. 

As for the issue with the dryer. I would have them start the dryer and hold the trigger so it stays running while the door is open. There should be a grated cover in he back where the heat from the element comes out. Some models you can see it glowing red but most you should feel heat coming within a minute for sure. If there is heat, then it would be a lint getting caught in the exhaust line issue. If no heat, you would have to take he back panel off, which usually has the wiring schematics/diagram there as well. Then a multi tester to determine what is no longer working (has no resistance/connection). The heating element itself is going to be the priciest part and if the dryer is 12-15 years old, I would junk the dryer. The rest of the sensors are cheap.