Indesit IDV75 Tumble Dryer Tripped Electrics - Burning Smell

[t78]

hi all,
yesterday eve our IDV75 tumble dryer tripped the electrics. when I opened it there was a strong smell of [electrical?] burning so I turned off the plug and left the consumer unit switch off (it's on a separate circuit in the garage). when I tested this morning it seemed to be working ok - drum rotating and heater working on high.
was seemingly working perfectly well earlier in the day.

what should I be checking? I've had the unit apart several times (most recently a this time last year when the drum bearing went) and gave it a full clean out of fluff.

thanks for any help on this.

 

[t78]

Bit more testing this eve. Runs for a short time then a visible flash in the drum and tripped again. Wondering if this suggests the heater is the culprit?

 

[Alec_t]

My money would be on the heater element. Moisture can penetrate through a pin-hole in the outer sheath, leading to internal shorting.

 

[Koolpc]

Bin it if old...dont take any chances

 

[t78]

My money would be on the heater element. Moisture can penetrate through a pin-hole in the outer sheath, leading to internal shorting.

If that's the case then a straight replace of the heater unit should solve? Was wondering if anything further back in the electrics could cause the flash?

 

[t78]

Took the heater enclosure off to investigate - quite a bit of fluff in there, some evidence of burning
Have given it a thorough clean out, wooden skewer was helpful.

Giving it another test to see if it still trips - think I will replace the heater anyway as it's 5 years old now so done decent service.

 

[Alec_t]

Yikes! Naked heating wires? Not the sort of element I was expecting in a machine where accumulations of fluff are possible.