How do dryer door switches become broken? Is it an internal problem only or can it be from slamming the door shut too hard too often?
In: Other
Moving parts wear out. It’s a consumer product so they’re not gonna spend for top-of-the-line, insanely-durable switches, because they’re trying to compete on price for people like you and me who don’t want the price to go up by $20 just to slap in a high quality switch.
The switch on your run-of-the-mill dryer is very simple. It’s just a contact switch that gets pressed in by the door latch when it’s closed.
Unfortunately, the design for some dryers is not exactly well done for “normal” operation. Metal will bend over time, creating a misalignment with the door, which will lead to the feeling where you need to slam the door. Excessive force leads to bending of the latch, as well as a nice punch to the switch. Depending on how the switch is mounted, this can actually bend the switch away.
Too much of this, and the switch will move too far away from the latch, meaning it will never actually close when the door is closed. It may still be perfectly fine, and just needs to be bent back into position.
Or, it could be the impact has actually damaged the switch. Less likely, but can definitely happen.
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