How to Check the Continuity for the Heater of a Kenmore Dryer

Slide the Kenmore dryer away from the wall and pull its electrical plug from the wall receptacle. Loosen the duct clamp holding the exhaust duct to the dryer's exhaust port, using the correct screwdriver to turn the duct clamp's locking screw counterclockwise. Pull the duct off the exhaust port.

Remove the screws holding the Kenmore dryer's cover panel in place, using a 5/16-inch hex screwdriver to turn the screws counterclockwise. The screws hold the perimeter of the cover panel against the back of the dryer's housing. Set the cover panel aside, exposing the heater.

Pull one of the heater's slip-on wire connectors straight off its wire terminal, using needle-nose pliers for leverage. A Kenmore dryer's heater element rests in a long, rectangular, galvanized-metal heater housing that mounts against the right-hand side of the dryer. The heater element's wire terminals exit the bottom of the heater housing and use a white-colored insulator that isolates the wire terminals from the metal heater housing. Pull the second wire connector from the second heater wire terminal, using the same procedure.

Turn a multimeter to its resistance mode. If the multimeter has more than one resistance mode, turn the multimeter to its lowest resistance mode.

Touch the end of one multimeter lead against either of the Kenmore dryer's heater wire terminals. Press the second multimeter lead against the remaining heater wire terminal and check the multimeter's readout screen. If the multimeter reads zero or slightly more than zero ohms, the heater has continuity. Working heater elements often have a resistance reading between 6 and 12 ohms. If the multimeter reads infinity or close to infinity, the heater coil has a short and does not have continuity.

Move one multimeter lead from one of the heater's wire terminals and place it on the metal heater housing, leaving the other multimeter lead on its heater wire terminal. If the multimeter reads continuity, the element coil has shorted against the heater housing. Move the multimeter probe touching the heater's wire terminal to the other heater wire terminal and check for continuity with the multimeter. If either wire terminal has continuity to the heater housing, repair or replace the Kenmore heater.