I was purposely trying to shrink something (felting, for any knitters out there) when I discovered the dryer had no heat - much to my chagrin. So I took the front off and had a look, suspecting the heater coil, but I saw a very fried wire (tan with a brown stripe, marked "55") that goes from the high-heat thermostat to the heater element. On the heater element side, there was green corrosion, burned wire insulation and a shorted-out wire - in fact the ring connection that connects to the heater element was burned right off. Phew! at least the heater cut out and didn't set the dryer on fire.
An electrical supply place nearby was able to set me up with some nickel-plated, silicone-insulated wire for high heat applications (usually ranges) so the dryer is up and working again. My question for today is: how do I prevent this from happening again? The corrosion on the burnt wire makes me think water caused the short, but how would water get inside near the heater element, which is isolated from the drum? Ice, possibly? We've had a very cold winter and the laundry area is in our uninsulated basement.
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(South Bend, home of Champions) 
Comes to the Rescue!
