Dryer heater element; OEM or not?

[Scandium]

Anyone have experience replacing heater element in a dryer? Samsung OEM part is $136. 'Generic' from amazon is $25. Some reviews there report it failed after a few months. 300 reviews, avg 4.5, but few mention long term results.  But the part looks so simple I'd bet they're made in the same factory anyway..

For 1/5 the cost I'm thinking it's worth at least trying the non-oem? If it fails again soon maybe try the OEM one?
(And a dead simple resistance coil for $130+ in a ~$600 dryer seems absurd..)


edit; if anyone interested
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Q79DGH2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

[Psychstache]

I replaced the dryer heating element once and used an Amazon purchase that was significantly cheaper. I did not have an issue.

EDIT: just searched my order history and the element I got was $22 from Amazon back in 2019. Dryer is still up and running just fine.

EDIT 2: here's the one I ordered: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DC47-00019A-Heating-Element-Dc47-00019A/dp/B001ICYB2M?pldnSite=1

[uniwelder]

I definitely understand the concern over OEM versus cheap alternative.  In your shoes, I would go for the $25 part.  I've had problems in the past with cheap washer parts and regretted not getting OEM, but those had plastic/rubber/wearable components that failed quickly.  They were installed at a rental house, so it involved an annoyed tenant and extra drive time for me to redo the work.  There can always be quality control issues with resistance wire though.  I did have a replacement oven heating element that melted in half after a month due to a 'hot spot' in the middle.

[StarBright]

My husband just did this repair last week! We bought the cheap element and it didn't seem like it fit quite right. The dryer seemed bumpy when it ran.

He ordered the OEM part, it fit, dryer stopped making weird bumpy noise.

[geekette]

We have a Samsung dryer as well.  It's 11 years old and we've replaced that element 3x (um, yay?). The first time we hired out (2015, $80 part, $100 labor).  He took the machine apart.  The second time (2017), youtube showed DH the easy (well, easier) way - going in through the front.  We ordered a pair of these.  A few bucks extra for the fuse, etc., might be worth it.  DH also says to make sure the coils are correctly aligned after bouncing around in the box or it'll burn out quickly.

Now that he's replaced the element for the second time, and the dryer frequently has a stuck relay on the control board necessitating percussive maintenance, it's days may be numbered...

[lthenderson]

I can't think of a single instance where I regretted buying an OEM part but can think of lots of examples where I went with a generic and regretted the purchase. Not all of them though.

My advice would to do whatever is in your best financial interest. If $136 is a big hit, a $25 gamble doesn't sound too bad to me especially if you can return it if it doesn't work correctly. Worst case is the generic doesn't work out and you'll end up with a $161 hit but if it results in a working dryer, I think it would still be money well spent.

I've owned dryers for over 30 years and am only on my second dryer. I've never had an heating element burn out. In fact, I've never had a dryer failure period. Usually it is the washer conks out after 20 years of service and I just pop for a new set. But I always buy the basic models so perhaps that is the difference.

[sonofsven]

I would (and do) get the cheap part. Once you've replaced it once you know how to do it, so even if you have to do it again it's no big deal.
My 18 yo dryer just broke last night! Wet clothes overloading my wooden drying rack near the woodstove. Repairs incoming.

[Morning Glory]

Drying rack repair.  Wood splintered so we used an eye bolt that we already had--of couse it happened right after i turned down a free one from a neighbor because i already had three. It leans a little but works ok. The bottom dowel has also been replaced on this guy. In my new place the washer has a smaller capacity so I won't have to use it much.

[BlueMR2]

Over time I've come to find that cheap electrical parts are no bargain...  Have all the cheap parts been bad, no, of course not.  However, it's been often enough that I'm now OEM whenever possible for electrical...

[Jaybo]

I'm in the same boat-Samsung dryer, heating element just went out.  In our case, I'm going with the OEM.  I've had more instances of having cheaper non-OEM parts going out on me than OEM; this coupled with a couple people I know going with non-OEM parts and having to deal with dryer fires which, luckily, they caught it in both cases before it got bad, makes me lean that way.  Not to say that all non-OEM parts are bad...far from it, in fact, its not uncommon for the non-OEM manufacturers of various parts in general to actually supply the OEM manufacturers, but I can afford the OEM, it gives me additional peace of mind and I seem to get more reliability out of them.  However you go, hope it works out for ya.

[Dancin'Dog]

A heating element is like a light bulb.  The generic uses the same type of element wire as the OEM. It isn't an engineered moving part.


If the original OEM element failed why would you want to replace it with another OEM one that will just as likely fail too? 


My vote is to get the cheap one.

[lthenderson]

A heating element is like a light bulb.  The generic uses the same type of element wire as the OEM. It isn't an engineered moving part.

Just because there are no moving parts doesn't mean they are the same. Heating elements can have different resistivity ranges effecting accuracy, oxidation resistance by using different materials effecting longevity, different temperature resistance coefficients which effect machine efficiency and last but not least, mechanical properties of the materials that can causing warping or the element. There is a lot of engineering that goes into selecting all these properties to best match the controls and performance profiles of that particular machine. An engineer working for the manufacturer knows from testing. An engineer working for someone making knockoffs, is guessing and attempting reverse engineering.

P.S. I am an engineer who designed laundry washers and dryers once upon a time including specifying individual components after much testing.

[Dancin'Dog]

A heating element is like a light bulb.  The generic uses the same type of element wire as the OEM. It isn't an engineered moving part.

Just because there are no moving parts doesn't mean they are the same. Heating elements can have different resistivity ranges effecting accuracy, oxidation resistance by using different materials effecting longevity, different temperature resistance coefficients which effect machine efficiency and last but not least, mechanical properties of the materials that can causing warping or the element. There is a lot of engineering that goes into selecting all these properties to best match the controls and performance profiles of that particular machine. An engineer working for the manufacturer knows from testing. An engineer working for someone making knockoffs, is guessing and attempting reverse engineering.

P.S. I am an engineer who designed laundry washers and dryers once upon a time including specifying individual components after much testing.

So, why did the expertly engineered heating element fail under normal use?  Why would you replace that failed element with an identical one? 


Btw, I own a Samsung fridge and it's a piece of garbage.  I've never had so much trouble with any other appliance.  Perhaps Samsung is the problem?

[geekette]

I'd say Samsung is the problem.  We recently replaced our Samsung dryer (referenced above, on its 4th heating element in 12 years) and the washer too, since it could no longer balance a load (refill, spin, refill, spin, ad nauseam).

Our Samsung fridge will go out the door in the next year or so.  It, like many other Samsung fridges, was apparently designed to ice up.  So that's fun.

[SpaceCow]

For a potentially hazardous appliance like a dryer, I would go OEM. By fixing it yourself, you are still saving tons of money.

What if the generic element puts out more heat than the dryer is designed to utilize?

What if the cheap element has hotspots?

What if the generic element isn't designed for the level of vibration that your dry puts out?

I'm all for going generic 90% of the time, but for an appliance that already causes a fair share of home fires, I would not be cheaping out.

[lthenderson]

A heating element is like a light bulb.  The generic uses the same type of element wire as the OEM. It isn't an engineered moving part.

Just because there are no moving parts doesn't mean they are the same. Heating elements can have different resistivity ranges effecting accuracy, oxidation resistance by using different materials effecting longevity, different temperature resistance coefficients which effect machine efficiency and last but not least, mechanical properties of the materials that can causing warping or the element. There is a lot of engineering that goes into selecting all these properties to best match the controls and performance profiles of that particular machine. An engineer working for the manufacturer knows from testing. An engineer working for someone making knockoffs, is guessing and attempting reverse engineering.

P.S. I am an engineer who designed laundry washers and dryers once upon a time including specifying individual components after much testing.

So, why did the expertly engineered heating element fail under normal use?  Why would you replace that failed element with an identical one? 

Hard to say. Could be a poorly designed element as you suggest. It could also be due to a undetected material defect, an electrical surge, rodents chewing on the wire and shorting it out, misuse, etc. I know we certainly got a certain percentage of defects in every crate of components we put in our machines. Many were caught during final inspection. Some not until much further down the road. That number of defects also drove which suppliers we used. So just because there was a single failure doesn't yet make a trend or mean a replacement is likely to fail early. If the second one fails prematurely, then one might consider other options.

[Finances_With_Purpose]

I've had to replace a few of these now and would only go OEM or maybe a non-amazon, real retailer. 

Some cheap Amazon parts are crappy and overheat, if they're even real to begin with, which is risky and causes more problems.  I installed properly yet still burned through them on an old dryer, and the dryer itself was beyond repair after a quick, crappy Amazon part.

With Amazon, you're getting the cheapest possible version of something that LOOKS on first appearance like whatever it's meant to replace. 

But some dude in China could give two rips whether it works or not once he has your cash in his hand.  He can just set up another Amazon shop and start printing money again.  Amazon is full of counterfeit junk. 

There's so much counterfeit garbage on there - especially with stuff like this, where you can't conceivably verify whether this is real - that I wouldn't buy there.  I might buy a non-OEM part from a real local parts store, who has some liability for selling fakes, but not on Amazon. 
\
My experience with them has been that they often sell 100% garbage parts.