---
title: "Dryer moisture sensor service"
description: "Maytag dryer moisture sensor service: two metal strips inside the drum that decide when the load is dry, and fabric softener leaves a film on them."
url: "https://maytagmiami.support/services/dryer-moisture-sensor-service/"
date_modified: "2026-09-07"
---


# Maytag dryer moisture sensor service

### A two-minute job that gets sold as a heat problem

Two metal strips inside the drum decide when the load is dry, and fabric softener leaves a film across them. A coated sensor reads a wet load as dry and ends the cycle early — so the machine is warm, the cycle is short, and the clothes are damp, which is reported as a heating problem and is nothing of the kind. The test costs nothing: if a timed cycle dries and an auto cycle does not, this is the answer and nothing in the heat circuit needs touching.

What this involves

Softener residue on the sensor ends cycles early: it looks like a heat problem

Cleaned rather than replaced in most cases

Auto cycles behave differently from timed ones, and that difference is the clue

Compare a timed cycle with an auto one

If a timed cycle dries and an auto cycle does not, the sensor is the answer and nothing in the heat circuit needs touching.

Clean the strips

Rubbing alcohol and a cloth. Most of these end here.

Measure them

Where cleaning changes nothing, the strips and their wiring are metered before a part is considered.

The control's reading

On machines that report it, what the control believes the load is doing — which occasionally differs from what the sensor is telling it.

### Should I stop using softener sheets?

Not necessarily, but the strips need wiping every few months if you do. Rubbing alcohol and a cloth, and it is genuinely a two-minute job you can do yourself.

### Why did it only start after years?

Because it builds up. The film thickens gradually, so the cycle gets a little shorter each season and nobody notices until the laundry is coming out damp every time.

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