The short answer
On a Maytag dryer, F31 points at the electrical supply. What the manufacturer documents is in the table; what to check first is in the ranking under it. It is usable if it runs normally; switch it off at the breaker if any terminal feels warm.
The documented code and its meaning
Reference| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| F31 | An L2 (Low or No Line Voltage) Error code indicates that there may be a problem with your home power supply, keeping the dryer's heater from turning on. |
What you actually observe
- The breaker has tripped, or one half of a two-pole breaker has — A half-tripped double breaker does not always look tripped.
- The fault appears only at certain times of day — Load-dependent voltage sag follows the household, not the appliance.
- The control lights up but nothing heavy ever runs — The classic signature: the low-voltage side is fed and the load side is not.
- NEAR MISS — everything runs and one function is missing — A single missing function is a component fault, not a supply one.
Causes, most likely first on this dryer
- One leg of the supply lost at the breaker or the terminal block — Half a supply is the classic form of this fault: the panel lights up and the heavy load never runs.
- A loose or burnt terminal at the appliance connection — Heat at a slack terminal raises resistance, which makes more heat, which is why these faults worsen steadily.
- Voltage sagging under load on a shared circuit — The reading is fine at rest and out of range the instant the heating load comes on.
- A supply-frequency or waveform problem from a generator or inverter feed — Uncommon in ordinary homes, and the first thing to ask about where the supply is not from the utility.
Check in this order, and why
- Look at the breaker, including a half-tripped two-pole one — This is the entire fault surprisingly often, and looking costs nothing.
- Ask whether other heavy appliances on the same circuit misbehave — A shared symptom moves the investigation from the appliance to the house wiring.
- Note whether the panel lights while the load will not run — A lit panel with no heat is the signature of a lost supply leg.
- Have an electrician check the supply before appliance parts are bought — Replacing a board will not fix a supply problem, and this is where that money is usually wasted.
What an owner can safely check
- Switch the breaker fully off, then firmly back on — A breaker that has tripped part-way does not always look tripped, and resetting it fully is the test.
About 3 min
- See whether anything else on the circuit has also stopped — A second dead outlet takes the problem out of the appliance entirely.
Tools: a lamp or a phone chargerAbout 10 min
- Stop at the appliance terminal block — The connection behind the cover carries the full supply and is an electrician job, not an owner check.
Before anything is opened
Safety
Isolate first. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel, because a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Whether it heats by element or by burner, the dryer has a mains supply that has to come off first. The drum holds heat after a cycle in either case. Nothing on the door circuit should be re-routed or held closed. It interrupts power by design.
When this stops being an owner job
Call once the breaker has been reset and the code is still present. After that the next move is behind a panel, and the console or the front panel has to come away before the wiring is in view. Whatever the timing above, a burning smell, visible scorching or a tripping breaker means the appliance goes off at the breaker and the call goes in today.
Nearest error-code pages
What this page does not cover
The reading of F31 given here is the one the shared Maytag dryer code set carries, and it applies to the model lines built on that control platform. Earlier generations that reuse these characters for a different condition are outside it. So are wiring colours, connector positions, torque figures and part numbers, all of which vary by family and belong on a family page rather than here. If a page exists for your family or model, go there first — it is the more specific answer — and the code index below lists them.
Other Maytag dryer codes
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