If you want to experiment I have 3 dead Nesco tops you can play with. I think you were lucky that it didn't overheat on you & I personally will never buy another one. If you do get it fixed I recommend that you buy an indoor/outdoor thermometer and leave the probe in the dehydrator at all times for monitoring.

Just by coincidence I'm at this very moment soaking 12 trays in OxyClean to split up between 2 of my chile-head frinds that are having good luck with their units.

jt

It could just be a heater wire that has opened. Unfortunately, these are usually nichrome wire and cannot be repaired, but need replacement instead. If your in a bind, suggest you purchase another brand and then send back the defective part to the maker. Be sure to ask them about who picks up the shipping costs in BOTH directions. I had an electronic rat trap that suddently failed and sent it back to Victor, who also refunded my return shipping costs.

If this is a relatively new purchase, I'd just return it. Can you take the food that was in the dehydrator and finish it off in the oven?

Or do you have freezer space? You could cook the sweet potatoes, mash and freeze. I don't see any reason why applesauce couldn't be frozen or if there's enough to bother with, of course it could be canned.

Anyway, I hope things do work out. I understand your frustration at the prospect of wasted effort and food.

Carol

Thanks all. I thought about what you guys would say, and I decided to suck it up and save the food. There were two trays of applesauce which are now frozen in a jar to become fruit leather when the top comes back. The two trays of sweet potato were boiled and mashed up with the banana to be treats for my dog...a major treat over several days.

I will send it back tomorrow with a note asking for a phone call from someone in customer service. Over the phone I'll ask what was wrong with it so I can decide whether to trust a new one or ask for my money back, and I'll ask about the return postage. I have very low hopes based on another amazon.com review saying Nesco wouldn't pay postage, but getting a new top is the cheapest option right now.

John, what do you mean by overheating? Did it burn the food or cause a fire danger? I'm guessing this one overheated and an internal wire melted like a fuse would. When the whole wire is the fuse, you've got a pretty bad design.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll update this thread in a few weeks when I hear back from them.

Melissa

Follow-up on this. I called Nesco again and they said they would not pay for the return shipping, but they did ship the new one for free. This time the lady informed me that I could remove the heater unit from the lid which allowed it to fit in a much smaller box. She also said that they sell replacement heater units for my model for $15 (shipping included, and some models have $10 replacements).

I pulled my applesauce out of the freezer to try another batch of fruit leather, and once I see where the temperature stabilizes I'll set the probe thermometer alarm for 20° above that. Thanks again for the advice on this John, Ken, and Carol.

We have 4 dehydrators by a couple of different brands. I swear they are all made by the same company because the trays are all interchangeable. We use them to dry apples from 5 trees so when it is apple time, these machines run 24/7 for a couple of weeks as we peel, core and dehydrate apples. They are about 4 years old and so far no problems at all. A couple of ours have the Nesco name and there are two other names. I wouldn't have a qualm about buying another one just like any of these. In fact, I think I remember getting one of these at the Salvation Army store and it works as good as any of the others.

I am sorry to hear of your problems and of course, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for our machines this next year.

Bob

Not sure if anyone will read after a huge gap of 3 yrs...
My dehydrator also went dead.. I finally opened up & found that fuse gone dead. The fuse is just thermal fuse clipped at the end of heater coil. I had limit of 142F. I replaced it. The unit worked for 2 times (5 hrs each).. Then again fuse got blown away. I replaced it with 2 fuses, but they went off instantly (1 min or so).
I then gave myself a try to reverse engineer the unit. I found that there is a bimetallic thermostat which is rated at 150F. There is also a small opening which is used to flow the air on this thermostat. I am not sure which is wrong now 1. Thermostat went off or 2. The air flow is not quite enough through opening over the thermostat.. I need to see it again.. I am fed up of opening it again..But may be worth to fix by myself rather than shipping.
Anybody has any idea about this?

The door on my dehydrator fell and cracked a little, before it spreads please tell me what I can do to fix it.
Thank you
Shirley

What brand of dehydrator? What is the door made of - metal, glass, plastic, etc.

No way to know for sure how to fix it without seeing it. I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer.

Dave

What I've seen in the NESCO dehydrators is the thermal fuse burns out. The thermal fuse that burns out is an AUPO BF142, equivalent to an NTE 8115. I've bought replacements at WalMart, Amazon, and Digi-key. I replaced with an NTE 8139 or Baile RY184. You don't have to completely disassemble t, just unscrew an lift the fan housing. It doesn't lift much but you can work in the space.