Last Updated on October 5, 2026 by Umar Farooq
A dryer gas valve assembly is the brass body that carries gas to the burner, with two electric solenoid coils sitting on top of it that open it. It is the third and last part in the ignition sequence, and it is the least likely of the three to be your fault. The igniter fails most often, the flame sensor second, the valve coils last. Before any of that, there is a check that costs nothing and accounts for a large share of gas dryers that tumble and never heat.
This page is written differently from the rest of this site’s parts guides, because gas is not the same as electricity in a laundry room. Some of what follows is about which part to buy. A good deal of it is about where this stops being work you should do yourself, and that section is not padding or liability language. It is the honest answer.
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Check the handle on the gas line before you read any further
Go and look at the shutoff valve on the gas supply line behind the dryer. The handle has two positions and one of them is the whole fault.
Whirlpool documents it in a single sentence: “The drum of a gas dryer will turn, but the dryer will not heat if the gas shutoff valve is closed. Open the gas shutoff valve in the supply line. The valve is open when the handle is parallel to the gas pipe.” Maytag publishes the same rule from the other side — if the handle is perpendicular to the pipe, turn it parallel to open it.
A handle sitting crosswise is a dryer that works perfectly except for the gas. It happens after a move, after work on the boiler, after anything that involved someone shutting gas off at a branch and not turning everything back on. GE’s own no-heat page for gas dryers puts “make sure the gas line has been turned on” on the same short list as checking the cycle selection, which tells you how often it is the answer.
Two more free things on that same GE page, because they cost nothing and they are both real: the dryer should be on its own dedicated 120-volt outlet, and the cycle has to be a heated one rather than Fluff or Air Dry, which add no heat at any point. If you have been testing on the wrong cycle you have not tested anything.
Gas dryer not heating runs the full free-check list before any part is named. Work through it first. This page is for the reader who has already done that.
What a dryer gas valve assembly actually is: a body and two coils
Understanding the architecture is what stops a wrong order, so it is worth two minutes.
The assembly is a gas valve body — a machined brass casting with an inlet, an outlet and an internal seat — and a pair of electromagnetic coils mounted on its stem. The coils are what the dryer’s control actually switches. Energise them and the magnetic field lifts the valve against its spring, gas flows to the burner tube, and the flame lights. De-energise them and the spring closes it. On most domestic gas dryers there are two coils working together, which is why GE describes its part as a “2 coil gas valve assembly”.
The pair is not redundancy for its own sake. The coils are of different types and the circuit relies on both operating in a particular order, which is part of how the machine keeps gas from flowing when ignition has not been confirmed. This is why coils are sold and replaced as a set. Fitting one new coil next to one aged coil is not a half repair; it is an unpredictable one.
The valve sits inside the burner tube housing at the bottom front of the cabinet on most chassis, behind a removable panel, with the igniter and the flame sensor a few inches away from it. All three parts live in the same small space, which is both convenient and dangerous — convenient because getting to one gets you to all three, dangerous because it puts an inexperienced hand next to a gas union.
GE publishes the ignition sequence, and it names your part for you
GE is the only manufacturer that publishes how the sequence actually runs, and the sequence is the diagnostic. Whirlpool’s and Maytag’s no-heat pages name no ignition components at all — grep them and the words igniter, flame sensor and valve coil do not appear. So GE’s documentation is the citation of record for everyone, whatever badge is on the front.
From GE’s gas dryer ignition page, in GE’s own words: “The glo-bar will come on about 15 seconds after the gas dryer is started. Once the glo-bar warms up enough, a sensor tells the gas valve to open and the gas is ignited by the bar.” The interlock that makes the whole thing safe: “For safety concerns, the gas will not be dispersed unless the glo-bar is working properly.” And the cycling, which is normal behaviour rather than a fault: “Once the gas lights, the glo-bar cycles off. When it is time to cycle back on, the above process will take place again.”
GE also gives you a way to watch it without tools. From its page on a glow underneath a gas dryer: “When the igniter is operating, a glow or light from the flame can be seen at the base of the dryer on the right, as you face the dryer. It can appear to flash as it flickers.” The glow “will usually appear orangish in color.”
So start a heated cycle, turn the lights down, and watch the base of the machine on the right. Where the sequence stops tells you which part has failed:
- No glow at all, ever. The igniter is not energising. That is the igniter or the circuit feeding it, not the valve.
- Glow appears, builds, then goes out with no flame, and the cycle repeats. The igniter is working and the gas never arrived. That is the flame sensor or the valve coils — and the sensor is the commoner of the two.
- Glow, flame, then the flame goes out and will not relight. A valve closing when it should stay open, or a sensor dropping out.
- Glow, flame, steady heat, and the machine still does not dry. Nothing in this sequence is faulty. Go and look at the duct, and work through how to clean a dryer vent instead.
Sound confirms it. GE’s dryer noise page records that “Gas Dryers may produce a buzzing when the solenoid valve opens. The valve clicks at the start of the heat cycle, start of ignition and when the burner turns off. The flame makes a low roaring sound.” Those clicks through the cycle are the valve doing its job, not a fault — people replace valves over that sound every year.
The line where this stops being a job you do yourself
Three hard stops. These are not hedges.
Breaking the gas union is gas work. Replacing the valve assembly means disconnecting the supply at a threaded joint, fitting a new body, and remaking that joint with the correct compound on the correct threads. A joint that is slightly wrong does not fail loudly — it weeps, and a weeping gas joint in a laundry room is a different category of problem from a weeping water fitting. GE’s page for a gas dryer that runs but does not heat is 178 words long and ends where this repair begins: “If the gas line is turned on and the appliance runs but still does not heat, we suggest that you contact service.” That is the manufacturer declining to walk a customer through this repair, on a page that otherwise covers cycle settings and airflow.
Leak testing is not optional and it is not a sniff test. Every remade gas joint has to be proved with leak-detection solution or a detector, under pressure, before the machine runs. If you do not have the means to do that and the confidence to read the result, you do not have the means to do this repair. Samsung puts it in the plainest terms available in a consumer document, in its own gas-versus-electric buying guide: because a gas dryer hookup involves connecting to gas, it is safest to have a professional handle the installation and check for leaks.
Conversion is a separate job entirely. A natural gas valve and an LP valve are not the same part, and converting between them requires the correct orifice and a pressure adjustment. Buying the wrong fuel type is not a fitment inconvenience — it is a machine running outside its design. Check which fuel your supply is before you check anything else.
What is reasonable for a competent person without gas experience: removing the burner panel to look, watching for the glow, checking the igniter and the flame sensor, cleaning lint out of the burner housing, and reporting the sequence accurately to whoever does the gas work. That is genuinely useful, it shortens the call-out, and it does not put you anywhere near an open union.
One more hard rule from GE, which applies to everything you might be tempted to do while diagnosing: do not operate a gas dryer without the vent connected, because carbon monoxide fumes could enter the room. The vent-off test that is a perfectly good diagnostic on an electric dryer is not one here.
Nobody publishes a coil resistance figure, and the one circulating is unsourced
This matters because it is the test everyone reaches for, and the numbers attached to it have no source.
Search for how to test gas valve coils and you will find a resistance range — usually quoted as somewhere between 500 and 1,500 ohms — repeated across dozens of repair pages with the confidence of a specification. It was not found on any manufacturer page opened for this site’s research. Not GE’s, which is the only manufacturer publishing anything at all about the ignition components. Not Whirlpool’s, whose no-heat pages do not mention the coils. Not Maytag’s. The figure appears everywhere except at the manufacturers, which is the signature of a number that was copied rather than measured.
So this site is not going to print one. If you want to test coils against a resistance value, get that value from the service manual or tech sheet for your specific machine — most dryers have one folded inside the control console or taped behind the lower panel — and not from a page that does not say where its number came from.
The same caution applies to igniter resistance and to the temperatures involved. No manufacturer publishes a normal dryer exhaust or drum temperature for a domestic machine either, which is why you will not find one on this site.
The practical, source-free test is the sequence test above. It does not need a number: it needs you to watch where the ignition stops. That observation names the part more reliably than a meter reading against a figure nobody can attribute.
The coils come in pairs, and the valve body decides which pair
Fitment on gas valves has two layers, and both have to match.
Layer one is the valve body. This is the model-specific part: the casting geometry, the inlet thread, the mounting position in the burner housing and the outlet orientation. A valve from a different platform will not sit in your burner tube and will not line up with your gas line.
Layer two is the coil set. The coils are specified against the valve body, and they are sold as a kit for exactly the reason described earlier: the pair work together and replacing one of a pair is not a repair. On many machines the coils can be changed without disturbing the gas union at all, because they lift off the valve stem — which makes a coil kit a meaningfully smaller job than a valve assembly, and it is worth finding out which one your fault actually calls for before you order the bigger part.
The number you need is on the valve itself, stamped or labelled on the body. Read it. Then find the model and serial plate — Whirlpool documents the dryer location as inside the dryer door, on the rim of the opening, with a stacked laundry centre’s plate on the inside of the dryer door — and photograph that too. The listings below all carry supersession lists, and your old number being on one of those lists is the only confirmation that matters.
The Kenmore rule applies here as everywhere: 110 is a Whirlpool machine, 796 is LG, 417 is Frigidaire, 402 is Samsung. Shop the platform.
If your machine is showing a code rather than simply failing to heat, resolve that first — dryer error codes sets out how little most manufacturers publish and which displays are not faults at all. And if you are weighing this repair against the machine, dryer repair cost gives the two published figures and explains why they disagree.
Three valve assemblies, by platform
Three OEM assemblies for three platforms. Each lists its own compatibility, and none of them is a general-purpose part.
GE WE14X215: the two-coil shutoff valve assembly
GE’s genuine shutoff valve assembly for its gas dryers, described by GE as the part that “opens to allow gas in, or closes to shutoff the gas supply to the dryer”, and explicitly a “2 coil gas valve assembly” — so the pair comes with the body rather than having to be ordered separately.
Which machines it covers: GE gas dryers calling for WE14X215. GE’s ignition documentation applies to GE, Hotpoint and RCA machines built since 1973, all of which use the glow-bar system, but the valve itself is specified per platform and the part number is what decides.
What it does not do: it does not include the igniter or the flame sensor, which are the two parts more likely to be your fault. Confirm the sequence stopped at the valve before you order this. And it does not make the gas work safe — fitting it means breaking and remaking a gas union.
Whirlpool WPW10118347: the Whirlpool-family assembly, with four supersessions
Whirlpool’s genuine gas valve assembly, carrying a one-year Whirlpool parts warranty. Its listing names what it replaces: W10293912, W10175144, W10118312 and W10118347. If your valve carries one of those numbers, this is the current part.
Which machines it covers: Whirlpool states compatibility across several gas dryer brands on the same platform — Whirlpool, Kenmore, Maytag and Amana. That cross-badge list reflects the fact that those four are the same chassis wearing different names, and it is the clearest statement of the platform rule you will find on a parts listing.
What it does not do: “several brands on this platform” is not “any gas dryer”. Check your number against the four supersedes. This listing also shows limited stock at the time of writing, so treat it as a named option rather than a guaranteed one.
Whirlpool W10823508: the burner valve for the 7M model block
The second current Whirlpool gas valve, and the clearest demonstration on this page that one brand is not one part. It replaces 279990, 8318272, W10336852 and W10465748 — a completely different supersession chain from the assembly above.
Which machines it covers: Whirlpool names the compatible models individually, and they are the 7M block: 7MMGDC400D, 7MWGD1930J, 7MWGD9015Y, 7MWGD2140J, 7MWGD1730J, 7MWGD9919E, 7MWGD1950E and 7MWGD1750E. If your model is on that list this is a direct fit. If your model is a Whirlpool but is not on that list, the other assembly is the one to check.
What it does not do: there is no visual difference between these two Whirlpool valves that you can rely on in a photograph. Order against your number, never against the picture. This listing is also showing limited availability.
FAQ
How do I know it is the gas valve and not the igniter?
Watch the sequence. Start a heated cycle with the lights down and look at the base of the dryer on the right, where GE says the glow is visible. No glow means the igniter or its circuit. A glow that builds and then dies with no flame means gas did not arrive, and that is the flame sensor or the valve coils — the sensor being the commoner of the two.
Is replacing a gas valve assembly a DIY job?
For most people, no. The coils can often be changed without touching the gas line, which is a reasonable job for a competent person. Replacing the valve body means breaking and remaking a gas union and then proving it does not leak, and that is gas-fitter work. GE’s own position on a gas dryer that runs but will not heat is to contact service.
My gas dryer clicks several times during a cycle. Is the valve failing?
No, that is the valve working. GE documents it: gas dryers may buzz when the solenoid valve opens, and the valve clicks at the start of the heat cycle, at the start of ignition and when the burner turns off. The flame itself makes a low roaring sound. All of that is normal operation.
What resistance should the gas valve coils read?
This site will not publish a figure, because no manufacturer publishes one. The 500-to-1,500-ohm range circulating on repair sites was not found on any manufacturer page. Use the tech sheet for your specific machine — usually folded inside the control console or behind the lower panel — or use the sequence test instead, which needs no number.
Can I replace just one coil?
No. The coils are a matched pair that operate together, and they are sold as a set for that reason. Fitting one new coil alongside one aged coil gives you an assembly whose behaviour you cannot predict, on the part that controls gas flow.
Will a natural gas valve work on propane?
No. The fuel type determines the orifice and the pressure the system is set for, and conversion is a separate procedure with its own parts. Confirm which fuel your supply is before ordering anything, and have the conversion done by someone qualified to set it.
Confirm the igniter, then hand the gas work over
The order that works on a gas dryer: check the shutoff handle is parallel to the pipe, confirm you are on a heated cycle rather than Air or Fluff, check the dedicated 120-volt outlet, then watch the base of the machine on the right during a start and see how far the ignition gets.
If there is no glow, the valve is not your part. If the glow arrives and no flame follows, the flame sensor is the next thing to check and the coils the one after that. Only when the sequence has been watched and the sensor ruled out does the assembly on this page become the answer — and at that point the decision in front of you is not which valve to buy, it is who is remaking the gas joint.
Read the number off the valve body, photograph the plate inside the door rim, and check your number against the supersession list on the part you are considering. Then, if you do not leak-test gas joints for a living, make the call. That is not a failure of nerve; it is the correct reading of what this particular repair is.
