Are you referring to a topload SmartLoad or AeroSmart dryer? Which specific model number? There is a diagnostic test to confirm the sensor bars are responding. Yes, both bars must be exposed through the grill. Tumbling clothes must touch the bars to register moisture. There's a separate (white) wire connected to each bar behind the grill. Damp clothes touching the bars completes a low-voltage electric across them, though the two wires to the control board to register moisture. No moisture registration = dry clothes, machine shuts off. There also should be a green ground wire clipped to the bottom edge of the machine's FRONT panel,

I have the Duet 9200 and I have a real bad problem with the clothes getting tangled & braided together, and soap not rinsing out. I would not recommend Duet! Whirlpool did replace my washer for this problem and the replacement is doing the same thing. You might want to look at the post " follow up on my replacement washer" I have added pictures. you will see how bad it is. Good luck! Marie

I have the same problem with the same brand, Whirlpool, gas dryer. The cause is an improper mix of gas and air resulting in poor combustion leaving soot in the interior of the machine. There is a valve that should automatically maintain the proper mix. My valve has stopped working and I am replacing the valve (there is a kit which is less expensive which contains all the components, if you are able to replace the components yourself.) This process is in progress as I write, I'm assuming this will correct the problem; a qualified repairman has assured me it will. Cleaning the interior of the tub is a time consuming task to remove the soot that has been deposited on the clothes and the tub while the problem was developing.

Thought I should followup after a few months. "Every load with something smaller (underwear, socks, napkins) something was getting stuck in the gasket. This last happened years ago with baby socks in the Kenmore. So repair called and they think something is malformed so are installing a new one. Strike one." Well they replaced the original gasket and it is better. Still find smaller items in there once in a while (as opposed to basically never on previous front loader). Gasket design sub-par but I'd call it half a strike now. "The dryer thumps rather loudly every revolution, even when warmed up. So either bad drum seam or rollers (probably the former). Repair called and agree but are trying rollers first. Strike two." Got rollers replaced and really not better. Have not yet called again to try and get drum replaced. Either rollers need to be softer or seam smoother. Still a strike. "Capacity increase very disappointing. I knew the numbers were a bit deceptive but this is really bad. Since I still have the old one off to the side I compared and I only get a couple pair of pants and medium towel more in the new Whirlpool. Strike three." After a trying the old one a few more times I'm willing to back off a bit on this. I'll rescind my strike vote. "Fabric softener siphons out very easily before anything started but then often does not siphon out completely at end of cycle. Strike four." This is still problematic. I'll keep it as a strike, albeit a minor one. "At least a third of my loads so far have failed to spin completely dry probably due to machine not getting a balance or being too sensitive to imbalance. I then have to do a spin only cycle which seems to work. This happen only a couple times a year with the old Kenmore. Strike five." After a lot more loads I find the percentage a lot better than the one third. However it still fails more often than I'd like. I'd down grade this to half a strike. "Dryer sensing sucks. Half the time a normal dry still leaves a few damp clothes. Strike six." Again here it seems to have either improved a lot or I had a statistical anomaly. I'll rescind this strike. "And, WORST of all the washer twists clothes up terribly, particularly pant legs and shirt arms, compared to the Kenmore. There is also noticeably worse tangling. I am going to hook back up the old washer this weekend to confirm but I think it is a design defect due to a combination of the tilted drum and asymmetrical blades. I believe the blades are shaped that way to compensate for the drum tilt. I think the idea is they push the load a bit back towards the front of the drum as the laundry rolls off the blade which is higher towards the back. In any event it is my theory that this also imparts a rolling or twisting motion to the laundry which translates to a severe twist in longer articles of clothing. I'm not sure if all tilt drums have this issue. Strike seven." This issue is still the most annoying and fundamental. Pants and shirts are almost always twisted and loads with many of them are quite tangled up. I am almost certain the tilt drum and asymmetric blades are to blame and will never again buy (nor advise anyone to buy) a front loader with any sort of tilt. So final verdict is still pretty negative. I'd probably be neutral if it wasn't for the constant twisting and tangling of pant legs and shirt arms.