Dryer not heating or drying your clothing? If your dryer is all of a sudden not drying your clothes, then we have a few simple DIY fix tips you can try yourself. If the dryer is no longer drying your clothes then the first thing to do is to check and clean the dryer lint filter trap.
How To Fix A Clothes Dryer That Is Not Drying
Check Dryer Lint Filter
We were forced to add that as our first step as there really are some people who do not realize there is a LINT FILTER that must be cleaned before or after each use. Once that is cleaned out, check if the dryer is still NOT drying your clothes.
Check Vent Hose On Back Of Dryer
If that was NOT the cause of the problem, then you will need to inspect the vent hose on the back of the dryer. Commonly this HOT AIR VENT HOSE will become clogged, caked or full of lint that is constantly being removed from your clothing when drying. When this happens your dryer is unable to expel the hot air from within, therefore making it impossible for your dryer to actually dry your clothing in a timely manner or at all.
Common Causes For Dryer To Stop Heating
- The dryer lint screen (lint trap) has not been cleaned (poor or restricted airflow).
- A clogged or kinked (bent) dryer air vent hose (inadequate or no airflow).
- Drum has stopped turning, broken drum drive belt.
- Overheated or bad motor (possible thermal overload).
- Thermal fuse or thermostat (could be caused from dryer air vent hose lint buildup)
- Heating element burnt out.
- Loose electrical plug or power socket.
- Other mechanical issue, fault or malfunction.
Click here for a faster way to troubleshoot your dryer not heating
Clothing Takes Forever To Dry
If your clothes dryer is taking forever to dry your clothes or it is not drying your clothing at all (and you already thoroughly cleaned the lint filter screen), then the first step is to CLEAN OUT THE INSIDE OF THE DRYER VENT HOSE.
First, unplug your dryer from the electrical socket on the wall. Slide the dryer forward very carefully so you can get behind it. Locate the (usually silver colored) air vent hose, and remove it from the wall and the dryer (2 connection points).
Do this by squeezing the clip at both ends and pulling the hose outward. Using a long dryer vent brush or similar, clean out the inside of the air vent hose by removing all of the built up lint and dust looking material.
Clean the area on the back of the dryer and the hole in the wall where the air is vented out. Most of the time the lint will be built up in both of these areas.
Once all of the lint is cleaned out, reattach the vent hose and slide the dryer back in place. Make sure you DO NOT KINK the vent hose when repositioning the dryer as this will cause the dryer to NOT expel the hot air properly.
If you kink the hose the dryer will not function properly and your clothes will take forever to dry. Next, plug the dryer back into the power outlet and run a test. If your dryer is now heating and properly drying your clothes then you fixed the problem. If not, read on…
If you know what Dryer Replacement Parts you need, here is where to get them at a GREAT PRICE and most have FREE shipping.
Here is how much lint that can become stuck in your dryer vent hose.
This much lint in the hose or in the wall, will prevent your dryer from properly drying your clothes.
DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN! Dryer air vent hose clogged with lint.
Clean your dryer AIR VENTING HOSE on a yearly basis!
It is the reason your dryer takes forever to dry AND can be a fire safety hazard!
Dryer Has Overheated
At times your dryer can overheat and this can cause the motor that turns the drum to stop working temporarily. There is a safety mechanism built into the motor that makes it stop working if it gets too hot. This is called a thermally protected motor.
Your dryer may seem to be running but the motor will not be turning the drum. If the drum is not turning then the clothes are not moving. Therefore they can not get DRY. So if your dryer motor is NOT turning on but the rest of the dryer works, such as the lights and other mechanical parts, then your motor is probably overheated.
For this, you need to just give the motor some time to cool down. If you suspect that this is your problem then give the dryer about an hour to cool down and run a test after that. If your motor has overheated then you may be overloading your dryer with too many clothes. Try running the dryer with less clothes in it the next time you dry a load and this should remedy the issue.
The solutions above are the most common causes for this specific malfunction. If the explanations above have not been your specific problem, then there can be a number of things wrong. If you feel comfortable you can remove the front panel of your dryer (while unplugged) and look to see if there are any obvious causes of the problem.
A possible loose wire, loose part, burnt area, pieces of the dryer that have come off, fried or burned mechanical switches, etc. If the problem is not visual and you do not know what the issue can be, we recommend going here and posting an appliance repair question to online appliance repair technicians. If all else fails then simply leave a comment or question below and we PROMISE to answer your question in a timely manner.
Other components that could be at fault would be the Thermal fuse, Thermal cutoff, Heating element, Operating thermostat, and High limit thermostat. You can check all of these for continuity with a multimeter. If any are determined bad, remove and replace.
How Does It Work? Basic Clothes Dryer Function
Dryer Parts Schematic Parts Location Diagram Chart
If you still need help, assistance, or answers to fix your Dryer Not Heating problem, ask your
questions over at our Appliance Repair Help page for free answers to fix your broken appliance!
I have a Maytag dependable care quiet plus Itelli dry gas dryer. A few months ago it would only ignite on the regular setting. Would not ignite on the time dry or the permanent press setting. So I just used the regular setting the last few months. Now Its not igniting on that setting either. Any thoughts please and thank you.
Debbie K,
If both thermostats are working, and you are sure the thermal fuse at back is not blown, then you may have a wiring issue or the control board or timer is not working properly. Have you checked to see if you are getting the proper power to the heating element? Have you made sure that the dryer is not set up on a 2 breaker system and one is switched off since the dryer is most likely 220V? Have you checked the plug going into the wall to be sure the wiring is tight and secure? Have you checked the wiring coming into the dryer? Checked the terminals? Made sure the wiring inside the dryer is not damaged or loose? If you have the proper power to the dryer, then either a part is bad, or there is a wiring issue in the dryer or on a component.
-RR
We have an electric dryer we’ve used for the past 15 years or so. Just recently it stopped heating, but everything else seemed to be working. It will tumble dry, but it takes 3 hours. We’ve used an ohm meter to check all the thermostats and fuses and found only one faulty, so we replaced it. We also replaced the heating element to find out our old one was actually working (it was tested at the parts store). Our dryer is still not heating. Is there something else we could check? The dryer runs well in every other aspect. We cannot understand why the dryer is not getting hot. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your dryer not heating. I am experiencing the exact same thing with my exact same model dryer. I am at a lost as to what needs fixed? Help appreciated!
I am renting and we were furnished with a dryer that gets hot but takes to long to dry clothes i ran my brush down the roof vent and got the lint out. i changed all three of the thermostats. It blows out hot air from the back when the hose is off but when reattached i can.t feel any air flow out the roof vent i also found that the vent coming out of the wall was not attached correctly to the 90 going up the wall and the wall have lint built up inside them i haven’t opened up the wall yet to get to all the lint but i did fix the tube but still not getting air to the roof vent . The dryer is an electric Estate Model #TEDS 780.jQO
Jeanna,
We are not sure the model number of your Whirlpool dryer, but is it possible you have inadvertently switched the dryer to low heat? Check the temp settings to be sure. If you have cleaned all lint build up and the dryer still does not dry, you may have a blown thermal fuse. Test with a meter if you have one. You can try taking the vent hose off when running the dryer and see if hot air is blowing out of the dryer. That is a way to test to see if you have some lint build up in the wall where the vent hose hooks into. If you feel hot air coming directly out of the back of the dryer, then your problem is lint build up in the wall.
-RR
I have a Whirlpool Dryer, it gets hot but it’s not drying the clothes. I cleaned out the vent from the back and also the filter. Is it the heating element?? I’m trying to do it myself.. PLEASE HELP!!!!!
E,
If the lint catcher on your Dryer is ripped, cut in half, or a part of it is missing, your dryer is sucking all the lint into the inside of the dryer and most likely clogging the air flow and air vent. Replace the lint screen, clean out the internal dryer of ALL LINT with a shopvac, remove dryer vent hose and clean out. That should fix your dryer problem. Find a new lint screen on Amazon.
-RR
Lois,
If your dryer is turning but NOT HEATING and the heating elements and thermostats are in working order, you most likely have a blown thermal fuse. Have you checked it with a meter? Also check the electrical connections at the back of the dryer to be sure it is getting the correct voltage/power.
-RR
My dryer is not drying clothes. Have checked heating elements as well as thermostat. So what could it be?