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 Kenmore dryer model number 110.65132411.
It heats but takes a long time to dry.
Watched a video on kenmore’s site to do basic troubleshooting.
Everything checked out with multimeter except when i checked for continuity from the one wiring harness on the timer to the dryer high limit thermostat.
It should be reading 15 ohms and reading 9.6.
Changed the heating element and still taking a long time to dry and getting the same reading on the multimeter.
Not sure if it’s the thermostat or something else.
The dryer is only a year and a half old.
Mike,
The gas coils are probably worn out, very common for this type of problem.
-RR
I have a Kenmore Gas Dryer.
The dryer worked perfectly until recently.
Now, when I initially begin to use the dryer, the lighter coil (not sure if that’s what it’s called) will heat to a glow, then it ignites the gas and the flame flows and heat is generated, and everything works great.
Then it switches off, which I guess is normal so it doesn’t overheat.
The problem occurs when the second cycle or any heating cycle thereafter.
The lighter coil heats to a bright orange glow but it never ignites.
I can hear a click as if it should ignite but it doesn’t after that first cycle.
I have thoroughly vacuumed out the bottom housing compartment where the coil and other parts are.
I’ve thoroughly cleaned the lint trap and also the exhaust hose to make sure there wasn’t any excess buildup or lint.
I’ve made sure the exhaust hose isn’t kinked or bent and the air is flowing freely.
I’ve checked the exterior vent to make sure there are no obstructions.
This is so weird to me because it works fine during the initial startup cycle.
It heats well initially, but never continues so clothes don’t get dry.
The drum spins well.
I really need to fix this because I can not afford a new dryer.
I have a front load Maytag dryer.
The lights on the front panel are blinking (like they a burning out)
When I turn dryer on it starts working for a few seconds and then it shuts off on its own.
I just moved to a new house with an LG Sensory Dryer. Dryer worked well for a couple of loads, then started getting error D90 and turning off. Disconnected the hose and ran a test try, which was successful so we know the heat is working properly. We cleaned the vent hose and both exhausts (dryer and home exterior). Cleaned lint filter. Re-attached the hose, and still getting the error.
I have a Bosch Nexxt 700 series electric dryer that constantly gives the E:01 error code. That’s the lint filter code but the duct work is clean and have put a new vent cover outside and even replaced the lint filter. Could it be build up in the ducts inside the machine? Thanks
I have a Maytag front loader dryer that will spin but will not heat.
It’s Ensignia model, Quiet Series 200.
The thing I don’t get is how to open the machine to check it?
Colleen,
Check to be sure the THERMAL FUSE on your LG Dryer is now blown.
Usually when a dryer spins but DOES NOT HEAT it is the THERMAL FUSE.
Also be sure that if the dryer is on 2 different 110 breakers, that one of them is not tripped.
-RR
I have an LG front loader dryer model: DLEX 2650W purchased three years ago. The dryer will spin but will not heat. I cleaned the lint filter and the air dryer vent hose. The wasn’t a clog. It will spin but will not heat. Any suggestions?
shaun,
If you went from a 4 prong outlet to a 3 prong outlet and you replaced the 4 prong cord with a 3 prong cord, be absolutely sure it is wired properly.
If the LG dryer spins but does not heat, then the best possible reason for this is the wiring is incorrect.
Recheck the wiring for the 3 prong cord and check the wiring in the wall outlet to be sure it is wired properly.
Also check breakers to be sure it is not on 2 breakers and one has tripped.
A thermal fuse may be bad but in this case it sounds as if the wiring may be wrong.
Let us know what you find to be the issue.
-RR