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!
My dryer has proven to be very frustrating to repair. The dryer stopped heating and I saw that the Thermal Cutoff Fuse on the upper part of my heating element box was blown. I went to sears and purchased another and replaced that along with the high heat thermometer and the Thermal Cutoff Fuse blew again.
At this point I have done all of the following to try to find out why the fuse keeps blowing.
1. I removed the blower housing and saw that is was 2/3’s clogged right in front of the blower wheel. I cleared it and washed everything so that even inside was clean. Have really good airflow now.
2. I checked my exhaust duct and there were not blockages. It has been working just fine for almost a year now with the two bends in it. So that is not the problem.
3. I checked my cycling thermostat on lint chute/blowing housing which is rated for 150 degrees. I placed it on a griddle and at 150 degrees it disengaged. Then when it cooled back down it allowed electrical flow. I did this twice and it worked well. I checked the electrical flow using a multi-tester. So that is not the problem.
4. I checked the thermal fuse on my blower housing/lint chute and it was still intact. This was located directly above my cycling thermostat.
5. I started to wonder if my heating elements themselves were bad. I did a Ohms test using an analog multi-tester on the heating element terminals just to make sure they were still all in one piece. The test showed continuity, 0 ohms to be exact. I then tested to see if the heating elements had been grounded by touching the outside of the heating box with one lead on the outside of my heater box and the other lead to each of the two terminals (one at a time) . There was infinity resistance so my coils aren’t grounded. At that point I took the heater box off the dyer to visually inspect the elements and everything look good. Nothing was worn down.
6. I checked my drum seal to see if it might be allowing air to get sucked in bypassing the heater box. It still fit nicely and was tight all the way around.
After trying all of those steps I purchased another Thermal Cutoff Fuse and it also blew. I’m very frustrated and we are tired of running back and forth to the laundry mat.
There is no external temperature switch for me to check on this model dryer and now I am lost as to what to look for next.
Can anyone think of anything else that might be causing my dryer to overheat to the point where the thermal fuse on my heater box keeps blowing?
Thanks,
Ivan
Hi Liz,
Sounds like you need the tension clamps for your dryer hose. Have a look at this dryer vent hose with clamps picture and if that is the type of hose you have then you need the retaining rings. If you already have them then you may not have them on correctly.
-RR
The vent hose on my tumbler needed replacing ( was torn ) but I seem to be doing something wrong as the hose is not staying attached inside the machine.
It worked for a few weeks but re-did it yesterday and it’s off again already this morning.Other than that,machine is working well.
It’s a White Knight 447 if that’s relevant :)
Realise I can’t glue the hose on ( !! ) but what can I try – any advice please?
Hi Caroline,
Have you checked the Thermal Fuse for continuity?
-RR
I have a whirlpool electric front load dryer that is not heating up or drying the clothes. I have recently replaced the thermostat and the heating coil. The dryer vent on the dryer has been cleaned out, the hose is not clogged up and the hose exhaust unit is cleaned out. The power plug is plugged in to a 220 outlet.In-fact i haven’t put the hose back on the dryer after repairing each item. I plug it in and try the power button options and have tried several positions on the controls but it puts out no warm air. So it is still not heating up? Just blows cold air. The drum will turn and everything else seems to work. Whirlpool mod wed5100sq0 ser mu3149454
Hi Sherwin,
Make and model of your dryer?
The drum will not turn by hand or while it is powered?
Does the dryer make a humming noise, can you hear the motor?
If you are trying to run your dryer and the drum will not turn, then a broken belt is the most likely problem.
-RR
The drum on the dryer doesnt turn. What are my options?
Hi Mokang,
Having a clogged air duct hose/vent can cause your dryer to overheat. However the thermal fuse should blow if this is the case. It may be possible that the issue (before the technician came out) was a clogged vent, therefore the thermal fuse blew. Now the vent is still clogged and quit possibly the thermal fuse will blow again.
OR
There is a thermostat in your dryer that monitors the temperature in the blower and turns the heating element (or gas burner) on and off as needed to keep the proper temperature. If the thermostat is at fault and can’t sense the air temperature, the heating element (or gas burner) can stay energized too long. This can create a temperature that is unsafe in the drum. So it may be possible the thermostat is at fault.
OR
The wrong thermal fuse could have been installed and it is not blowing (tripping) when the temperature gets too high.
-RR
Hi, I just had my dryer fixed…it just didn’t work. When the technician came, he replaced the thermal fuse. I was using it after he left, when the full cycle was done and I was taking the clothes out, the outside of the dryer was too hot and even the clothes are too hot to touch. What would be the problem this time of the dryer?
Hi David,
Are you able to tell if the dryer is heating up? It may be that the High Limit Thermostat has tripped and the dryer is not heating. The dryer may be able to slightly dry your clothes from just the “tumbling” action. You can open up the back panel and see if you can locate the thermostat that may be resettable. There could also be a number of other problems but the thermostat or thermal fuse is most likely causing your issue.
A ventless dryer can take a long time to dry your clothing. Some ventless dryers may take between 2 and 4 hours to dry a half load of clothes. If you have a full load of clothes you are trying to dry, remove 50% of the clothing to assist the limit of the dryers drying capability.
-RR