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 Frigidaire stackable and the dryer is getting hot and spinning but wont dry until 3 spin cycles…what do I do?
Paul,
Does the high limit blow as soon as you turn the dryer on? Is something grounding out on the frame? Have you checked all wiring? If all that is good, have you removed the vent hose from the wall and see if that makes a difference just as a test?
-RR
So i have cleaned the vent from the back of the dryer to outside. replaced the heating element and all the fuses and still i am blowing one of the high limit fuses on the heating coil
Charles,
How many times did you use your dryer in the 3 weeks it worked after you replaced the thermostats? Be sure that the lint vent tube (and in the wall) is completely cleaned out of all lint buildup. Even if it looks clean, deep in the wall it may not be. Check to be sure the wiring/element is not grounding out and causing a short.
-RR
I have a Whirlpool Dryer GEQ9800LW1 ITS 1O years old, it recently stopped heating, but still tumbled, so after taking it apart, cleaning out a LOT of dust and debris, all the vents and exhaust pipes. I checked the:
Thermal fuse, checks ok,
The heating element, checks ok,
The thermostats, front one ok, rear one bad,
I replaced them both (thermostats fuses) and three weeks later its doing the same.. did the same checks.. and its the same one is out again… ideas???
Rob,
Instead of us giving paragraphs of advice, try this first… Remove the vent hose from the dryer and do a test run. If the dryer still takes forever to dry your clothes, then you will know the dryer itself is the problem. You may have a thermostat that is fluctuating or other temperature control issues. If the dryer does dry your clothing as it should, then you know you still have a major blockage in the wall or vent duct somewhere.
-RR
Pulled dryer out and cleaned the vent tube with drill duct brush. Dryer still taking 5-7 cycles to dry and the back of the dryer is very hot to the touch. Hoping to fix myself but don’t know where to turn next.
Kyle,
Sounds like you checked all the obvious signs of where the humming could be coming from. Could it actually just be the machine slightly vibrating or possibly a side panel vibration? For us not to be able to hear the sound we can only guess but could it be possibly a door issue? (Loose screws or door lock loose?) Where is the humming sound coming from exactly?
-RR
I have a Maytag Maxima model MED7000XW2 that’s 2 years old that has me puzzled. It started to make a humming noise about 15-20 mins into a cycle I shut it off for a min and turned it back on and all was fine. Then the next day I used it and it did the same thing but wouldn’t go away when shutting it off. later that day I used it and it never made the noise at all. Now today it made the noise louder yet after 20 mins of use and then after sitting for a while and continuing the load t went away again. I took the dryer apart earlier today and didn’t see anything wrong the belt looked good and all wheels and pullys spun good and no shaft play in the motor or blower, some light lint build up around the inside of the case but other then that no problems. What could be causing this humming noise? its not a screech just a loud noisy hum.
Nicole,
Basically a thermal fuse reacts to excessive temperature (not electrical current) but they shut off electrical power when they blow. Assuming you have no air blockage in your vents, the problem could be a defective heating element or the blower which pushes the hot air through the exhaust is bad. Have you checked both parts to be sure they are in proper working order?
Also a defective cycling thermostat can also cause the dryer to overheat if it does not turn off the heat at the proper temperature.
Heating element: Have you checked to make sure it is not touching some part of the assembly casing? You could unplug the dryer, remove the heater assembly and test it for continuity with an ohmmeter just to be sure.
Blower: You won’t feel much air coming from the vent outlet if the blower is bad.
-RR