Clothes Dryer

Between work, commutes, socializing, parenting, and taking care of our homes, we lead pretty busy lives. Thankfully, when it comes to the household, we have appliances and tools that make chores simple and efficient. We can wash dishes in the dishwasher, clean our floors with vacuums, and do the laundry with a washer and dryer. One of those appliances is the clothes dryer.

Without it, doing the laundry would take far more time and effort. If your dryer isn’t drying, it can be a big deal and an expensive replacement.

Before you replace, see if you can fix the problem. To help you, take a look at these common dryer issues and troubleshooting causes.

Causes:

Lint Screen Clogged

Lint screens or lint filters are an easy thing to check for clogging if your dryer does not dry. A dryer that takes too long to dry clothes can be easily fixed if you discover lint to clean away from the lint screen regularly. This should be the first thing that is done before you do any other repairs.

Your dryer lint screen is the guard for the duct. If any lint is sucked out the exhaust, the screen collects it before the majority gets into the duct piping. If the lint accumulates to the point where exhaust doesn’t have air flow, your dryer will not dry clothes.

Failing to clean a lint screen can be dangerous. The clogged lint screen and heat from the dryer could cause a serious situation with fire.

Heating Element is Obstructive or Defective

If the mechanical function of the dryer drum is spinning, there is obviously electricity reaching the control panel of the dryer. However, a dryer not drying clothes is most likely due to a malfunction in the heating element.

The heating element is a metal casing with fuses connected to the panel and heating coil. This coil heats up and is the component that provides the heat for the whole dryer. If the heating coil or element is not functioning properly, the dryer will not dry clothes.

Blower Wheel is Loose or Dirty

If a dryer is not drying clothes but is heating up, there may be a mechanical malfunction with the blower wheel.

The blower wheel works from the inside of the dryer by circulating the heated air into the dryer drum so that the clothes can get dried.

The blower wheel might be damaged or too dirty and not spinning. The dryer will not receive much heated air without the spinning blower wheel. It could also be a fire danger as all of the heat will remain in one place of the dryer.

Clogged Ducts

The ducts are pipes in the back of the dryer that lead the hot exhaust and some lint out of the dryer and out of your home. If there is a leak between the lint screen and the duct, lint can build-up in the duct pipe.

Clogged ducts reduce the airflow in the dryer and can limit the drying capabilities. You will know if the ducts  clogged if the dryer heats up but does not dry. Without exhaust, the heat of the dryer will not  efficiently spread over the clothes in the dryer.

Not Enough Power to Dryer

All gas and electric clothes dryers require 240 volts to work properly. If your power cord, outlet, or power fuses are loose, or damaged, they may need to be replaced.