4 Reasons Your Dryer is Not Working

Your dryer is not working as it should, and you want to know why. This can be a very frustrating thing for homeowners to see, as most of us use our machines on a regular basis. So how can it suddenly stop working? Let’s take a look at the 4 most common reasons your dryer will not work.

If you’re dryer is not working and don’t want to fix it yourself, contact appliance repair Winnipeg, Profixit.

1. The lint filter may be an issue

The lint filter is what prevents lint from going into the dryer and onto your clothes. If your dryer isn’t working, the first thing you should do is check to make sure that the lint filter isn’t clogged up. If it is clogged, you will need to clean it out so that air can pass through it. Here are some tips for cleaning lint from a lint filter:

For a lint trap in a top-loading washer, remove the trap and pull out any large pieces of debris. For example, if you have been cleaning up after your pets and they have shed their fur, this will be caught in the lint trap. Also check for pieces of clothing or other items that may have gotten stuck in the trap.

For a removable filter on your dryer, remove this filter and clean it with soap and water as well as a stiff brush or other hard object to dislodge any clumps of dirt or other debris.

For an internal filter inside your dryer, check to see if there is a removable panel where you can access the filters. Clean these filters with soap and water as well as a stiff brush or other hard object.

2. The heating element may be blown

The heating element may be blown. This is a common cause of dryer not working. The heating element looks like a cord or an old-fashioned metal toaster with coils on either side. The coils get extremely hot when electricity passes through them, so if the dryer won’t heat, but the timer, thermostat and other controls are intact, it’s most likely that the heating element has burned out.

The heating element may be shorted out or grounded. If you are comfortable with basic wiring and electrical theory, you can test it using an ohmmeter. If the reading is open, replace it. If the reading is high resistance (infinite), then there’s a short and the heating element must be replaced. 

3. It could be the thermostat that’s not working

If your dryer is not working, it could be the thermostat that’s not working. You can check if the thermostat is defective by pressing the button to turn on your clothes dryer. If the unit turns on, but doesn’t heat up or spin, it’s likely that the problem is with the thermostat.

An easy way to check if your dryer’s thermostat is defective is to do a simple continuity test. To perform this test, unplug the dryer and remove the front of the unit by removing screws from the back of it and pulling it away from the wall.

4. The electric wiring or plug is defective

If the dryer doesn’t heat, the first thing to check is the wiring or plug. Electric dryers are equipped with a thermal fuse, which may be defective. Also check the dryer’s heating element and make sure that it heats.

If you have power going to the dryer but it still won’t heat, you must determine whether there’s an electrical problem within the dryer itself or whether the issue lies outside of it.

If the electric outlet is hot, shut off the circuit breaker that controls that outlet.

The last resort is to contact a dryer repair service in Winnipeg, like Profixit.