It can be frustrating especially when you push the dryer’s start button and nothing happens. Worse still, is when you push the button and think everything is okay, only to return to cold damp clothes. Your dryer is an important appliance but it may experience troubles especially if you don’t take good care of it, or it is old enough thus calling for repairs or replacement. Before you call that specialist, it is important to understand the three most common dryer problems and the ways to troubleshoot:
Dryer does not start
When your dryer fails to start, the first thing you should do is to check the breaker at your electrical panel. Breakers do the trip, so check for tripping. Reset your breaker and start the dryer again. The problem may not end there, so you should go to the next step which is the door switch. If the switch is broken, you need a replacement and it should be one that gets inside the cabinet. Just consult with your dryer repair manual or call an expert to fix the problem for you. The last thing you need to check is the thermal fuse. It is a nonresetting fuse and is located inside the dryer. A multimeter is the tool used for testing whether the fuse is faulty. An experienced technician should guide you in this last troubleshooting step.
Clothes taking too long to dry
In this case, open the dryer door to determine if the tumbler drum is warm. Most of the times, it is warm inside the drum, so there could be an obstruction in the air flow system. Check for debris and excess lint by pulling off the venting hose. You also need to clean your blower housing chamber, all the way to where it vents out. There is this place that most people miss when troubleshooting this problem; the outside vent box. It is the end of the line and known to have excess lint build up. Bird nests, wasps’ nests, and debris can cause airflow restrictions and can pop your fuses.
Clothes are still cold and damp
If the dryer is on and the clothes are still wet, you need to check the cut-off fuses. In this case, you need to be equipped with a working multimeter. This is yet another nonresetting fuse. It is a bit tricky because you want to get inside your dryer and go straight to the heating chamber where the cut off fuse is housed. You can test the fuse by using the multimeter and by pulling wires. If this sounds daunting, ask a professional to lend a helping hand. If the cut-off fuse is determined to be faulty, then it needs to be replaced with a new one.
The heating element can also be the cause of this problem especially if it has gone out. It needs testing too, in order to determine if it is working or has failed. And before your happy dance, you don’t want to forget the blower housing or venting; there could be some debris that is obstructing the airflow in there. If you don’t want to keep on replacing your fuse, then have these areas cleaned as well. This is also a safety feature that comes handy in doing its intended function.
These are the most common dryer issues that call for some patience to do it yourself. If you feel you cannot deal with the issue yourself, ask a technician to do it for you. They will have you up and drying on the same day of repair. At Puget Sound Appliance tech, we have a team of specialists who are always around the corner to ensure that your dryer functions just like when it was first bought. Contact us today, we will be happy to work with you!
