Shoot- my dryer won't dry!

[linnylu]

It is always something! Before callling a repairman, is there anything I should check on our dryer? It tumbles but the clothes remain wet.

Also, if we need a new dryer, does anyone have one to recommend? I will probably buy it at Sears. I would like a larger capacity one (7 cu or more) and gas.

Thanks!

 

[bjscheel]

Don't know about the fixing, but earlier this year we were considering a new dryer and had it narrowed down to an LG. Then an acquaintance with an appliance store said he would take a Fisher Paykel over an LG any day. (And he sold both)

We didn't get anything, but when I do, I'm looking into Fisher Paykel.

 

[MrsPete]

My dryer stopped drying -- it was 20+ years old -- and I really just gave up on it. I wanted to buy something new and energy-efficient anyway. But on to the point . . . when the delivery men took away my old machine, they found WATER in the vent hose. They said that was pretty strange So of course my clothes weren't drying!

 

[mickeygaga]

This happened to me earlier this year. Turns out our dryer vent to the outside was clogged with lots of lint. Hubby had to go outside were it vents and give it a good clean out. Hope this helps.

 

[disneychrista]

If the dryer is heating up but the clothes aren't drying try making sure the vent isn't clogged.

 

[thebeesknees]

Our dryer did that a few years ago. It was only 1 year old. We had purchased it from Sears, and of course it was about a month past warranty, so we paid for a repairman to come take a look at it. He said it was an electronic sensor that had gone bad. He told us we could either pay him to do the work (I think it was going to run another $100+ on top of the $50 service call) or he would give us the part number and we could order it and install it ourselves - a very simple fix. We opted for the latter, paid about $25 for the part, and my handyman-challenged husband had it installed in less than 5 minutes. The dryer is now 9 years old and still works fine. I guess you need to decide what your cutoff point for repair vs. purchasing a new machine would be.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our pilot light was damaged by a quarter, and I was ready to kick myself when I had to spend over $200 for a $15 part because I called the repairman. The dryer would run, but not dry.

 

[Siouxstone]

Clogged vent, sensor or heating element. All very fixable and reasonably priced. Put your brand model and repair into your favorite search engine.

Good luck!

 

[branv]

Ours did this once about 5 years back, and I can't now remember what the problem was. But the repair was $150. Way better than a new dryer, especially since it's still going 5 years later (overall the darn thing is 15 years old ) . Of course, no kidding, our washing machine went out TWO DAYS before the dryer died. So technically the repair bill was $300

That being said, the guy told us that lint was the problem. I was kind of confused b/c I always clean out the lint trap. But he took off the panel on the front bottom and showed me an accumulation of the lint that had gotten through. He said I could lengthen the life of my dryer by occasionally taking off this panel and vacuuming out the inside (after unplugging it of course!).

 

[dfchelbay]

It is always something! Before callling a repairman, is there anything I should check on our dryer? It tumbles but the clothes remain wet.

Also, if we need a new dryer, does anyone have one to recommend? I will probably buy it at Sears. I would like a larger capacity one (7 cu or more) and gas.

Thanks!

If it's a gas dryer, make sure it's getting gas to it, i.e. that the supply line checks out ok and that the pilot light has not gone out. I don't have a gas dryer, but I have wondered if people completely shut down their furnace (along with the pilot light) in spring because they don't need heat or air right now and that would shut down the "heat" of a gas dryer.

 

[Skatermom23]

Make sure your dryer vent pipe is clean. My dryer hasn't been working well for about a year. It was taking three hours to dry a load of towels. Finally I called one of those guys out to do a vent cleaning since my dryer is on the second floor and vents out the roof. He said that my vent was too clogged for him to do anything and we would have to open the duct work to have it cleared... Dh refused to believe that and we bought a product called the Linteater.. Best product on the market in my opinion! There are vidoes on you tube about it. It worked just like it said and got so much lint out of the ducts. Now it only takes 40 minutes to dry a load of towels!

 

[summersalt]

My dryer stopped drying once and it was because the door wasn't closing properly. The device that held the door shut was bent (just a tiny bit) and this was preventing the door from completely closing. Run your hand around the door to make sure it is tightly closed.

 

[safetymom]

Did you check the fuse or circuit breaker?

 

[xipetotec]

It is always something! Before callling a repairman, is there anything I should check on our dryer? It tumbles but the clothes remain wet.

Also, if we need a new dryer, does anyone have one to recommend? I will probably buy it at Sears. I would like a larger capacity one (7 cu or more) and gas.

Thanks!

I've had three separate dryer issues.

1) Vent clogged with dryer lint.

2) Blower wore out and needed changing ( repairman fixed that ).

3) The heating element needed changing, this is an easy fix and i did it myself.

 

[3boymthr]

I had this problem - it turned out to be an underwire from my bra had slipped out and fused with the heating element. It was an easy and inexpensive fix.

When DH had the dryer pulled out and the back off he also hauled out his shop vac and removed all the lint from inside the dryer - I couldn't believe how much there was - this helped make my dryer more efficient - drying time definitely improved!

 

[BrettS]

It is always something! Before callling a repairman, is there anything I should check on our dryer? It tumbles but the clothes remain wet.

Like the others suggested, this could be an easy fix, but we need a bit more information. When the drier runs, do the clothes get hot at all or do they stay cold and wet?

 

[Friendly Frog]

Our dryer would get hot and steamy, but just didn't get dry, and the dryer would overheat and shut down. Our dryer is electric and we cleand out the duck /vent and did not get anything much out. We read about unplugging it and using a weed blower to blow out the vent. It worked. Not sure you should do this with a gas dryer. I would google your dryer symptons and start reading.

 

[MamaOdie]

Mine did this twice in the past year. The first time we found a rock (don't ask me how) that had gotten stuck in the vent and was creating a clog and the second time we found that a piece of lint was holding the little flap on the the dryer vent on the outside of the house open so cold air was mixing with hot air and taking twice as long to dry clothes.
I was told that in most cases when a dryer isn't drying, it's either a clogged vent pipe or that the heating element is burnt out. If you're getting some heat, but clothes aren't drying try cleaning the vent.

 

[a1970model]

We've had this problem twice due to two separate problems:

1. The dryer would run, get hot, but our clothes would take forever to dry. Our lint pipe was plugged with lint. We replaced the piping through the house to the outside and vacuumed out the pipes in the dryer. I think it cut the drying time in half.

2. A month later, the dryer would run but not get hot. We had to replace the fuse to the dryer in our fusebox. It worked fine afterwards.

Hope that helps.

 

[4Seasons]

Lint clogs are the most common culprit (we had a bird build a next in our dryer vent once), but you can also check here:

www.repairclinic.com

That is our appliance bible and has literally saved us thousands over the years.