Clothes dryers are mechanical items, and as such, have moving parts that wear out over time. Sometimes when your dryer stops working properly it’s because these moving parts have been overworked and they need to be replaced. Other reasons for the dryer to stop working properly include dryer vent blockages, hose problems, or lint trap issues. Troubleshooting your dryer may sound like a difficult process, but it really isn’t, and it could save you repair costs in the long run. Here are a few reasons your dryer may stop working properly and things you can do to try to remedy the situation.
- Dryer Heating Element Burns Out – The heating element is the actual element that produces the heat that the dryer uses to dry your clothes. This could be the problem if your dryer has stopped producing heat altogether. Inspect the heating element, and if it appears to be broken or burned out, replace it with a new one.
- No Air From the Exterior Vent – The vent that leads to the outside of your home should have small flaps that open to expel heated moist air when the dryer is working. You may have a blocked dryer hose or dryer vent if the vent isn’t opening as much as it should. The flow of air has to be able to move properly in order for the dryer to dry your clothing. You can repair the hose and vent by replacing them or by cleaning them.
- Dryer Isn’t Drying Clothes – This could be caused by a variety of reasons. The door may not be closed completely, the switch may be broken, the fuse may be blown, or something may not be making proper contact. Each of these parts needs to be examined, and replace any items that you feel may be broken.
A properly working dryer should dry a normal load of laundry in roughly 45 minutes as long as the washer is also functioning properly. The washer’s job is to clean your clothes and then spin as much water as possible out of them before they go into the dryer. If it isn’t spinning enough water out of the clothes before they go into the dryer, the washer may be the problem.
The dryer is responsible for more than 15,000 house fires every single year in the United States. Many of these fires begin in the dryer hose because of lint buildup and a single spark of static electricity. Dryer vent cleaning and inspection is one of our most popular services, because both of our CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps have obtained their C-DET (Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician) certification as well. Keeping the dryer hose and vent cleaned from year to year is extremely important to the way your dryer functions as well as an excellent way to prevent dryer fires. Call us at 610-626-2439 to schedule an appointment for any of our chimney or dryer vent cleaning services.