- 10/25/2022
- By Editor
- Appliance Repair Staten Island, Washer and dryer repairs
The traditional and conventional clothes dryer works according to the following scheme: there is a drum in the housing that spins and rotates wet laundry, while hot air enters the drum from the heater, which in turn evaporates water molecules from the fabric and then goes into the exhaust hose. As a result, the laundry dries. Everything looks simple, but where we are dealing with high temperature, moisture, engine load – and wet laundry is quite heavy – there is always wear and risk of breakage.
In some cases, you can handle it yourself and the dryer will work again, but in other cases, a breakdown may require replacement of spare parts and the work of a qualified specialist.
Let’s sort it out step by step.
The dryer doesn’t work at all
The causes are not yet clear – perhaps something has broken, or perhaps the electricity supply is simply disrupted. Therefore, always start the inspection with the power supply elements.
1. Make sure that the cord is plugged into the outlet, it is not torn, not cut, not melted, the plug is also intact.
2. Make sure that the surge protection has not cut off the mains and the breaker is not thrown if your dryer is electric.
3. If the dryer works on gas, then check if the gas pipe is intact.
If you have carried out this initial inspection and nothing indicates the listed reasons, and it is still impossible to start the dryer, then you need to continue the diagnosis.
What exactly is not working properly? What parts of the dryer requires repair?
• the drum does not rotate
• the dryer is cold, there is no heating
• the dryer does not respond to pressing the buttons and does not start
• the drum turns intermittently, makes grinding or knocking sounds
If you see that one of the options above corresponds to your breakdown, then disconnect the dryer from the mains, turn off the gas supply and call the Appliance Repair Staten Island service ASAP.
What problems have to be solved with the help of a qualified professional only:
The dryer does not heat up
The problem is most likely in the heating element, which has burned out and needs to be replaced. There may also be breaks in the electrical circuit – the wiring has melted or broken.
There is also a possibility that the thermal fuse has burned out – it burns out in case of general overheating, which in turn happens when there is no heat removal from the dryer – the exhaust vent may be clogged.
The dryer does not start
There are many reasons – check the plugs and all the switches, of which there may be several. Next, check the operation of the door switch, whether the timer is working, whether the lighting in the dryer is working. Check if the fuse hasn’t blown, if it is provided in your dryer model. Your dryer can have two control options – electromechanical and electronic. In the first variant, it is necessary to check the integrity and continuity of the whole circuit through the wires, switches and push-to-start buttons, also check the serviceability of the starting switch, and in the second – whether the printed circuit board has not burned out. If there are signs of burnout of the circuit elements or the board, it is necessary to completely disconnect the dryer from the electricity and call a repair specialist. Do not disassemble or touch the electronic components inside the dryer, even after disconnecting from electricity – capacitors may have an accumulated charge with a dangerous voltage.
The dryer drum does not spin or barely spins
In this case, two options are possible – a drive belt or a bearing are faulty. If the drive belt is intact, then remove it and try to turn the drum manually, if it does not rotate freely without effort – it is necessary to change the bearing. Also, if you hear creaking and grinding, check the tension pulley assembly, the rollers could wear out.
The dryer works intermittently
The reason may be a failure of the normal thermal regime. Often, if the dryer is clogged with fibers and lint, then the heat-removing paths become clogged and this quickly causes overheating, the thermostat turns off the dryer and the laundry remains not dried. It is important to clean the dryer periodically.
Maintenance and good practices
In general, lint and fiber from clothes and bedding inevitably accumulating in the dryer are in fact the main cause of most breakdowns and malfunctions of all types of dryers. Therefore, it is important to clean the exhaust vent pipe, filter, lint screen, caps and all possible places of lint accumulation on a regular basis. Sometimes, depending on the frequency of use, it is necessary to carry out deep cleaning. This will save you from the risks of fire, allow your dryer to work without overheating and stressing loads, which means it will prolong the life and trouble-free operation of the dryer.