Monthly Archives: May 2018

Why does my dryer not heat up?

 

Have you ever asked, “Why doesn’t my dryer heat up?”, then read on.  There are many potential reasons a clothes dryer may fail to heat up, but we’ll list the more common reasons here:

a) Thermal fuse has blown out. Your dryers thermal fuse is designed for safety in mind. In fact, it’s actually considered a safety device on dryers. It’s purpose is to monitor the dryer’s internal temperature environment and cut itself off (by burning out) if the operating thermostat fails and the heat in the dryer exceeds a predetermined temperature, say 315 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, just replacing a dryer’s thermal fuse that is blown out may not solve the problem as there most likely is a root cause for the excess heat that the thermal fuse detected and cut power to the excess heat as a safety precaution.

b) Dryer’s heating element is out. On electric dryers only, the heat is produced by providing 240 volts to the wire’s coils that make up an electric dryer’s heating element. Its a common failure item, and can be replaced relatively inexpensively. Call one of our dryer repair experts for a quote if you suspect your dryer’s heating element has failed and needs replacing.

c) Dryer’s gas won’t ignite. On gas dryers, a common failure item is the dryer’s igniter, which is a solid state equivalent of a pilot light. It’s purpose it to glow white hot so that the gas is instantly ignited when the gas valves open and spray gas adjacent to it’s radiant surface.

d) Incoming power problem. A failure of the incoming power voltage to the dryer’s terminal block is also a common reason dryer’s won’t heat up.  For electric dryers, 240 volts is actually needed to make the heating element coil glow, and a common failure is that one of the two lines containing 120 volts is out, whether it be L1 (line 1) or L2 (line 2).

So if you’re wondering where your nearest appliance repair company is located that also repairs dryers, look no further.  Call one of our appliance repair technicians today at (832) 321-3758 or email us at Info@Houston-Katy-Appliance-Repair.com.

We’re here to help!