If you are in or around Lubbock, dryer repair is as easy as calling Lubbock Appliance Repair! 806-730-6300
Dryers are great when they work! They allow us to get a lot more laundry done and leave the clothes feeling nice and warm. They can be problematic though and give us a real headache if not working properly. Luckily, a few problems can be prevented with regularly scheduled preventative maintenance, which you can learn about by clicking HERE.
Most of the time dryers up and quit on us with little to zero notice, leaving its owner in a bind! The cause of the problem can vary widely, but can most often be attributed to the heating element or a power issue. Some of these problems will be discussed later.
Other times, there are warnings/signs of the dryer going out:
If you notice your clothes taking longer and longer and longer to dry over time, but you still have heat, you should check out our dryer preventative maintenance page to possibly take care of the problem yourself (SAVING MONEY!) or call Lubbock Appliance Repair to take care of it for you! If you let the problem continue, your dryer will eventually quit heating and you'll have a bigger problem on your hands. I've seen it a hundred times where somebody will have this same exact scenario (longer and longer dry times, then it quits heating all together) and they buy a new dryer - the new dryer will heat, but will go out just like the old one. This is because the problem is typically a venting issue (not part of your dryer) and it needs to be taken care of before your dryer will work properly. If the dryer is no longer heating at all, it's time to call a pro!
The heating element can be likened to a light bulb, except that a light bulb is designed to generate light and a heating element - heat. Just like a light bulb, heating elements go out with no notice. Even though a good majority of dryer issues are caused by a bad heating element, you may be wasting money by assuming yours is bad and putting one in when you're not sure. Your element requires power source from both the timer and the motor and if it is missing either, you'll get no heat. Changing the element won't fix it if this is the case. There are only two ways to test the heating element and both methods require a multimeter.
There are several other components that can be tested this way...
Many of these components/parts are designed to cut the supply of power to the heating element once that part reaches a certain temperature. Some automatically turn the power back on when they cool down a bit (operating thermostat and high limit thermostat) but some are thermal fuses which means once they've tripped they need to be replaced. These are SAFETY features that are designed to prevent your dryer from catching on FIRE and should ALWAYS be replaced, and NEVER bypassed.
---- Sidenote: Some shady "repairmen" and used appliance resellers will bypass safety features on not only dryers, but on any appliance. If buying a used appliance, make sure to buy from a reputable seller who has a business location.
Other no-heat problems can include a bad timer or control board or a bad centrifugal switch in the motor, both of which require more technical (and dangerous) troubleshooting to determine the cause of failure.
If you are a Do-It-Yourself guy or gal and need a part to fix your dryer we have two great parts supply houses in town: Appliance Parts Depot and 1st Source Servall.