Hotpoint Aquarius 1200 doesn't dry properly

Assuming that the dryer blower is running, but the air is just not coming out hot...... Turn off the power. Remember it's got to be either "hands on" or "power on" - any attempt to combine the two is going to end in tears. Take off the top cover of the machine, and find the dryer box (this is usually a metal duct which runs over the top of the machine, with a blower at one end). Set into this are several electrical parts. Expect to see the end of the dryer element (on the WD63, this is double, so two pairs of terminals), probably a pair of thermostats and probably a pair of thermal fuses. See pages 3, 5 and 6 at http://www.hotpoint-spares.co.uk/results.cfm?PageNum_Results=3&category=1505&secondary=0 for illustrations. Firstly, look at the thermal fuses, and see if they have reset buttons on them. If so, give them a good push, see if they click, and see if that fixes the problem. If this works, you need to find out what caused it to overheat in the first place. Check all the air ducts for lint blockage. Also, there's a cold water flow to cool the condenser while the dryer is running - make sure this works too. If this doesn't solve the problem, use a multimeter set on Ohms range (£10-£15 from B&Q if you haven't got one - a sound investment for the future) to check for continuity across the key components: The thermostats and thermal fuses each ought to read comfortably less than an ohm. If faulty, they will be much more. The elements should come in at a few tens of ohms for each half - it looks like the left hand pair of terminals serve one half of the element and the right hand pair the other. If faulty the resistance will be very much higher. Hopefully this will identify what needs replacing. Suggest you shop around - spares prices on the net vary enormously, and there's no really compelling reason not to use pattern parts instead of genuine if there's a big saving to be made. Good luck. A.