Dryer is gradually stopped heating and drying

Since you say it happened gradually seems like it's not the heating element. If that's functioning properly you should see the orange glow inside the dryer when running. If your dryer does not have a glass door you can keep the dryer running by holding the button in. Look on the door, at some point you should see something that makes contact and pushes a switch on the frame. You can trick it by manually closing the switch. Be careful. I would suspect the trouble is a clogged lint exhaust. Over time this will fill with lint preventing the moist air to escape. This is how the dryer works. The hot wet air in the drum needs to vent outside to dry the clothes. When this becomes clogged you have nowhere for the moisture to go. So it stays in the drum and runs and runs without drying clothes. Also make sure you clean out the lint trap after each use. Clean the entire vent path. Also make sure you are venting outside. If not, you are just recirculating wet moist air back into the dryer. When working properly, you should feel a good flow of warm wet air at the outside vent. If not there is still a clog. Good luck.

Hi,

If you are having problems with your gas dryer not heating the most common problem is that the ignitor goes bad. Even though it glows sometimes it is still not working properly.

if you dryer is gas check out this gas no heat tip....

If you have an electric dryer, you can have many different things that can go wrong causing the dryer not to heat.

check out this electric no heat tip...

heatman101

Hi, If you have a gas dryer.
The most common problem with a gas and no heat is the ignitor going bad...

Here is a tip that I wrote about that problem...

Gas Dryer not Working Gas Dryer Not Heating
http://www.fixya.com/support/r4398592-gas_dryer_not_working_gas_dryer_not

If your dryer is electric..
There could be a number of different problems...
Check out this tip that I wrote about this problem...

Dryer Troubleshooting Electric Dryer won t Heat
http://www.fixya.com/support/r3866345-dryer_troubleshooting_electric_dryer_won

heatman101

Most of the time this problem is attributed to a blocked or more precisely, a partially blocked dryer vent system. When a dryer vent is blocked it stops the air flow and the heat backs up into the dryer turning the heat sensors on and off prematurely taking longer for the clothes to dry. Over time this may cause the heat overload fuse to blow and you will have no heat at all.
First take a look at the dryers ducting between the dryer and the wall to make sure the vent duct (normally a flexible style) has not been crushed or kinked.
If the dryer duct to the wall is in good shape then in most cases there is a blockage some where between the wall where the ducting connects to the vent and where it exhausts outside.
The major cause of a blocked dryer duct occurs when the water in the clothes is heated to a high temperature and turned into steam, which is then exhausted out the back of the dryer to outside. As the steam cools on its journey and gets closer to the outside of the house, it tends to get cooler and turns back into water droplets. This is going to be the point where the dried lint, as it escapes past the lint filter, sticks to the newly formed water drops and starts a gradual chocking down of the 4" diameter vent to 3",2",1" and finally stops all flow of air.
Remember, the dryer is designed to exhaust so many cfm's and the more choked the vent the more heat is backed up into the dryer.
If you cannot access the dryer ducting, because it is in the wall or ceiling, to look for the obstruction, then look in the yellow pages or contact the local appliance repair service company and get the name for a good duct cleaning company.

Normally it is six feet and not more than two bends, if it has been doing this you have buildup in the ducts and need to clean the ducts. I would suggest you make a new hole to address the problem. Also if you have a plastic pipe sometimes they develope a flap those blocks or slows the air down you can’t see this unless it is in dry mode. Any blockage will slow the air down allowing particles to drop down and gradually plug the vent, if the bends are too tight it to will slow down air flow and cause the same thing I suggest you cut the length of the hole to stop this problem if you can, it is not hard to do and I can give you the instructions if you post here.

either your heating element or your thermostats are bad. on the heating element casing there are two thermostats. check the top one for continueity if it doesn't have continueity the change both thermostats. if they are good then check your heating element for continueity. after you get your dryer heating then clean out your vent system... if it's not venting properly then your dryer will take a long time to dry.

hi..you probably have a tripped electrical breaker.
check your breaker box first and reset any tripped
breakers.If that doesn't work,you may have to replace
the heating element.
check it out..
thank u..
kindly rate my response..

first, check the exhaust, make sure every inch of it is clean on the inside. if there is any blockage, the heat will build up in the exhaust and a sensor will shut down the heating element.

dryer will not start