I have a dryer that a pen fell in the vent shoot and I need to know how to get it out or is it a bad thing to leave it in

When you say part of what was on it fell off was this lint or a piece of the dryer? If the switch on the door has broken the dryer will not run. In this case you will need to replace the switch / lever.

Hello,

While i understand that you cleaned the lint build up from the dryer,the problem your experiencing sounds like a airflow issue that is causing the flame to starve for air and the flame is blowing out. In addation to possible lint build up the things that will cause poor airflow are;

The blower wheel being bad...do you fell any air flowing out the back of the dryer?

A blocked/crushed vent..if air flow from back of dryer is their airflow close to equal volume of air flow where the vent goes outdoors?

You can disconnect the vent from the rear of the dryer temporarly and see if it works better with the vent off to check it


Good luck,i hope i have been able to help you fix your dryer,
GENE

Here are a few basic trouble shooting things to try to get you started. Is this a gas or electric dryer? I will assume electric. Check to make sure the heating element is heating up. You can do this by taking off the vent hose on back, putting the dryer on a hot dry cycle and feel the air coming out. You should have a very strong flow and after just a few minutes you should have hot air. If the air flow is weak, you need to clean the vent and lint tray with a flexible brush to clear any lint and debris from the air path. If the dryer is not blowing hot air it could be a thermostat, the heating element itself or even a bad circut breaker only allowing half of the 220 volt electric to work.

If you have a strong air flow, and hot air the next step is to hook the dryer up to the vent again, go outside and find where the dryer vent exits the home. At the vent exit if you have flaps covering the exit they should blow out fully when the dryer is running, and if there is no vent cover the air flow should be just as strang as it was at the back of the unit. If it is a weak flow you will need to clean or replace the vent from the dryer to outside the home. The most common cause of slow dry or incomplete drying is restricted air flow or the heater not working. Please let me know if any of this helped or fixed the problem. If not we can look into more possible solutions.

If the sponge fell down inside where your lint filter goes, that could be a problem. It is entirely possible that the sponge was blown out of the machine and there is no problem at all. But, if you cannot retrieve it with a clothes hanger or anything like that, you will have to take the dryer apart. So yes, the sponge could cause a clog and clogs are bad. The hot air must be able to get out of the dryer and blown outside with the least resistance possible.

Taking the dryer apart. UNPLUG the dryer from the wall. Pull the dryer away and get behind. Remove the dryer vent and back panel (8 1/4 inch screws). On the left is the lint chute where the sponge could possibly be. Simply remove the 4-6 1/4 screws and take the chute out. Look inside for the obstruction :) If it is nowhere to be found, it made it out of the dryer. Check the vent behind the dryer and the exit of the house. If it is nowhere to be found it could be inside the vent going to the outside of your house. The vent needs to be cleaned at that point to get the sponge out.

Check house fuses or circuit breaker.
Pull 220V cord from wall outlet and inspect the gold prongs.
If you see any burnt areas on the prongs the outlet is bad.

If the unit makes no noise when you press the start button check the dryer door switch and make sure it clicks when depressed.
Sometimes the door switch arm can break off so when the door closes
the door switch cannot be activated.

If you hear a growl noise when you press the start button 2 things...
1. The motor is bad and needs replacing.
2. An object fell down the lint trap and is preventing the motor from turning.

Also if the dryer vent has been plugged causing the dryer to over heat a saftey fuse may have blown and needs replacement.

was a pen or crayon placed in the machine by mistake ? You will need to
remove the residue, use rubbing alcohol on a rag for marker or pen ink , crayon use a razor scraper and then clenser and scrunge pad.

A couple of things could be causing this, first one of your elements are probably going bad. Try this first. Pull out the lent holder and clean area well. Remove air vent hose and clean/vacuum into vent housing and also exit leaving home. Make sure hosing is clean. When you put dryer back make sure that the hose is not kinked. After all this if it does not heat as it should you might want to check out craigslist for another one. You can get a good deal for around 50-70. Your wasting more electric trying to dry your clothes. Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help you with anything else.
JimmyC

Unplug the dryer. Remove the 2 screws at the lint filter location. Remove the rear panel, remove the air vent on the back left side
Use a vacuum to remove the treats.

If the dryer runs but does not heat, then there are many reasons why this may happen.
Remove the vent line from the rear of the dryer and see if it gets hot. if so you need to unclog the vent line.
If it does not then you have a bad thermostat .

1. unplug your machine and rach as far in the exhaust part of the dryer to see if there is an obstrucxtion. 
2.Take out the lint filter and make sure there are no gaping holes in the screen
3. Check the exhaust house leaving the machine or blockage, this hose should not run more than ten feet for optimal drying time.
4. its your heating element