Gas dryer will heat but won't dry clothing

SOURCE: Dryer Heats - Drum Turns - Clothes Don't Dry - Dryer Seems To Over Heat

Before ripping into the dryer, with the dryer running, check the vent outside. There should be a rather strong air flow. I'll bet you have little or maybe no air flow. Check behind the dryer to make sure you don't have squished flex duct. If you have flex pipe, try running the dryer for a few minutes with the dryer pulled out into the room to stretch the vent out, and check outside airflow again. Try to eliminate all or as much of the flex stuff as you can, replacing it with aluminum dryer vent pipe. (tape joints with foil duct tape) Clean out remaining dryer vent. (there are special brushes you can buy to clean out vents, but they really only work on ridgid pipe.)

SOURCE: Maytag dryer does not maintain heat and clothes smell

Save yourself the repair call and replace the gas coils. They're a $30 part and it takes all of five minutes. Works like a charm.

Barry Coates

• 3463 Answers
• Posted on Nov 26, 2008

SOURCE: no heat from my tumble dryer

Presumably the motor and fan are working.
Check filter, and if it is vented with a hose, make sure it is not blocked with fluff. if all seems to be o/k, then the heating element is probably faulty.
Please leave good feedback if this helps with your problem

SOURCE: dryer heats, tumbles clothes, blows air out exhause vent, but wont dry clothes

what type is this electric or gas? have you removed the exsaust from the wall and ran a load like this? if you have heat and this is an electric dryer it sounds like you have a blockage in your house. if the dryer runs fine without the exsaust attached then that is your problem. let me know

SOURCE: no heat in dryer.

First, I assume that the drum spins OK but there is no heat. Many things can cause this. From the most likely cause to the least likely:
1) An open thermal fuse. This is a small "thermostat" with 2 wires at the middle/top of the heater "box" (a tall narrow box on right in the back of the machine), or a plastic type on the duct close to the blower, depending on the model. You will need to remove the back cover of the machine to see these. Check with an ohm meter after disconnecting one of the leads, or jumper the 2 wires together to see if heater works (don't use this way though, fire hazard... replace the device) If this proves to be the cause of the problem, it would be wise to check all ducts and blower for excessive lint buildup. This will reduce air flow, causing overheating and blown thermal fuses.
2) A burned out heating element. Remove tall box on right, element slides out from the bottom together with the "carrier". Look for broken coil, or check 2 terminals at bottom with ohm meter.
3) Burned wires at connectors. Check for obviously overheated wire terminals at all sensors (thermostats and thermal fuses in back), heater box, main terminals where power cord hooks up, etc.
4) Bad thermostats. There are usually 2 or more. A high limit on heater box, just above terminals on the bottom. 1 or 2 will be on the duct next to the blower. Check these with an ohm meter (or continuity checker). Some have 4 terminals, the extra 2 small terminals are small heaters inside the thermostats which alter it's temperature characteristics. These will usually read around 4000 ohms or so. Check the 2 main largest terminals for continuity.
5) Only getting 110 volts: This is often overlooked, but if for some reason one of the poles feeding the 220 power from the house wiring is open but the other is OK (for example, houses with fuses where only one fuse is blown, or a bad circuit breaker with one pole open). The motor and timer run on 110. If the side of the 220 line that feeds the motor is OK but the other one is open the motor will run but the heater, which needs 220 will not heat. Check for 220 volts between the 2 outer terminals where power cord connects or between the 2 "hot" terminals of the 220 outlet the dryer is plugged into.
6) Bad centrifugal switch in motor. This is what actually turns the heater on, for safety reasons, so the heater cannot come on unless the fan is spinning. Otherwise without air flow past it, the heater would burn out.
There are 2 large gauge (usually red or yellow) wires going to the connector on the motor, these go to the contacts inside the motor that turn the heater on.