Best reviewed appliance repair company discusses inefficient dryers and avoiding dryer repair.
Having a dryer in your Las Cruces home is one of the primary luxuries of modern living. The ability to not only wash your clothes without a washboard but to throw them in a machine, forget about them for an hour, and come back to soft, fluffy fabric is absolutely amazing. You’ll realize just how amazing if your dryer ever stops working and you have to resort to the clothes-line method. If and when this does happen, you’re going to want to be prepared. While most people don’t have the electrical chops to mess with the control panel or many of the mechanisms, there are a few safe DIY tasks you can do to troubleshoot a dryer that won’t heat or finish drying clothes and help you avoid dryer repair.
1) Re-Plug the Power Cord
First, as you would with any appliance that’s acting up, mess with the power cord. Find the oversized dryer plug in it’s enormous outlet and carefully pull them apart. Wait a second or two, then plug the dryer back in, making sure that it pushes in securely. If the control panel responds at this point, your dryer is at the very least getting power and you know the connection isn’t loose.
2) Clear the Lint Trap
The dryer needs a steady flow of air to heat up and dry out your clothes. The reason the lint trap works the way it does is because hot air from the clothes blows through it, giving the trap the opportunity to catch lint in the air. However, if enough lint builds up that air can’t get through, you lose ventilation and drying ability. Clear the lint trap, then use your hand or a rag on a stick to clear out lint from the trap housing as well.
3) Wipe Down the Door Seal
Sometimes when a dryer is acting up, the reason is because the door isn’t sealing properly. Using a damp rag, possibly touched with a little vinegar as well, wipe down the rubber seal and the grooves around it to make sure there’s no grime or large lint balls getting in the way. Even if this wasn’t the reason your dryer is misbehaving, you’ll want that grime away from your clean clothes either way.
4) Clear the Back Vent to reduce the need for dryer repair
Finally, if your dryer still won’t heat or dry, check the flexible vent in the back of the dryer. These are either white plastic or a shiny ribbed tube and is the other half of the system the lint trap is part of. If the vent is crumpled or bent, this can be the cause of your problem. Open it up to clear out the lint, then make sure there is a clear channel when you reattach it.
There is another place where the vent might be blocked, which is a flap on the outside of your house. If this gets coated in damp lint, it can seal shut and stop opening for gusts of hot air out of your dryer. Locate the other side of the wall where your dryer is situated and find the outside portion of the vent, then clear this as well.
You have just successfully explored all the non-electrical components of your dryer. After this point, if you’re not a confident handyman and amateur electrician, you may want to call a professional to investigate further into your dryer issues. No one likes dealing with damp clothes or having to hang wet clothing all over the house because the dryer is busted. If clearing the lint system and cleaning the unit don’t do the trick, it’s time to look for a local repair service. For more easy home repair tips, contact us in Las Cruces today!
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