Unplug the dryer, take the load out and spread it out to cool. When a dryer quits partway through and the drum is unusually hot, the likely explanation is overheating: Whirlpool notes a dryer may shut off mid-cycle as a safety measure, and that lint buildup restricting airflow can cause the overheating (Whirlpool). Your job now is to make sure nothing smolders, then find the blockage.
Do this first
- Unplug the dryer or switch off its breaker. For a gas dryer, also turn the gas shutoff valve behind it to off if you can reach it easily.
- Open the door and pull the laundry out into a basket or onto a clean floor. Spread it out instead of leaving it in a heap.
- Check the load for oily items. The CPSC warns that towels soiled with cooking oil may still hold oil after normal washing, and that drying them, or leaving them in a pile while warm, can make them smoke and catch fire (CPSC). Lay kitchen towels, rags and similar items flat, outside if possible, until they're cool.
- If you see smoke or flames, or smell burning that gets stronger, leave and call 911. If you smell gas, leave and call 911 and Atmos Energy from outside.
In the next few hours
- Clean the lint screen and look into the screen's slot with a flashlight for lint packed below it.
- Check the outside vent flap. With the dryer off, go outside and find the vent hood. The U.S. Fire Administration advises making sure the outdoor vent covering opens when the dryer is operating and that the venting behind the dryer isn't damaged, crushed or restricted (USFA). Lint caked on the louvers, a nest or a stuck flap are common finds.
- Look at the duct behind the dryer. Pull the dryer out a few inches. A crushed foil or vinyl duct, or one bent sharply against the wall, chokes airflow.
- Let the dryer cool completely before trying anything else.
- Decide whether to test it. If you found and cleared an obvious blockage, you can try a short timed cycle on low heat while you stay in the room. If the dryer won't start at all, it may have blown a one-time thermal fuse, which a technician should replace together with fixing the airflow problem that tripped it.
Before the technician arrives
Note:
- The model and serial number. On most dryers the label is inside the door opening, on the frame, or on the back panel.
- How long it ran before stopping, and whether the dryer starts, runs without heat, or is completely dead.
- What you found: lint in the screen slot, a crushed duct, a stuck outside flap.
- How long dry times have been over the past few weeks. Gradually longer drying is a classic airflow warning.
- How long the vent run is, if you know, and whether it goes through the attic or to the roof.
What not to do:
- Don't keep restarting a dryer that shut down hot. Each restart puts heat back into a restricted system.
- Don't leave the cooled laundry piled in a basket overnight if any of it held oil.
- Don't bypass or bridge a blown fuse or thermostat. They're there to stop a fire.
- Don't run the dryer and leave the house until the cause is fixed.
How to keep it from happening again
- Clean the lint filter before or after every load. The USFA flyer says to clean it before and after each cycle, and never to run the dryer without it.
- Have the full vent run cleaned regularly, more often for long runs, attic routes and roof terminations.
- Replace foil or vinyl transition ducts with rigid or semi-rigid metal.
- Check the outside flap a few times a year, especially after storms.
- Wash oil-soiled towels thoroughly, and air-dry heavily soiled ones.
Storms can damage the outside vent too. See what to check on dryer vents after a hail storm. For thermal fuse, thermostat and airflow repairs, see our dryer service page.
Sources
- Whirlpool: Why does my dryer keep stopping?
- CPSC: Cloths heavily soiled with vegetable oil can start fires
- U.S. Fire Administration: Clothes Dryer Fire Safety flyer
Keep in mind: A dryer that overheats once will overheat again until the airflow problem is fixed, even after a new fuse.
To have the dryer and its venting checked, call ProFix Dallas at (469) 886-1122.