How to fix an electric dryer that won't start

Electric Dryer Will Not Start

If your electric dryer is not starting, you can troubleshoot it yourself and save on repair bills. We will give you some tips so you can learn how your dryer works, and what might be wrong with it.

Your electric dryer works by the combination of air flow, heating element and drum rotation working together. The air is drawn in through a blower wheel, it’s heated by the heating element and it’s circulated through the clothes through the rotating drum. Your electric dryer needs 240 Volts of current to start and operate properly. The timer, the start switch and the heat selector move the first 120 Volts to the motor passing through the thermal fuse, the cycling thermostat, the high limit thermostat, the thermal cut-off fuse and finally to the heating element. The second 120 Volts close the motor switch as they carry the current through it, and then send it to the heating element. When both the legs of Volts reach the heating element, the circuit is closed and the heating element begins to heat the air. What you need to know is that the dryer’s door should be closed, the receptacle should give 240 Volts, and the dryer should operate properly for your dryer to start.

If your dryer is not starting check the power supply. Is the dryer plugged in, and what are the conditions of the power cord and power plug? If the cord has melted or burned, that’s the reason the dryer is not starting, so it will need to be replaced. You should in this case check if there is a defective circuit in the dryer, or in the receptacle, so that the problem does not reoccur, and to avoid and dangerous fires. As we said the power voltage must be 240 Volts, so you will need a multi-meter to check whether enough voltage is coming through.

Next step is to check the start switch, and the door switches. If the door dryer is open and the dryer starts, the switch might have short it, so you need to test it. Similarly if the door dryer is closed but it isn’t starting, you will need to test the switch. The switch might have shorted, or there may be no continuity in its terminals, or the actuator that presses the door switch might be damaged, or the wires and the connectors corroded. Remove the wires by pulling their connectors off of the terminals, and check whether the connectors are corroded. Tag the wires so that you know which is which when you connect them later. Test the terminals for continuity. Press the button and check continuity between terminals C and NO, and don’t press the button to check continuity between terminals C and NC. Do the same for the start switch.

Take your dryer apart as a last resort by removing the main top panel, the front panel and the drum in this order. To remove the main top panel you need to first remove the screws. To remove the front panel you need to remove the screws, and the door switch. To remove the drum, you need to first release the tension of the belt from the pulleys and unthread it. Once you have a good view, check the thermal fuse, which may also cause the dryer not to start if it has been damaged. Again, use a multi-meter to check it for continuity.