Tips to Repair your Electric Clothes Dryer

Clothes Dryers are one of the most useful electrical devices that have ever been invented. It is great solution for those people who live in an upper level apartment building and cannot simply hang their clothes outside on a line. Still, after time passes the clothes dryer will begin to break down, and then you should know a little bit about how to repair it. The first thing you need to know is that, if your clothes dryer is still under warranty, you better not take any chances trying to fix it yourself. You should call a repairman to come and check the dryer out. Most warranties state that if you try to repair the dryer by yourself, you may null the warranty. So, if you open the top or the back, you may end up having to pay for all the parts.

You can only work on it by yourself, if your clothes dryer is past its warranty. Most of it is simple.

If your clothes need more time to dry than usually, the reasons could be different. Luckily, you did not throw away your owner’s manual, as this is one of the most important booklets that you could ever get about the trouble shooting that occasionally happens with your clothes dryer. First, you should check the lint filter which has to be cleaned regularly at least once a week.

If nothing is wrong with the filter, the next thing to investigate is your vent tube. It might happen that it has been clogged by something and need to be cleaned out. In that case you have to unplug the clothes dryer and slide it away from the wall so that you can hold it  from the back. The hose (tub) will only let you move the dryer for a short distance. Then with a pair of channel locks, if it uses a clamp of that time to hold the hose onto the base, it may need a screwdriver, or a pair of pliers to release the hose. Once the hose is up, you can see down into it as far as you can, or you can shake it to see if there may be some trash somewhere in the hose itself.

If this is not the problem, consult the owner’s manual on what to do next. It is very simple to take the back off the clothes dryer but, be very cautious with the sharp edges on the cross plates which, although dull, might cut you sometimes very severely. Once you see the heating unit, you will find out that you will have to disconnect some wires. In that case it is very important to mark which wires go where, because if you don’t put them in the right spot you can cause an electrical fire. On the inside of the plate you will notice some screws or nuts that have been tightened down. It can be hard to release them so that they will turn easily, however, once the unit is detached you should take it to the right facility to have it checked.

And this is not all. There are other items, such as the belt and the motor, but there is not enough space in this article to research those areas. However, it is recommended that you learn as much as you can about how to fix your clothes dryer.

Tagged with: clothes dryer • dryer • electric dryer • repair dryer

Filed under: electric dryer

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