Tumble Dryer Not Drying Clothes

What's happening?

A dryer that runs but does not dry has usually lost airflow, and lint is nearly always the reason. Every dryer depends on moving a lot of air through the load and then getting the moisture out — vented models push it outside through a hose, condensers and heat pumps extract it into a tank or drain. Lint clogs the door filter, then the secondary filter, then the condenser block or heat exchanger, then the internal ducting, and each stage makes the machine work harder for less result. That is why this fault matters more than an inconvenience: restricted airflow makes a dryer run hot, and accumulated lint is combustible. Tumble dryers are a well-known cause of house fires, which is why fire services advise against running them overnight or while you are out.

What usually causes it?

• A clogged door lint filter, or a filter refitted incorrectly after cleaning
• A blocked secondary filter, condenser block or heat exchanger, depending on the type
• A kinked, crushed or lint-choked vent hose, or a blocked external wall vent on a vented model
• A failed heating element or a tripped thermal cut-out, so the drum turns without heat
• Failed moisture sensors, so a sensor-dry cycle ends before the load is actually dry
• A failed condenser fan or a heat pump compressor fault on a heat pump model
• Overloading, or moving clothes straight from a poor spin so they arrive far too wet
• The dryer installed somewhere unventilated, so it recirculates its own warm damp air

When should you call an appliance repair engineer?

Call an appliance engineer when the filters, condenser and vent are genuinely clean and the load still comes out damp, which points at the element, thermal cut-out, sensors, fan or heat pump circuit. Call before anything else if there is a burning smell, visible scorching, or the machine has become very hot — and unplug it. Ask the engineer to check for lint accumulation inside the cabinet and ducting, which is exactly where it does not get cleaned and where the fire risk sits.

What will the appliance repair engineer actually do?

• Check the whole airflow path — door filter, secondary filter, condenser or heat exchanger, ducting and vent
• Open the cabinet and clear internal lint accumulation from ducting, fan housing and around the element
• Test the heating element and any thermal cut-outs, and find the cause of a tripped cut-out
• Test the moisture sensors and the sensor-dry logic against an actual load
• Check the drum belt, drum seals and fan for the air leaks that quietly ruin drying performance
• On a heat pump model, check the refrigerant circuit and compressor within their qualification limits

Stop using it now if any of these apply

Most dryer faults are a cleaning job. A few are a reason to unplug the machine and not use it again until it has been looked at.

• A smell of burning, hot lint or hot plastic during or after a cycle
• Scorch marks anywhere on the cabinet, the drum, the filter housing or the plug
• A cycle that stops part-way with the drum and cabinet unusually hot
• Lint visible inside the cabinet or around the element rather than in the filter
• The model appears on the OPSS recall database
• A plug or socket that is hot to the touch, or a scorched flex