Dryer Won't Start

Checks you can do safely before you call

1. Reset the breaker and seat the plug. Electric dryers use a double breaker, gas dryers a standard one. Open only the small door over the breakers, leave the screwed-on cover in place and switch the dryer's breaker off, touching only its handle. Check the plug and outlet: if either is scorched, melted or loose in the wall, leave the breaker off. If both look clean, push the plug firmly in, then switch the breaker back on. Move a gas dryer only a short distance to reach its plug.
2. Check the door strike. With the dryer unplugged or its breaker off, look at the small tab or catch on the door that presses the switch. If it is bent or broken, the dryer can't tell the door is shut.
3. Look for a lock or a delay. Electronic dryers can have a control or child lock, and some have a delay timer; either one makes the panel ignore Start. The lock symbol, and the button to hold to release it, are shown on the panel or in the manual.
4. Press Start the way your model expects. Some dryers need Start held for a moment, and on a dial model the knob has to sit on a drying cycle, not between settings.
5. Stop if it hums. A hum or buzz with no drum movement means the motor is stalled. Turn the dryer off and unplug it right away, because a stalled motor heats up fast.

When to call a technician

• Breaker on, plug seated, and the dryer is still completely dead.
• The breaker trips again as soon as you press Start.
• The panel lights but nothing happens, with no lock or delay set.
• It hums without turning, or the empty drum spins by hand with no drag, which can mean a broken belt.
• It stopped partway through a load and stays dead after cooling; dryer overheating explains what blows the fuse.

What happens at the diagnostic visit

At the visit, voltage is confirmed at the outlet and the terminal block before the technician tests the door switch, the start switch, the thermal fuse, the belt and any belt switch, the motor and its start circuit, and the timer or control. If a fuse has blown, the thermostats and the airflow are checked too, to find what made it blow.

The diagnostic visit is $89 for a standard residential appliance and $129 for a built-in unit or commercial equipment; a premium brand on its own doesn't make an appliance built-in. You approve the price before any part goes in. Read more about gas and electric models on our dryer repair page, with dryer visits from the Santa Clarita Valley down into Los Angeles.

Brand and model notes

• Kenmore, Whirlpool and Maytag: on Whirlpool-built dryers, including Kenmore models whose number starts with 110, the thermal fuse on the blower housing can stop the dryer from starting at all, not just cut the heat. See Kenmore, Whirlpool and Maytag.
• GE: a blown thermal fuse can also leave a GE dryer dead rather than cold, so a GE that quits after a long, hot load needs both the fuse and the airflow checked. See GE.
• Samsung and LG: a child lock on these electronic panels leaves the display lit while the buttons do nothing, and a delay timer, where the model has one, holds the start. See Samsung and LG.
• Frigidaire: some models carry a belt switch at the idler, so a broken belt keeps the motor from running. See Frigidaire.