Dryer repair · Tulsa, OK
You can hear it running, maybe even feel heat, but the drum isn’t spinning. One check with the power off tells you a lot about why.
Before you call
Smell gas? Don’t touch any switches. Leave the house and call your gas company from outside. Unplug the dryer before your hands go inside the drum, and if it only hums, stop pressing Start: a stalled motor overheats quickly.
What usually causes it
The belt wraps all the way round the drum and is the only thing that turns it. After years of heat it cracks, stretches and finally snaps, often with a thump you may have heard. The motor keeps running, so the dryer sounds almost normal.
Colby fits a new belt and checks the pulley and rollers that may have worn it out.
The pulley holds the belt tight against the motor. When it seizes or its arm breaks, the belt slips off or burns through, and the drum stops.
He replaces the pulley, and the belt with it if the belt is glazed or cut.
If you hear a hum and nothing moves, or the dryer runs a few seconds and shuts off, the motor may be failing. On most dryers the same motor turns the blower wheel, so a sock stuck in the blower can stall it too.
He checks the blower for a jam first, then tests the motor itself.
When the drum’s rollers or glides wear badly, the drum gets too stiff for the belt to turn. You may smell hot rubber as the belt slips over the pulley.
He replaces the worn rollers or glides so the belt can turn the drum without a fight.
Questions
ANo. On many dryers the motor and the heat carry on while the drum sits still, so the clothes resting against the hot side can scorch. Leave it unplugged until the belt is replaced.
ABelts are a wear part and do give out with age, but a seized pulley or stiff rollers kill them early. That’s why Colby looks at everything the belt touches, not just the belt.
ANot quite. A dryer that’s completely dead usually has a door switch, a fuse or a power problem rather than a broken belt; see the page on a dryer that won’t start.
AYes. There’s a diagnostic fee for the visit, and if you have Colby do the repair, the diagnostic fee is waived.
AMost appointments are within 48 hours, many within 24, and often the same day. Call or text and Colby will give you the soonest time he has.
Rather type it out?
Tell us what's wrong and how to reach you. Colby will call or text you back.
