My dryer recently stopped working. When I tried turning it on, it would just make a buzzing sound. The drum would not spin. I checked the breaker and the lint trap which looked fine.
In an attempt to try to narrow down the problem, I had my wife press in the door switch, gave the drum a spin by hand, and hit the start button. The dryer started and continued to run until my wife let go of the button.
The dryer now seems to be working fine. It will start just as before (without spinning it by hand). It looks to be heating up fine and we’ve opened/closed the door and restarted it several times.
Any thoughts as to what the problem might have been? Should I keep an eye out for something to fail in the near future?
In case it matters, I will also add that I replaced the belt, drum slides, drum bearing, and heating element back in April, 2007.
The newer GE dryer motors are common for lint build up in the motor at the motor switch. If you get the dryer apart again use a vacuum and small paint brush or compressed air and blow out the motor. Make sure you clean your external vent frequently and do not use flexible vinyl ducting.
Hope this helps and there is no need to replace the motor anytime soon.
Thank you very much for the fast reply! I will say that we don’t clean the external vent as often as we should so I will keep a better eye on that. I’ll also give it a good cleaning. Even without, it dried another load tonight.
Yes, thank you so much. I was having the exact same issue. After holding the door switch and turning the drum by hand, it fired right off. I did smell something burning immediately after it started but it only lasted about 30 seconds or so. I figure it might have been some lint being burned off.
I had the exact problem noted above, and like csideco, this forum fixed it immediately saving me lots of grief and possibly lots of money. Plus my wife thinks I’m a genius. Thanks again, I will go to this site next time something breaks or if I need a part.
Had the problem…called Sears. Wanted $203…to fix which included a one year warranty…big deal…spent i think 600 only 3 1/2 years ago and had a 3 year warranty…of course that expired…thanks man.
I called my sister as she was hauling her dryer off to get repaired, which was told by a repairman that it sounded like it was the motor. In an attemp to help I googled the problem and asked her if she would like to try it and she agreed… She called me ten minutes later and I couldn’t believe my ears when she said it WORKED and her dryer was running again… She insisted I posted the good news!!! Lol!! THANK YOU!!!
The internet is amazing. We have wet clothes hanging up all over the house and have been talking to Sears about coming to do a repair…and I decided to google it just to see…and this solution WORKS!!! Thanks so much!
I’ve been on the internet all morning long searching for results of my ge electric drying buzz when pressing the start button but would not cycle. After reading articles on other sites it appeared that it may have been the door switch which I purchased and changed myself. After plugging machine and hitting the start button, it obviously was not the issue because it still did not cycle
Kept searching the internet until I found this site! WELL!!! I’m sooo happy to say that all of you guys helped me solve my issue!!! I used my home vacuum and vacuumed out the lint hoses and my dryer is back to normal!!! Thank you guys!!
Thanks for sharing this great advice, it worked for me. I had the same problem. My GE dryer would not start only a buzzing sound when the start button was pressed. I did as you suggested and also vacuumed out the vent. Now its working perfectly, Thanks.
