We’ve purchased a home that included a washer and dryer. We have no idea of the past history of this dryer. In any of the special cycles like Regular, Delicate, Towels, etc. the dryer starts normally and then shuts off. I’m guessing it is about 5 minutes into the cycle. No more than 10 minutes. The clothes (towels in this case) are still wet.
When I use the Timed cycle, it works fine. No problem running for 30-35 minutes.
I checked out the Lint filter before the first load of two. It was really filthy like the previous owners didn’t know to clean it ever. I also cleaned out what I could of the exhaust vent ducting. Before this second load, I took out the filter and cleaned out the vent ducting that holds it in place. It was filthy and a lot of lint was removed. I disconnected the exhaust ducting and blew it out with my leaf blower. Velocity is supposedly about 70 mph with a lot of volume as well. A lot of lint was blown out at the end where it exits the house. A lot. I thought that was the cause of the issue.
I ran a second load of towels through after that and got the same results. Everything looks great. Set the panel to “Towels” and medium heat and was feeling positive…till it quit after 5 minutes. I then did nothing to it except to set the dryer controls to the Timed Dry setting and 35 minutes. The towels dried, but seemed like there was still some moisture in them. Probably just needed another 5 minutes.
My conclusions from this are
- that the motor isn’t overheating, or the dryer would shut off under any mode I selected.
- the ducting is clear. I got some lint out the first time I cleaned the lint filter. I got a LOT of lint out the second time.
- Airflow through the venting should be sufficient. Not only is it a decent volume of air, but the air at the exit point outside the house is has cooled down and isn’t hot. That gives me some indication that the heat from the dryer isn’t extreme.
- Having it run fine with a timed setting indicates the motor isn’t overheating. Otherwise, it would shut down in whether in a preset mode or the timed mode.
- There are no strange noises happening, like a belt slipping. In fact, the dryer sounds great.
I’m at a loss. And I really don’t want to call a technician out to fix something that I can change myself. But I need a bit of guidance to get farther.
Chris