Dryer shuts off mid-cycle or smells like burning

If you smell burning

1. Stop the dryer and take the clothes out.
2. Unplug it. For a gas dryer, close the gas valve as well.
3. Do not restart it to see if the smell comes back.
4. If you see smoke or flame, leave and call 911.

Where the smell comes from

• Lint on the heater. Lint escapes past the drum seals and collects inside the cabinet, around the heating element or the gas burner, where it scorches.
• Blocked vent. Hot air cannot leave, and the temperature inside rises far above normal.
• Rubber smell. A slipping belt, or a drum roller that has seized.
• Electrical smell. A failing motor, or a burned connection at the power cord terminal block.

Why it shuts off

A dryer has several safety devices. The motor has its own thermal protector, which stops the dryer when the motor overheats and lets it start again after it cools down, usually in 20 to 30 minutes. The heat circuit has a high-limit thermostat and a thermal fuse. If your dryer runs for ten minutes, stops, and works again an hour later, a protector is doing its job. The cause still needs to be found.

How we repair it

We open the cabinet, remove the lint from the inside, the blower and the exhaust path, and check the vent to the outside. We test the thermostats, the heater and the motor, and replace what failed. A blown thermal fuse is replaced only after the airflow problem is solved.

Prevention

• Clean the lint screen before every load.
• Have the vent cleaned once a year, more often with a long run to the roof.
• Use a rigid or semi-rigid metal duct behind the dryer. White vinyl and thin foil hoses sag, trap lint and can burn.
• Do not run the dryer when nobody is home or awake.