Help My Tumble Dryer Is Too Hot

When you think about all the electrical appliances in your home you likely don’t consider your tumble dryer do you? That makes sense really because while they do indeed generate heat it’s kind of easy to forget that isn’t it?

Apart from a short blast of hot air when you open it you’re not really going to experience much heat when you use your tumble dryer, are you? However, that means you will quickly notice when your tumble dryer starts getting too hot.

The heat levels of a tumble dryer can vary depending on the setting, but you’ll soon notice if it gets too hot. There’s a big difference between a tumble dryer’s maximum heat setting and a tumble dryer that is generating to much heat.

There could be a lot of different things that are causing your tumble dryer to generate to much heat it could simply be the ventilation or a more serious internal issue. Let’s take a look at what could be causing the problem and see what you can do about it.

The Exhaust Vent

Ventilation is very important when it comes to tumble dryers if you take a look at your dryer’s instruction manual there will be a huge part about the importance of proper ventilation. So, if your tumble dryer is too hot one of the first things you need to check is whether there is proper ventilation.

Check the exhaust vent on your dryer and see if it’s restricted or blocked in some way, this can easily cause the temperature to rise in the machine and it will usually trip the safety thermostat as well. You should also make sure you regularly clean out the exhaust vent as well to ensure it doesn’t get accidentally blocked up by debris.

The High Limit Thermostat

Sometimes called the safety thermostat this component is a valuable safety device that will protect your dryer from overheating if there are problems with the tumble dryer’s airflow. This tip goes great with my first one because it closely relates to the exhaust vent as well.

The high limit thermostat will only activate when the heat as reached certain levels and will shut down a dryer completely when it does detect to much heat, this might sound good but there are a few issues. First of all, the high limit thermostat is not designed to keep activating so if you are experiencing repeating problems with the heat the thermostat can fuse.

The high limit thermostat is also not infallible it can malfunction whether this is due to a defective component or damage doesn’t really matter the end result is the same, isn’t it? So, if your ventilation is clear but your tumble dryer is still getting too hot then you may have a problem with the high limit thermostat.

This means you will need to call in a professional tumble dryer repair technician to check it and replace it for you if it’s damaged. Unless you are an experienced repairman yourself you really shouldn’t try to replace the thermostat as you could easily make the situation much worse.

The Cycling Thermostat

The cycling thermostat is a common cause when it comes to your dryer getting too hot. But what does a cycling thermostat actually do? This component is responsible for monitoring the temperature of your dryer’s housing and will deactivate the heating or activate it to ensure a balanced and safe temperature.

If the cycling thermostat is damaged or defective is someway then it won’t be able to effectively monitor the temperature levels in the tumble dryer. This can cause a wide array of problems but the most serve is going to be the fact that the dryer simply won’t stop heating up.

Now if you’re lucky the problem with the thermostat could be easy and simple to fix you might simply need to readjust it or remove a blockage, lint in particularly can block up a cycling thermostat. However, getting access to the thermostat could be difficult depending on the model of your tumble dryer.

So, in the majority of cases, it is advisable that you call in a professional tumble dryer repair engineer to handle this for you. In more modern models of tumble dryer, you may not have a cycling thermostat at all. Instead, you might have a thermistor instead but these work following similar principles.

So, that’s a look at some of the most common issues that can cause your tumble dryer to become too hot. Remember this might be a relatively rare problem but it is one that can be dangerous to try and fix yourself, so call in a professional tumble dryer repair technician if you’re unsure of how to proceed.