Imagine this – one morning you wake up and your tumble dryer is smoking from inside. Yikes! Most folks will panic, and after asking themselves “why is my dryer smoking”, they’ll pick up the phone and start calling around. Here’s what’s actually going on, and how you can diagnose a dryer smoking, from home, before calling in the pros.
First, let’s consider what causes smoke in a dryer. Smoke is almost always the result of heat. And heat will come from either an electrical problem, or a mechanical problem where something is rubbing against something that it shouldn’t be.
So right there, you should already know that if your dryer hasn’t been running – it’s likely an electrical problem. Before you touch the dryer, please flip off the breaker to make sure that there’s zero chance of you, or anyone else, getting shocked.
If the dryer has been running when it started smoking, then things get a bit more complicated.
Common Causes of a Dryer Smoking
Let’s get into a bit more detail on why your dryer might be smoking. We’ll go over the 5 most common causes, and give you the right steps to take in each case if your dryer started smoking all of a sudden.
1. Lint Buildup
Excess lint in your dryer is one of the most common reasons for your dryer to go up in smoke. And worse yet, sometimes it can even start a house fire. Scary right?
This is why most insurance companies, and strata companies enforce regular (usually yearly or bi-yearly) dryer vent cleaning.
If the vent cleaning isn’t done, or gets done poorly – the left over lint can do one of two things.
First, it can clog your dryer vent. This means hot air (and the lint it carries) has nowhere to go but back inside your dryer. This alone is an issue because if your dryer can’t vent heat, it will start to overheat inside. Typically, this can damage the heating element, fuses, and some electronics inside of your dryer.
Second, lint that doesn’t get vented out will settle inside the dryer. The blower isn’t 100% sealed off from the rest of the appliance, so lint can quickly find it’s way onto the heating element, and other parts of your dryer that get very hot. This is the perfect recipe for a small fire to start.
Now, most modern dryers have built-in safety features like thermal fuses and other smart ways of stopping the machine if it detects an abnormally high temperature. But what they don’t have is a built-in fire extinguisher. So you’ve got smoke coming from the dryer, it may very well go up in flames. And that’s dangerous!
Here you can see a Samsung dryer we fixed recently where the black marks on the vent pipe are from lint that caught on fire. Thankfully the dryer shut off immediately and nothing serious happened. But you can see how much lint there is from the client not cleaning the dryer vent in over 2 years. That could have easily caught on fire, and it could have ended badly.
2. Overheating
An overheating dryer can produce smoke. This often happens because of either lint buildup, or a malfunctioning thermostat or heating element. If the dryer’s temperature gets too high, it can start to smoke. This is because dry lint that settled on these parts lights up very easily.
Does it always mean there’s a fire about to happen? Not necessarily.
But do you want to take the chance? Probably not.
In our experience, we see a lot of Samsung & LG dryers where the heater can warp over time due to the constant temperature swings as it runs. Sometimes, the heater element can accidentally touch the metal housing it sits in, which causes a short, and will usually lead to the element overheating.
3. Electrical Issues
In some cases, smoke coming from a dryer can be as simple as faulty wiring, or a bad circuit. This can spontaneously happen when some relays or other parts of your dryer fail. But usually it’s either because another part, such as the heater, has malfunctioned. Or because of excess lint going up in flames and damaging the wiring, or electrical component causing a further issue.
This doesn’t just happen on dryers too. We’ve seen lots of burned out wiring harnesses on dryers. And just as many burnt out wiring prongs, thermal cutoffs, and infinite switches on stoves as well.
4. Foreign Objects
Occasionally, a foreign object like a coin, hair pin, button or even an item of clothing (that one lost sock), can get trapped in the blower. This usually happens when we forget to put the lint filter screen in and start the dryer. The blower is a constantly moving plastic wheel. So if somethings makes it’s way down there it can jam the blower or otherwise cause friction and heat (as the blower tries to move but can’t), leading to smoke and a busted blower wheel.
There are also some wear and tear components like pulleys, belts, glides, bearings, and roller wheels that can jam up and start to grind against whatever is meant to be spinning or gliding against them smoothly.
And you’ve guessed it – this friction again generates heat and subsequently, you’ll see smoke from the clothes dryer.
5. Synthetic Fabrics At High Heat
While the other 4 reasons we’ve mentioned almost all relate to some kind of maintenance problem, this one is just pure human error.
Some synthetics (especially those that contain rubber and plastics) do not do well in high heat.
And let’s be honest, do you really read the clothes label every time you run a load of clothes in the dryer?
Well if you find your tumble dryer smoking after you threw in a load of newly bought clothes, there’s a good chance one or more of those items isn’t supposed to be dried at high heat (or in a dryer at all).
We get a could of “clothes smoking in dryer” service calls every month. And while it may not be anything wrong with the tumble dryer itself, spending a few seconds to read those labels when you buy a new piece of clothing can save you a pretty penny, and some dissapointment too.
What To Do If Your Dryer Starts Smoking
If your dryer starts smoking, here are the correct steps to diagnose the problem, and prevent a fire.
1. Stop the Dryer and Unplug It
The first thing you should always do is unplug the dryer. In most cases, just flipping the breaker is the best way to go about it.
Don’t touch the dryer itself just yet. If the problem is an electrical short, you might get zapped. And your dryer runs on 240 volts, which is quite dangerous.
2. Inspect the Lint Trap and Vent Hose
Remove the lint trap and clean it thoroughly. Check the vent hose for any obstructions or buildup. If you find significant lint buildup, consider using a vent cleaning brush to remove it. A clean lint trap and vent hose are essential for proper airflow and to prevent overheating.
Once the dryer is unplugged, touch it with the back of your hand first. If it’s not too hot to handle, open up the door.
Check the lint trap thoroughly and look down into the hole where it sits with a flashlight. Do you see any lint buildup? Any foreign objects or clothing that shouldn’t be there?
In most cases, getting the foreign objects out will prove quite difficult. It’s a job best handed to professionals. If it hasn’t damaged your blower already, trying to pull it out with force will definitely damage the blower, leading to a pretty expensive repair.
Our technicians are equipped with the right tools (and know-how) to quickly and easily get stuck items out, without damaging anything else
3. Check for Overheating
Examine the dryer’s heating element and thermostat for signs of damage or malfunction. If the dryer is excessively hot, it might be due to a faulty thermostat that is not regulating the temperature correctly. You may need to replace these components if they are damaged.
If when you go to touch the dryer (after unplugging it), it feels way too hot to the touch (if you can’t keep your hand on the metal shell for 10-15 seconds without going “Oww”), then it may have overheated.
Like we said earlier, this could just be a clogged vent (and way too much lint inside). But it could also have been a runaway element that’s shorted out, a fuse that decided to stay closed no matter what, or even a control board relay gone bad.
This isn’t something you can (or should) try to solve by yourself. We strongly recommend you call a licensed & professional appliance repair company near you.
4. Check your Dryer Vent
Your dryer will usually have a flexible hose (or a hard aluminum vent) running from the back to the vent that goes in your wall.
It’s a good idea to disconnect it and check inside.
If you have a powerful shop vac, feel free to take the connector vent off both sides and vaccuum it out, and you can also vaccuum the back port on the dryer as well.
But if you run it again and it smokes or overheats, the problem is either inside the dryer itself. Or it could be that the vent in your wall is clogged.
Vent cleaning doesn’t mean cleaning just this connector. A professional dryer vent cleaning company will come in with a brush vac and clear the entire vent run through your wall to the outside.
This has to be done 1-2 times a year, depending on how often you run the dryer.
5. Call the Pros
If you’ve checked the connector vent, and the lint trap, and everything seems in order – it’s time to call in the cavarly.
The pros (like us), will come in an inspect the unit to figure out what’s causing the smoke from the clothes dryer. And once they find the culprit, they’ll replace the right parts and ensure that your dryer is smoke-free, and safe to use again.
Most of the time, a dryer repair service will cost anywhere between $135 and $300 depending on the parts needed, if any are needed at all.
Additional Tips for Dryer Maintenance
1. Regular Vent Cleaning
You should clean the lint trap every other load. And make sure you get professional vent cleaning done 1-2 times a year. This ensures good airflow from the dryer to the outside. And it also prevents lint and hot air from getting stuck in the dryer.
2. Inspect the Dryer Periodically
Optionally, get the dryer professionally inspected and serviced every 1-2 years. This doesn’t just give you peace of mind, but it also helps you catch problems that could lead to smoke coming from your tumble dryer early, and fix them before they become a real issue.
3. Follow Manufacturer’s Instructions
Read the owner’s booklet you get when you buy the dryer. Or google your model number to find one online. These booklets have lots of great tips on how to correctly use your appliance. At time, negligent use can cause a whole slew of failures. We would say that about 1/10 service calls we do on dryers is related to misuse.
And there you have it – the top 5 reasons that your dryer is smoking, and what to do if you get smoke coming from the dryer.
For professional assistance with your dryer, including addressing any issues related to a smoking dryer, contact Starline Appliance Repair North Vancouver today. Our experts are ready to help ensure your dryer operates safely and efficiently anywhere in North & West Vancouver.