If your inside filter is clean, could it be some lint that's stuck in the vent somewhere? We sometimes need to clean the filter that's just outside our house as lint accumulates there. Can you reach and touch the vent that's sitting just outside the dryer? Is it warm to the touch as the machine is running? If it's cold, my guess is that the gas (pilot) is not right, but that's beyond my scope.

My thought was also the lint filter or the pilot light may be the problem.. I hope you get it fixed soon.
Mary

My exhaust pipe was clogged 2 weeks ago. DH cleaned it out and all if fine now. When clogged it would not heat up at all.

I agree with everyone, you just might have a buildup of lint

Good luck

You didn't swear at it, back slightly before the trouble, did you?

That's about the sum of the wisdom that I have to offer on this subject, today.

ole joyful

A good way to check for a clog is to pull the dryer away from the wall. Put a pair of old pantyhose over the silver hose to catch any lint that might come out and run a wet load of laundry through. If the load dries properly, you have a clog. I did this to my sister in law's dryer a few years back. Turns out her problem wasn't lint, but a buildup of water in the pipe. Her house was just a few months old and the ducting was trapping the water from the clothes in the pipe.

Is it getting hot inside the chamber? If not, maybe the heat source isn't working?

Maybe the machine or vent line are blocked with lint and need a cleaning? Or the blower isn't blowing the moist air out? (If there's no stream of hot exhaust air, don't use the thing until it's fixed)

Is the vent line opening to the outside properly open or is it stuck shut?

Call a repairman.

Wow! That was FAST! We cleaned the exhaust about a year ago -- for the first time (blush). Maybe time to re-do! Meanwhile, I'm going to blame the chipmunk pair I see outside near the vent every day.

Update -- Just took the vent cover off the inside of the drum and found lint around the sensor wires. Whipped out the central vac -- and my bottle brush LOL -- and cleaned out everything I could reach. I'm pretty sure this will fix the problem. THANK YOU!

Put up an old fashioned clothes line.

Hope that's the answer to your problem, but I was wondering if it was another problem entirely--could it be your washer? Meaning, maybe it's not spinning as thoroughly as it used to? Just wondering.

But I do like the clothesline idea--I've got one on my porch, and use it year round. When weather prohibits, I hang things on hangers on one of those expandable poles in the laundry room. I only run the dryer a handful of times a year.

DSIL once cleaned out the dryer vent and found a bird's nest with lots of lint behind it since it couldn't get past the nest.

If you have lint build up, you are also at a greater risk for a dryer fire. Do not run your dryer until it is cleaned out and checked. If in doubt, spend the money and have a repair service clean it. It is not worth loosing your home.

Ditto on what pkramer said - it is a very real risk.

Never go to bed with the dryer on.

The frist thing to check is he outside vent. With the dryer running, go outside and see if there is good air flow coming out of the vent. If not, immediately shut down the dryer and begin an investigation.

Many gas dryers these days do not have pilot lights. Those that have a hot ignitor operates this way: When you first turn on the dryer, the ignitor is powered up and it get red hot. It heats a thermal sensor and when that gets hot enough, the gas valve is operated. The valve is electrically operated. The gas should ignite and the ignitor turns off.

If there is adequate air flow in the flame tunnel, the drying process continues. If the air flow is too small, the flame tunnel over heats. There is an over temperature sensor outside the flame tunnel and it may be mounted on the tunnel. When it senses an excessive temperature, it shuts off the gas vavle and when it cools, the ignition process may begin again depending in the control scheme. This is a dangerous condition. The overheat sensor is the last line of defence. If it fails, you get a dryer fire.

The outside vent usually contains an air flap that closes when the dryer is off. This is to prevent cold outside air from entering the house. Its not a perfect seal, but it does a major slow down of outside air getting blown back inside. Inspect the flap. it should very free to move. A lint pack or debris at this location can jam this flap.

You said that you were able to remove the back cover of the drum - good. Before, you reinstall the cover, inspect the tub seal. (The tub seal is a felt-like strip all around the outer edge of the rotating tub.) Its purpose is to reduce to very low amount of air leakage. The dryer fan is in the duct work exiting the dryer and it 'sucks' air through the burner, thense the back of the tub, and then blows the air out the exhaust. If the tub seal leaks, it reduces the amount of air drawn through the burner and the flame tunnel may overheat.

Past overheats may have burned the seal. Pay careful attention to the part of the seal that is near the flame tunnel (burner). If the seal is charred, do not operate the dryer and get it repaired.

I am assuming that you clean the lint trap on a regular basis. It should be cleaned after each load. If the lint trap is torn, replace it because a damaged lint trap will allow lint to flow through the exhaust system and plug up the works.

azzalea I have a dryer, in my garage, but it hasn't been hooked up since I moved in.

I am hoping, my daughter will take it to replace hers, since she needs a better model.

I have one of those dryer lines that pop open in the back yard, and two racks for in the house.

So far, it has worked fine for me.

Moni

Did you know if you put a bath towel in the dryer, the clothes dry much faster. Mine is electric, so don't know if that makes a difference or not. I also know the washer I have now, spins the clothes much drier and that makes a big difference too.

I clean the lint filter after EVERY load. It is intact. I never run my washer or dryer if I am not nearby. The front-load washer is still doing a great job of extracting water on final spin.

I only thought to check the dryer venting a year ago, after reading of dryer fires. There was *some* lint then (after ten years use), but no blockage. We cleaned from both ends of the vent.

This time there was also only *some* lint adhering to the sides of the vent chute, but there was a gob of it over the sensor wires. Not sure what caused that, but I will check more often. The sensors run under the drum's front lint catcher fitting -- maybe I didn't tighten that enough when I put it back together last year.

This morning DH checked the outside part of the vent -- dug out a small amount of lint, nothing blocking the flaps from, er, flapping.

Jem - I don't see any 'felting' inside the drum. There is a rubber gasket on the dryer door; I think that serves the same purpose. (?)

The incomplete drying is new -- over the past three or laundry loads -- so I don't think anything burned. I'm guessing the sensors signaled "Stop" because they were coated with lint. Hoping this is the end of the trouble -- unless the sensors are damaged. We'll see when I wash later this week.

Thanks for the tips and your concern!

chisu:

The tub seal is not inside the drum. Its on the outside, the backside. The dryer housing has to opened on the backside to get access to the rear of the drum. For most models, that is a major job that most home owners would not tackle. I may have misinterperted your oiginal comment when you said that you opened the back panel. Sorry about that.