Dryer repair

Most dryer problems are airflow problems wearing a disguise. The machine reports a heating fault, you replace the heating part, and it fails again — because the actual cause was never the part. Here’s what goes wrong and why the vent keeps turning up in the answer.

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A dryer does three things: it heats air, it tumbles clothes through that air, and it pushes the moisture out. The third one is where most trouble starts, because it’s the only part that runs outside the machine and the only part nobody maintains.

When the vent restricts, heat backs up inside the cabinet. The dryer’s safety devices notice and cut the heat — which is exactly what they’re for. So the symptom is “no heat”, the failed part is a thermal fuse, and the actual cause is a duct full of lint. Replace the fuse without clearing the duct and the new fuse follows the old one. This is the single most common misdiagnosis in the trade.

The six we see most

1. Runs but doesn’t heat

A blown thermal fuse or a failed heating element. The fuse matters because it rarely fails on its own — it blows because airflow was restricted. Any honest repair here checks the vent at the same time.

2. Takes two or three cycles to dry

Almost always airflow. A partially blocked duct, a crushed flexible hose behind the machine, or a lint screen that looks clean but has a film of fabric softener across it. The dryer is heating fine; the moisture has nowhere to go.

3. Squealing or rumbling

Drum support rollers, the idler pulley or the belt. These announce themselves clearly and get worse. Left long enough a worn roller scores the drum, which turns a small job into a large one.

4. Stops mid-cycle

Often thermal cut-out from restricted airflow again, sometimes a failing door switch or a motor overheating. The pattern — how far in it stops, whether it restarts when cool — tells us a lot.

5. Won’t start

Door switch, thermal fuse, start switch or the motor. Worth confirming the breaker first: electric dryers run on a double-pole breaker and can lose one leg, which leaves the drum turning with no heat.

6. Ventless and heat-pump models not drying

Condensing and heat-pump dryers fail differently. There’s no vent, so the failure is in moisture removal — a condenser blocked with lint, or a condensate pump or drain that isn’t clearing. Same symptom, entirely different diagnosis.

We check the vent run as part of the job, not as an afterthought. Then heat production, the safety devices in sequence, the drive components and the controls. A dryer repaired without addressing airflow tends to come back, and neither of us wants that.

Dryers are among the most repairable appliances in the house. They’re mechanically simple, the parts are inexpensive and widely stocked, and the common failures are wear items rather than catastrophic ones. It takes a lot to justify replacing one.

A $119 service call covers the diagnosis, and it comes off the invoice if you go ahead with the repair. Labour is flat-rate — typically in the $220–$350 range — so you know the number before the work starts, and the technician isn’t penalised for being quick. Parts are quoted separately and always shown to you before anything is ordered. Every repair carries a 90-day warranty on parts and labour.

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Kodiak works on sixteen brands: Whirlpool, Maytag, Amana, Kenmore, Inglis, LG, Samsung, GE, Frigidaire, Electrolux, Bosch, Blomberg, KitchenAid, JennAir, Dacor and Speed Queen. That list is deliberate rather than exhaustive — it’s the equipment we know platform-deep, which is what makes a diagnosis fast instead of exploratory.

Detailed walk-throughs, including what to check yourself first.

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Kodiak covers Edmonton and Calgary. Send us the details and we’ll ring you back to agree a day.