Whirlpool Dryer Repair in Arlington, VA

Whirlpool's electric dryers protect themselves with a thermal fuse, and a clogged exhaust vent is the most common reason it blows. The dryer then won't start at all, or runs without heat depending on the model. Replacing the fuse without clearing the vent just sets up the next failure, so the vent run is checked every time. Electric models also lose heat when the element coil breaks. Gas models light with an igniter and then open the valve with small coils on the gas valve; when those coils weaken, the dryer lights once and then won't relight. Squeaks and thumps come from worn drum rollers, the idler pulley or the belt. In stacked units in townhouse closets, the vent often runs a long way, which is worth knowing.

Also: most Whirlpool-built dryers have a thermal fuse that opens when the exhaust runs too hot, and the reason it ran hot is usually a restricted vent that will do it again.

The first things we check on this model line: Thermal fuse blown by a clogged vent; Element coil broken; Gas valve coils weak; Drum rollers flat and thumping; Idler pulley squealing.

Those are starting points, not a verdict. One symptom can trace to a cheap part or an expensive one, so the cause is confirmed at your home before you're quoted.

In Arlington's condo towers a dryer either feeds a building duct or has no outside vent at all. If drying drags on, look at the building duct or a ventless model's filters before the heater.

A stacked dryer in a Arlington closet needs air to breathe; a louvered door, or leaving the door open while it runs, often shortens drying times.

Whatever the brand, the dryer complaint most often misread is a dryer that has had its thermal fuse or heating element replaced more than once while the blocked vent that caused the first failure is still in the wall.

The local factor to keep in mind in Arlington, where most homes are high-rise condos and garden apartments: vent runs that cross a finished lower level or climb through a second floor to the roof, stacked dryers exhausting into building ducts, and heavy, damp lint in humid weather.

Many kitchens and laundry rooms in Arlington run on natural gas from Washington Gas. When a gas oven or dryer won't light, the cause is usually an igniter, a sensor or a valve coil in the appliance, not the gas supply.

If you smell gas strongly, leave the switches alone, get out of the house and call the gas company or 911 from outside. We work on the appliance once it's safe, and every fitting we open is leak-tested afterwards.