It’s so frustrating when you go to get your clothes out of your LG dryer only to find that they didn’t dry all the way. This can happen even with a dryer that’s less than 2 years old, as it has more to do with simple dryer maintenance than it has to do with a broken dryer.
Now, most people will simply run an entire new cycle to get the clothes dry. This wastes time, energy and creates a bigger carbon footprint from more CO2 exhaust. The better choice is to fix the dryer, which I’ll show you how to do today.
4 Easy DIY Fixes to Get Your LG Dryer Again
FIX 1: Fix the air flow
The number one cause of a dryer that takes too long to dry or doesn’t dry the clothes at all is obstructed air flow. Dryers are all about good air flow!
When the hot, moist air inside the dryer can’t escape fast enough, the dryer can’t shed the wetness on the clothes and will continue running – sometimes, for hours beyond what is a normal drying time.
The part of the dryer that is most likely obstructing the escape of the moist air is the vent tube behind the dryer.
A quick way to test your dryer’s ability to shed the moist air from the clothes is to start your dryer and then go outside and feel the air coming out of the dryer air vent.
This is what the dryer vent tube looks like from outside:
You should feel the air volume of a hair dryer. If it’s more anemic and weaker in air flow than that, you know you have a clogged air vent.
Many times, the clog is also right at the air vent where it leaves the house. There’s usually some type of device to keep animals from getting inside the vent. It’s either 3 plastic louvers that hinge open with air flow or a screen as we see in this picture:
Here’s a few videos on how to clean these:
You can easily clean away the lint and your dryer should run well again.
If the vent is clear of obstructions where it leaves the house, then the clog is inside the dryer vent tube. Most clogs form where the tube bends. If the dryer vent tube has to go up above the dryer to leave the house, then the clog will be right where the vent tube exits the dryer.
You can use a dryer vent brush to solve this. This dryer vent cleaning brush attaches to your drill and does a great job cleaning out lint build up: https://amzn.to/3EogCeB.
Here’s a video on how to use this money-saving tool:
Note that if your dryer vent tube is longer than 15 feet, you’ll need to clean the vent tube 4 times per year to keep it clear.
When the vent tube gets clogged, not only does it take twice as long to dry the clothes but it also makes lint build up inside the dryer cabinet. That’s bad because it can cause a fire, as seen in this picture:
FIX 2: Reset the blown thermal fuse
The next most common cause for a LG dryer not drying the clothes is a blown thermal fuse.
They are inexpensive safety devices that cut power to the dryer’s heater when necessary for safety. You can tell this is the problem when the LG Gas dryer won’t heat up at all. It often comes about because the dryer vent tube is clogged (we discussed this in the previous fix) and making the dryer overheat.
Now, this is by far my favorite repair. It’s so fast and easy to do. What’s more, this easy repair works on most models of two of the highest-selling dryer brands: LG and Samsung. (Note: the electric models don’t have the resettable button, however.)
When most of these brands’ dryers get too hot, they blow a resettable fuse that stops power from reaching the dryer’s heater, as seen in this picture:
Believe it or not, resetting the fuse is a matter of just pressing a button!
This video shows how to easily get to the button:
Here is another way to get to the same reset button:
Here are a few easy steps outlined in the video:
- Unplug your dryer.
- Locate the round 6-inch plastic cover located at the lower-back-right-side corner of your dryer.
- Pry this round plastic cover off like so:
- Reach into the hole and press the small black button located 15 inches to the left of the access hole. The button is on the large round burner tube and has two wires on either side of the button. You should hear and feel a slight click. That’s the reset of the fuse.
- Put the round plastic cover back on.
- Make sure to clean the dryer vent tube as described in the previous fix anyway because it can still cause your dryer to overheat after resetting the fuse, sending you back to square one. Here’s a video for a quick guide to that:
- Plug in the appliance and enjoy a working LG dryer.
FIX 3: Clean your lint filter and filter housing
This is another thing that can cause a dryer to take too long to dry. You can see a dirty lint filter in this picture:
If the lint filter housing is clogged with lint, that can lead to problems too. Here’s a picture of a tool used to clean the filter housing, though you can technically make do with a vacuum.
FIX 4: Reduce vent tube bends or crushing
One last thing that can cause a dryer to take too long to dry the clothes is a dryer vent tube with too many bends in it. Each 90-degree bend of the vent tube takes down dryer efficiency by 15%.
You can solve this by adjusting the vent tube. Try to have no more than two bends and make sure the vent tube isn’t crushed.
And with that, you know how to get your LG dryer working again! As you can see, a lot of it is really just about maintaining healthy air flow. Keeping your dryer’s airflow going strong saves energy, reduces pollution and gets your clothes dried a whole lot faster.
