LG Dryer Not Drying: 7 Easy & Fast Ways to Fix It Now

Clothes dryers are one of the great modern conveniences that help make our lives easier by taking all the work and fuss out of drying our freshly washed clothes.

One of the most popular and well-respected dryer brands is LG. Yet despite all of the praise these machines receive, owners of LG dryers continually report running into a problem where it will suddenly stop drying for seemingly no reason.

This can be challenging as there is oftentimes no obvious way to fix the issue.

So in this article, we’re going to walk through all the reasons why your dryer will stop drying and then tell you how to fix it so you can restore your LG dryer to working order.

Why is your LG Dryer Not Drying?

While there are many different brands of dryers, LG is one of the most popular thanks to its slew of user-friendly features giving you unparalleled control over your drying experience. 

So it may seem odd that such modern and feature-complete appliances will suddenly stop drying. Let’s look at what makes this happen so you can better understand what’s going on with your machine.

1. The Lint Filter is Clogged

The bane of all washers and dryers. Lint is essentially a small bundle of clothing fibers that detach from our clothes as they get washed and dried. These clothing fibers can combine with other materials and debris and, if left unchecked, would quickly clog up the whole machine.

Most modern dryers will use a lint filter designed to gather up and trap the lint that forms in the dryer so it can’t make its way into a more critical component and cause problems with the machine.

Lint filters work great, but over time they will gather up so much lint that they become clogged and no longer be able to remove lint from the dryer.

This now means the lint is free to build up in the machine and cause all kinds of problems. So cleaning out the lint filter to ensure it can continue to gather up all the lint and debris from your clothes is vital to the overall health of the dryer.

2. The Dryer Vent is Blocked

Dryers use an exhaust vent system with a flexible plastic or metal duct running out from the dryer. This is a vital component to the dryer being able to adequately dry clothes as it’s used to allow the excess heat, moisture, and lint that the lint filter can’t catch to escape.

Even if you regularly clean the lint filter, the dryer vent hose can eventually become blocked. There may also be other contributors to this problem, such as rodents or birds trying to build nests because it’s secluded and warm.

Once the vent hose is heavily restricted, the moisture will have no way of escaping, leaving your clothes wet even after the drying cycle has finished.

A critical giveaway that this is the problem is that your clothes will be left unusually hot after the cycle has finished because the hot air has not been able to escape, yet they will still be wet.

Taking steps to unblock and ensure the venting system works correctly will allow the dryer to function properly.

3. Vent Hood is Not Working

A vent hood shields the dryer exhaust from having things like leaves, debris, or rain making their way into the vent by protecting it from the outside environment.

If the vent hood becomes damaged or detaches itself from the wall for any reason, unwanted items may make their way into the vent, further restricting the venting system and keeping your clothes wet.

The vent should be inspected to ensure it’s firmly attached to the wall with no apparent gaps, cracks, or breaches that might prevent unwanted foreign objects from getting blown into the vent.

4. The Dryer Hose is Faulty

While a blocked dry vent/hose is already a problem, sometimes there is no blockage, yet the hose is still experiencing difficulty allowing the wet, hot air to escape, which is not keeping your clothes yet.

It may be a case that the hose has become damaged in some way, it may not be completely connected to the dryer, or something may have breached the hose, reducing its effectiveness.

The length of the hose should be inspected, and if any damage is found, it should be repaired.

5. The Heating Element is Faulty

The heating element physically generates the heat, allowing the moisture to evaporate from the clothes and be vented from the machine.

So if the heating element develops a fault and the dryer is not running hot enough, it will reduce the dryer’s ability to remove the moisture from the clothes.

The heating element will need to be tested with a multimeter; if it’s not working, it will need to be repaired or replaced.

6. The Moisture Sensor is Faulty

The moisture sensor is responsible for determining the amount of moisture present within the machine and will adjust the drying time accordingly. Hence, it only runs long enough to get the clothes dry.

The idea is that it will save you time and money by not drying the clothes any longer than needed.

However, if this sensor becomes faulty, it can believe the clothes are already dry when they are not. Causing it to tell the machine it’s now time to end the drying cycle.

This component will also need to be tested for continuity and replaced accordingly.

7. The Machine Needs to be Power Cycled

As recommended by the manufacturer, the LG dryer will sometimes experience a bug or glitch which causes certain components not to operate correctly.

Performing a power cycle, otherwise known as a hard reset, can oftentimes help the machine get back to working order.

How to Fix an LG Dryer Not Drying

As we can see, the majority of the time, this issue can be pinned down to some blockage or component failure, which removes the dryer’s ability to either generate heat or dissipate it.

Now let’s look at the best methods to fix this issue so you can get your dryer working again.

1. Clean Out the Lint Filter

The lint filter or lint trap is designed to be removed and cleaned, which makes this process very easy to follow.

  1.  Start by removing the lint filter from the electric dryer.
  2. Vacuum out any remaining lint in the dryer and lint filter housing.
  3. Take the lint trap over to the sink, remove the bulk of the lint by hand and then let it run under warm water.
  4. If the lint is particularly stuck, you can take a bowl of warm soapy water and let the filter sit for 10-15 minutes to loosen it up. Then run it under fresh water to hoover it out.
  5. Let the lint filter dry thoroughly before reinstalling. In the meantime, you can take a vacuum and vacuum out the slot the filter slides into. Try to get as much out as you can.

2. Unclog the Dryer Vent

The vent is another vital component to keep nice and clear as it allows moisture to escape during drying.

There’s no special trick to unblocking a dryer vent; disconnect it from the dryer and, ideally, take it outside. Remove the bulk of the lint by hand (you might want to wear some gloves).

Once it’s mostly clear, grab a vacuum and clean up as much as you can. A leaf blower also works quite well here. After it’s all cleaned out, reinstall it.

3. Repair or Replace the Vent Hood

The vent hood needs to be sealed and flush with the wall; otherwise, outside debris can make its way into the vent system.

Inspect the hood visually to see what the issue is. If it’s come away from the wall, you should re-fasten it.

If a crack or small hole has developed, you can often plug it back up with some epoxy, but if it’s too large, you should replace the hood with a new one.

4. Fix the Dryer Duct

Dryer hoses or ducts are usually made from a thin metallic material that is easy to rip or tear.

Fortunately, we can use regular aluminum foil tape to patch the damage. Grab a roll of the stuff and seal up any damaged areas or holes that have formed.

5. Repair or Replace the Heating Element

If the heating element has been tested with a multimeter and determined to be faulty, it will simply need to be replaced.

This is not particularly easy to do by yourself. So in this scenario, we recommend contacting LG support, who will help arrange for a technician to come and fix it for you.

6. Replace the Moisture Sensor

The moisture sensor can shut the cycle off too early if it cannot detect the moisture level accurately.

Once again, if this has been tested and determined to be faulty, you will need to replace it. Contact LG support is the best solution here.

7. Power Cycle the Machine

To power cycle, the machine, turn it off, flip the circuit breaker switch associated with the electricity, and leave it off for 30 seconds to a minute. 

Once that time has passed, flip the circuit breaker back to the on position and power the machine back up.

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