Clothes Dryer Noises & Sounds
Clothes dryers are simple appliances made of only a few moving parts that can rub, grind, hum, thump, squeak, or squeal. Most clothes dryer noises and sounds are easy to recognize and point to a specific problem. Some appliance repair technicians can correctly diagnose a problem after listening to a dryer noise or sound for only a moment. The key is to know what you are listening to. Is it a fast ticking or clicking noise? Is your clothes dryer making a slower rhythmic grinding noise? It's handy to know that dryer drums have a seam where the sheet metal is rolled and connected; a slower rhythmic clicking noise is almost always caused by the dryer drum in some way. While a fast and constant clicking noise is usually the dryer's blower wheel. Click on a speaker to hear some common dyer sounds, after you have identified you dryer's noise you will have a much better idea of where to look to fix the problem.
A Healthy Dryer
To know if something sounds wrong with your dryer you need a point of reference. Listen to the soothing sounds of problem free evaporation.
Coins In The Dryer's Drum Baffle
This common clicking sound was recorded with a few coins inside the dryer's drum fins, also called "baffles"
Open the dryer and remove the screws that pass through the dryers drum attaching the fins. Now you can clear those noisy coins, and if you're lucky find a lint ball or two.
This is the scraping sound of the dryer side rubbing against the rotating drum. Heavy objects pressing against the dryer can cause this noise.
Opening the dryer and flexing the side of the cabinet away from the drum will stop the grinding noise.
Pencil Stopping The Dryer's Blower
This loud banging sound is a dryer with a pencil in the blower. Objects can pass into the blower housing through holes in the dryer drum or through the dryer's lint trap. This was recorded as the dryer was first starting.
Stuff In The Dryer's Blower Housing
If the dryer blower is not jammed completely by an object it may cause a fast ticking, clicking, or buzzing sound.
Sometimes the housing itself may become bent and cause a similar noise as it rubs against the dryer's blower wheel.
Learn how to open your dryer and see what's making all that noise.