Tumble Dryer Tripping
Whilst a tumble dryer tripping the electrics in your home isn’t an especially common problem it can and does happen on occasion and here we explain the most common causes in general that will lead to that happening.
Please do be sure to follow the basic electrical safety instructions and stay safe while you attempt to repair your tumble dryer.
The first thing to be aware of, before you even begin doing anything, is that the nature of the problem can often offer you a huge amount of insight into what can be causing the problem.
For example, if your dryer trips the electrical supply when the heater comes on then it’s a fair bet that the problem is to do with the heater, not guaranteed, but it’s a reasonable assumption to make and a good place to start looking for the problem.
We will also point out that if you follow the tumble dryer safety tips and the dyer is installed in a suitable location then a number of these problems can be avoided.
Okay, warnings and such done, let’s run through what you should be checking.
Dryer Trips When Plugged In
Normally this will be a straight case of the mains interference filter having an issue as it’s normally the first thing that gets power and the most likely to have a problem.
It looks like a glorified capacitor and is normally mounted at the rear either top or bottom depending on the model and, if you’re not been cleaning the filters as you should like many people don’t do then fluff etc building up on it can short it out.
If it’s in an unheated area like a garage or the likes then if the fluff sitting on that gets damp… BANG!
About the only other thing that can cause this where the dryer isn’t even switched on is the mains lead or the plug on the wall that’s being used however it should be noted that if the dryer is on an extension lead that too can be a problem.
Dryer Trips When Powered On
What we mean by that is, the dryer is plugged in and doesn’t trip but as soon as you push the “on” button or turn the timer it pops the trip.
This gets a little more complex as it can vary from model to model so if you’ve any doubt please use the forum to get model and problem specific advice as any component that gets energised at this point can cause it to pop the trip.
The things that jump out are the mains on/off switch behind the button first and foremost as, if that shorts then your tumble dryer will pop the RCD immediately as it’s probably a dead short. Where it’s a control board then it’s entirely possibly the mains relay on the board is fried.
On some tumble dryer models there is a door lock and on all there will be a door switch or microswitch fitted that prevents the dryer from running with the door open. That’s the next suspect, look of that being shorted or dodgy in some way.
If it’s an older type dryer with a the old type turn to switch it on type timer then, it may well be the timer that’s had it and shorting internally.
On some there’s a relay that kicks the motor in and that can be an issue but, it’s rare to cause the machine to trip. Possible though.
Dryer Trips When Drying Starts
If you tumble dryer trips as soon as the motor starts to run then there’s a plethora of things to check but, some are far more likely to be the problem than others.
First up and the top suspect here is the heater and thermostats.
Any shorting with fluff/lint (remember what we said about filters and location earlier) will cause a dead short between live and neutral or earth and the machine will trip your electric out or blow the fuse. No doubt whatsoever.
The heaters can also have an insulation failure and what that means in layman’s terms is that the barriers between the earth of the heater and the electrical supply no longer work as they should and in order to prevent danger to you of electrocution, the RCD will trip.
The only course in this case is to replace the heating element if it’s not caked in fluff, in which case it’s also a fire hazard as well!
Thermostats, same deal really.
Far more rare but still possible is that the motor, motor capacitor or the control relays on the control board for some machines have popped but, these are far more rare and are very seldom an issue. For those however we’d usually suggest getting a professional repairer unless you’re really good with electrical stuff and have decent test equipment as changing those parts can be an expensive mistake if you’re wrong.
I have an LG condensing tumble dryer, model number RC 9011. The display comes on with the power switch, allow me select the programme. Up to this stage all looks good. Press the start button and immediately trips house RCD. Ant help would be appreciated.
Hi David,
It could be anything without investigation it is not possible to give you a steer other than, anything that is given power at that point could be causing it.
Hi. I have a 6 year old beko drcs 68w tumble dryer. It now trips the electric after about 30mins of drying each and every time. I have replaced the heating element and thought that had resolved but it\’s immediately back to tripping after 20/30mins. Can you advise?
My Hotpoint Aqarius is only 2 months old worked fine until yesterday ,blew the fuse replaced the 15 amp fuse in the ubit on the wall started it and it blew again.
Help?
My beko condenser trips the rcd 5 or 10 minutes into the cycle??
My BEKO Dryer DVRT 71W turns on ok but after a few minutes it trips out the electrics. Or sometimes it does the full cycle but doesnt actuallu heat up HELP
Hi,
Yesterday there was no power to my tumble dryer ,so I simply changed the 13A fuse and it started working again.However there was again no power,is it the thermostat ?
Tumble dryer tripped power, I changed the fuse but when I turned the dryer back on nothing happened. Any ideas?
Have a Hoover Condensor which is a few years old now and was tripping the RDC. The resultant tripping blew the mains suppressor which I have now changed and the dryer is working again.
Used it for the first load and set it too 90 mins but when I went to check it at 70 mins is was off again so tripped out. Could it be that the thermostat is tripping the machine?
My tumble dryer tripped everything yesterday. It is only two years old. It is outside in a shed.
Hi,
Can you please help, I need wiring diagram or schematic diagram of a system board, as I suspect into it. I cannot figure out how the relays, wire outputs and … are logically connected.
Candy GO DC 67 tumble dryer stops after approximately 30 min with beep sound (“start LED” is blinking, and “0/1 LED” is still).
As I push the Start button nothing happens except the click sound of reley and the house room light intensity goes a little bit blink … is draining some power during reley click.
When I unplug/plug from/to the 230V socket and push the “Start” button it starts normaly and is running for a fiew minutes more. If I let it cool it works for a longer period.
I checked all the elements, heater, NTC sensors, thermostats, eliminated pressure switch, …
The biggest relay at the system board is good.
Thank you,
Have a great day!
Regards
Hi, I have got a Hotpoint condenser tumble dryer. It started to trip the RCD so I diagnosed the problem to be the heating element as it was completely caked when I checked, so I got it replaced. After replacing the heating element the dryer was drying cloths first few uses without any issues, then it start tripping the RCD again. I have tried with no cloths inside the drum if I switch the dryer on it works fine, but when cloths are added and it starts drying, the RCD trips all the time.
What could be the issue , have you got any idea?
Thanks!
I have an Indesit condenser tumble dryer and after about 20mins mins of being on it stops running I have it plugged in to an extension lead and have changed both fuses and cleaned the filter and the lint filter also but keeps happening on use it when it’s raining or in the winter and had it for 3 years and not sure what to do now
LG 8kg sensor dryer turns on fine load it up press play it runs for 1 min then trips the power at fuse board help please
HI My Indesit has starting tripping the electrics in the house today. I have changed the fuse and opened the top of the dryer and cleaned all the elements to the back of the panel to which it is ok when plugged in but as soon as i press “on” it trips again?
My Bosch dryer starts working for about 3 minutes then trips out any ideas why ?
My Bosch dryer works for 3 or 4 minutes then trips out every time please can someone help