Why is my dryer tripping the breaker?

Question

We have a new house with new appliances. We've been here for about 4 months and all of a sudden the dryer will only run 20 mins then trip the breaker. After the first trip it will only run less than 5 mins and trip again. What can i do??????

Answer 1

Clean and vacuum the exhaust duct, around the motor  and anywhere else there may be lint.  

Answer 2

You did not say whether it is a gas dryer or electric. Makes a big difference as to what the problem could be..

Answer 3

Less than 12 month old appliances have warranty's, Call the manufacturer.

Answer 4

Usually, the dryer has it's own circuit breaker because it uses a lot of current.  I wonder if something else shares the circuit breaker that could make it trip when the dryer and somethng else run at the same time.  Are you vacuuming or ironing or can you remember or check what was going on when the circuit tripped other than the dryer running.

Answer 5

You have a few possibilities. The first is that the breaker could be getting weak(Going bad!),the second is that,your motor could on the dryer could be the problem. Even though things are new, doesn't always guarantee that they are free from trouble! New motors and breakers have shown bad,right out of the box! My recommendation is to take a voltohm meter and check the amperage drawn on the circuit from the wire going to the breaker,and then check the motor! Good Luck! Contact me if needed! I am an electrician by trade.

Answer 6

I have an older house.  the dryer seems to share the same 220 line with a window a.c. unit...sometimes causing the breaker to pop.

Answer 7

Call the electrician who can also do service on the dryer.

You have one of 3 problems.

1. The dryer is bad.

2. The breaker is faulty.

3, The wiring is got a high resistance ground in it.

I'm betting on a bad dryer.  Then the breaker.  Call a qualified professional electrician, the work should be under warranty, so should the appliance.  

Answer 8

It sounds like you have a problem with your dryer, however it could also be loose wiring too.  Since it's a new home everything you have is under warrenty call your builder and see what you need to do.  That's the easiest way, plus it's free.

Answer 9

Make sure the cord from the dryer is not wet and stays dry as well as the dryer it self

Answer 10

SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE EITHER A BAD BREAKER,OR LOOSE WIRES ON THE BREAKER OR DRYER,IS THE BREAKER THE CORRECT AMP SIZE? SHOULD BE A 30 TO 40AMP DOUBLE POLE BREAKER DEPENDING ON THE LOCAL CODE FOR THE WIRE RUN,REMOVE THE COVER ON THE BREAKER BOX AND MAKE SURE THE WIRES ARE TIGHT ON THE BREAKER AND THE GROUNDS,BE SURE TO TURN THE POWER OFF AT THE METER BEFORE YOU CK IT.

Answer 11

Hi Nichole;  Several things can cause the breaker to trip and the most common is a loose wire somewhere If you have someone that can remove the covering allowing you to look in the motor transmission section  first unplug the cord from the power outlet. That way you won';t get hurt. The company that made your dryer sometimes an employee fails to tighten the wires. Just use a flashlight and slowly pull or move the wires at the connection point and if one is kinda lose you will notice it. Another thing that caused my dryer to work off and on was the motor ballast resistor. Its a 1' in diamter and maybe 5 inches long and it takes the power and boost the power to the motor to get it running. My warranty folks came out two times and replaced the motor and also the pump on my washer and still didn't  solve the problem. So I started looking for the ballast resistor and found it and replaced it and now evetrything is fine.  So good luck and don't forget to unplug the machine before you do anything!

no-profit. PS; another thought the builders might have connected too many items to your one circuit breaker thus causing an overload. Might need an electrician to check that out to be safe.

Answer 12

What size does it call for? Is  it on a 30amp breaker(10ga wire). If not run it with the heat turned off(it will dry but take longer).Most likely you have a problem with the heat coil.