The short answer
On Aviva ALFD the first question is what kind of heat the machine uses, because the fault lists barely overlap: an electric machine that tumbles without heat has often lost one supply leg, while a gas machine that tumbles without heat has usually failed to light.
What you observe on these models
- The drum turns normally and the air is cold — The classic presentation.
- It heats in bursts and then goes cold — A thermostat cycling on temperature, which is what a restricted vent produces rather than what a failed part produces.
- The machine and the room get hot but the clothes stay wet — Heat is being made and not carried away — air, not heat, is the fault.
- On a gas machine, a click with no ignition — The igniter is being asked to work and the flame is not establishing.
- NEAR MISS — it will not turn at all — That is a will-not-start fault and it is a different page.
Causes, most likely first on ALFD
- A blocked vent or lint filter — First, always. Restricted air makes a dryer overheat, which opens a thermal device, which stops the heat. The fault is the vent; the blown device is the symptom. Ranked first on Aviva ALFD because a dryer is an air machine before it is a heat machine, so the vent sits at the top of almost every list it appears on.
- The thermal fuse — A one-shot device that opens after an overheat. Replacing it without clearing the vent means replacing it again.
- One supply leg missing on an electric dryer — An electric dryer that tumbles perfectly and never heats is the classic presentation of a lost supply leg, and it is a circuit problem rather than an appliance one.
- The heating element or the gas igniter — An electric element can fail open; a gas machine can fail to light. Which one applies to your machine is the first thing to establish.
- Cycling and high-limit thermostats — These open on temperature and close again as it falls, so a machine with a restricted vent heats in bursts rather than not at all. Last on this list, and the item that every cause above it can imitate exactly.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Start at the air path — Clear the lint filter and then check that air is actually leaving the vent outside, because almost every heat complaint on a dryer begins there. Do this before ordering any part at all, because it is the cause of most of what follows on this list.
- Establish whether the machine is electric or gas — Read the plate. Everything after this step depends on the answer, and assuming is how the wrong part gets ordered.
- On an electric machine, suspect the supply — A machine that tumbles perfectly with no heat at all is the textbook presentation of a lost supply leg, and that is a circuit fault rather than an appliance one.
- On a gas machine, listen for the ignition sequence — A click and no flame is a supply or ignition question; no click at all points further back in the control chain.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the dryer or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. If your model is a gas dryer and you smell gas: do not switch anything on or off, leave the building, and call the gas utility or 911 from outside — do not look for the leak yourself. Gas work and the sealed part of a gas valve are licensed work in most places, and a lint-packed dryer running hot is a fire risk rather than a nuisance.
Models this page covers — the ALFD family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| ALFD2780W | aviva:dryer:alfd |
When to call a technician
Call once the vent is proven clear, the filter is clean and the machine still will not heat. On an electric machine also call an electrician if the supply is the suspect, because a lost leg is a circuit fault rather than an appliance fault. Call immediately on any gas smell, any burning smell, or a cabinet too hot to touch. Before ordering anything, match the plate against the ALFD variant table above. The family is a front-load dryer, and parts that look alike across a brand's other lines often do not fit it.
Other problems covered for the ALFD family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
