The short answer
When a Criterion dryer starts needing two cycles, the machine is telling you its duct is restricted. Owners usually suspect the element; technicians check the filter, the hose and the outside vent first, and most of the time that is where it ends. What follows is arranged by likelihood rather than by how interesting each cause is.
What this looks like from the outside
- Clothes come out creased or scorched at the edges — Heat concentrating where air is not moving, usually because the load is too large for the drum. Rule it in or out before moving on, because the next check assumes an answer to this one.
- The outside vent flap barely moves when the machine runs — A direct measure of how much air is leaving the building, and the most useful one on the appliance. It needs nothing you do not already own.
- Marks or streaks on light-coloured items — Usually residue inside the drum rather than a fault: dye transfer, softener film or something left in a pocket. It is worth confirming twice before you act on it, since one observation can mislead.
- NEAR MISS: the drum turns but there is no heat at all — That is a heating fault rather than a performance one, and it belongs on the heating page for this machine. Do this before the check below it, because the answer changes what that one means.
Likely causes, ordered
- A crushed, kinked or lint-packed vent hose — Second because a machine pushed back against a wall crushes its own duct, and the restriction is invisible from the front. Eliminate it properly before moving down; a half-checked cause comes back later.
- Overloading the drum — Air has to pass between items.
- A coated moisture sensor — Residue from softener sheets insulates the sensor bars, so the machine believes the load is dry and stops early. If this is the cause, the evidence for it is usually visible rather than inferred.
- A worn drum seal letting air bypass the load — Air that leaks around the drum instead of through it heats the cabinet and dries nothing. Note whether it happens every time or only sometimes, because that distinction narrows the list.
The diagnostic order
- Feel the airflow at the outside vent with the machine running — Strong warm air means the duct is clear; a weak draught means it is not, wherever the blockage is. Repeat it once if the answer is ambiguous rather than moving on with a maybe.
- Disconnect the hose and run the machine briefly into the room — If it dries normally with the duct off, the restriction is in the hose or the vent rather than the machine. It earns this slot because it explains the whole symptom rather than part of it.
- Halve the load and run it again — A load that dries properly when halved was never a fault; it was a loading habit. Repeat it once if the answer is ambiguous rather than moving on with a maybe.
Steps you can do yourself
- Clear the outside vent flap and its duct opening — Check from outdoors that the flap opens fully when the machine runs, and clear any nesting material behind it. It is worth doing properly once rather than quickly twice.
Tools: glovesAbout 20 min
- Clean the moisture sensor bars — A cloth with a little white vinegar, then dry. It needs nothing you do not already own.
Tools: cloth, white vinegarAbout 10 min
- Dry a single reference load and time it — One consistent load run before and after any change tells you whether what you did actually helped. Stop if anything about it feels wrong rather than pressing on.
About 20 min
- Stop here if the next step would put a meter on live terminals — What is left is diagnosis rather than inspection, and diagnosis needs instruments.
Before you open anything
Safety
Power off first. Everything else on this page assumes you have done it. The power being off is not the same as the machine being safe to touch immediately. Let the drum and any heating parts cool before you reach inside; they stay hot after a cycle ends. Work with the door mechanism intact rather than around it.
When this becomes a service call
The line is simple enough to state: you own the air path from the drum to the outside wall, and a technician owns the heat. Everything on the owner side of it can be done in an afternoon. Do not keep cycling a machine that bangs, drags or smells hot in the hope it settles.
Nearest pages of this class
What is deliberately not here
One page cannot be both general and exact, and this one is general by design.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
