The short answer
A dryer that tumbles a full cycle and hands back cool, damp laundry has lost heat, not motion — and on most cabinets the heat is switched off by a safety device long before the heater itself fails. The reason a sealed lint screen or a packed screen housing heads the ranking on a Criterion is simple: a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is. Airflow and the lint path are owner work; an open fuse, a dead element or a gas valve that will not open is a service call.
What the machine is doing
- Cycles that used to finish now run to the end of the timer — An auto-dry cycle that never satisfies is a heat or airflow complaint, not a timer complaint.
- The cabinet and the laundry-room air get hot instead of the load — Heat going into the room rather than out of the duct means the exhaust path is restricted or disconnected.
- NEAR MISS — The drum does not turn at all — That is a belt, motor or door-switch fault and it belongs on the will-not-start page, not here.
The causes and their order
- A sealed lint screen or a packed screen housing — First on this brand: a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is. A screen that looks clean can be sealed shut by fabric-softener film, and the housing beneath it collects lint that never reaches the screen at all.
- Half the electrical supply missing, or a gas valve left part-closed — Second: An electric dryer needs both legs of its supply: lose one and the drum still turns while the element gets nothing, with no error code to explain it.
- A blocked or crushed exhaust duct — Third, and the last to suspect: Restricted exhaust makes the cycling thermostat cut the heat long before the load dries, and a foil duct crushed behind the cabinet does that on every single cycle. A store-brand unit is usually carried home and set up by the owner rather than by a delivery crew, and setup errors survive for years.
The order to work in
- Run water onto the lint screen over a sink — Water that beads and sits on the mesh instead of running straight through is a screen that is blocking air even though it looks clear. It leads because a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is, so proving or clearing it immediately narrows everything below.
- Check the breaker properly — both halves of a double breaker, not just the handle position — A double breaker can trip on one side and still look set, which is exactly the tumble-but-no-heat picture.
- Pull the duct off the back of the cabinet and feel the flow with the machine running — A strong warm stream straight out of the cabinet, and a weak one through the duct, names the duct without a tool being opened.
Hands-on checks
- Wash the screen and vacuum the screen housing — Warm water and a soft brush for the mesh, then a crevice tool as far down the housing as it reaches.
Tools: soft brush, vacuumAbout 15 min
- Reset the breaker fully off and back on, and confirm the appliance gas valve handle is in line with the pipe — A handle across the pipe is closed; in line with it is open.
About 5 min
- Stop here if the next move needs a meter on live terminals — That is where an owner check ends and a service call begins.
Working safely on this machine
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Lint is the fire hazard here, and a dryer is never run with its vent disconnected.
When to call a technician
Call once the duct is clear, the screen runs water freely and the machine still tumbles cold — that combination points at the fuse, the element or the gas valve, and all three are behind a panel with mains terminals on it.
Related pages for this appliance
The limits of this page
Everything above is generalized across the Criterion dryer range rather than tied to a model. There is no per-model page under this one today. Where one appears it is linked from this block and it is the page to trust for a specific cabinet. Deliberately not here: wiring colours, resistance values, torque figures and part numbers, which differ between families.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
