Throughput, not weakness
On shared community laundry equipment, poor drying is a throughput problem before it is a machine problem. Machines are loaded heavier than they should be, screens are not cleared between users, and the duct is loaded by everyone. Fix the routine and most drying complaints disappear.
What you are seeing
- Loads need two or three cycles to dry.
- Items at the centre of the load are still wet at the end.
- Heavy items never dry in a single cycle.
- Drying got worse as the laundry room got busier.
- The machine feels hot but the load stays damp.
- Not this fault: A machine that produces no heat at all is a heating fault - read that page.
- Not this fault: A cycle that stops early is a cycle fault, not a drying fault.
Most likely causes, in Direct Supply order
- Overloading the drum — Why ranked: First on shared equipment. A packed drum cannot tumble, and a load that does not tumble cannot dry regardless of heat and airflow.
- Lint screen loaded from previous users — Why ranked: Second: nobody clears it between loads in a common laundry, so every user starts with a restricted machine.
- Vent run or shared duct restricted — Why ranked: Third. It affects every machine on that duct and it explains a whole laundry that has slowly got worse.
- Loads going in far too wet — Why ranked: Fourth. A washer that is not extracting properly sends soaked loads to the dryer, and the dryer takes the blame.
- Mixed load sizes and fabrics in one cycle — Why ranked: Last, which leaves heavy items damp while everything else is dry, and is a loading habit rather than a fault.
What to check, in order
- Weigh or judge the load against what the machine is rated to take. — Because: Overloading is the leading cause here and the easiest to test by simply loading less.
- Clear the lint screen and run the same load again. — Because: A clear improvement tells you the screen was the restriction, which is a routine problem rather than a repair.
- Check how wet the load is coming out of the washer. — Because: A poorly extracting washer makes a healthy dryer look broken.
- Compare the machine with others in the bank on the same load. — Because: This separates one machine's branch duct from a shared restriction affecting all of them.
Checks you can do safely
- Clean the lint screen before starting the load. — N: 1 — Tools: None — Time: quick
- Load the drum no more than the machine is rated for and run a full cycle. — N: 2 — Tools: None — Time: one cycle
- Separate heavy items from light ones and run them as different loads. — N: 3 — Tools: None — Time: one cycle
- Check the load is properly spun before it goes into the dryer. — N: 4 — Tools: None — Time: quick
- Report persistent poor drying across the whole bank through the facility route. — N: 5 — Tools: None — Time: quick
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. A restricted dryer is a fire hazard as well as a slow one, so a machine that needs several cycles should be reported rather than simply used more. Never run a dryer without its lint screen in place. Do not dry items that have been in contact with oil or solvent. Report a scorched smell immediately and stop using the machine.
When this becomes a service call
Every machine in the bank needs several cycles for a normal load. Drying is poor with a light load and a clean screen. The machine gets very hot but the load stays wet. There is any burning or scorched smell.
What this page does not cover
This page covers Direct Supply dryers as installed in shared community laundry rooms. It does not cover the in-room compact and ventless dryers supplied into resident apartments, which have their own page and their own drying behaviour, and it names no model-specific capacity. Where a family- or model-specific page exists it supersedes this one.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
