WHIRLPOOL DRYERS PROBLEMS
Information about the problems and breakdowns of Whirlpool dryers that were reported from 2002 to 2021.
Common problems: burning, fire, overheating, smoke.
Faulty modules: buttons, control board, door, drum, filter, gasket, heating element, motor, sensor, timer, valve.
Recalls
1 safety recalls announced
Whirlpool Recalls Washer and Gas Dryer Units
-
Date: 7/2/2002
The gas dryer can overheat, posing a fire hazard. The recalled 24-inch washer and gas dryer units were sold under the Whirlpool, Kenmore and General Electric brand names, which is written on the control panel of the units. They are white or light tan.
View All +
Problems
64 issues reported
Whirlpool MDE7658BYW
-
Date: 6/2/2015
The consumer stated that she has been sent a wrong replacement power cord for her electric clothes dryer which, if wired up with the dryer, it is possible that the power drawdown will melt the cord and start a fire.
Whirlpool Cabrio WGD6400SWZ
-
Date: 4/25/2011
40 YOF says the dryer smelled like it was burning. It stopped work & her husband had to take it apart. There was burned lint all over the drum, gas line & wires. Lint collects on every internal part posing as a fire hazard.
Whirlpool Cabrio MGD6400SG0
-
Date: 8/12/2011
Consumer found a safety issue with his gas dryer. If the drum belt breaks or falls off, a safety switch is to be made & shut off the gas burner. There is a safety switch in place but the belt arm is not long enough to trip the safety switch if the belt breaks off.
Whirlpool Cabrio WED7600XW0
-
Date: 12/20/2011
Consumer reported that dryer air flow light came on & clothes became very hot inside of dryer. According to repairman it was factory problem with pulley for vent belt. It was incorrectly tightened & came off. 3 months later pulley for the vent belt had fallen off again.
Whirlpool Cabrio WED7300XW0
-
Date: 4/9/2014
Consumer reported that the clothes dryer was turned on and immediately smoke and burning smell was detected. Upon inspection it was found that lint collected inside the bottom of the dryer caught fire. Consumer stated that the reason is in faulty design of the dryer.
Whirlpool Cabrio WGD8600YW
-
Date: 12/10/2012
40 YOF was drying laundry in upstairs laundry room when fire alarm rang. There was burning smell everywhere. She saw smoke coming out of the gas dryer & dryer was hot to touch. Her husband unplugged the power. Internal plastic parts melted & clothes shrunk.
Whirlpool Duet GEW9250PW1
-
Date: 4/19/2011
Consumer reports that the dryer refused to turn off when she tried to turn it off. Consumer unplugged the dryer. Service technician told the consumer that the relay switch had defaulted and/or the control plus heating element may have failed. Inside of unit was burned.
Whirlpool Duet GEW9200LL1
-
Date: 1/18/2014
A 54 YOM reports that while turned off, the dryer caught the clothes inside it on fire. The smoke from the fire within the dryer was intoxicating & it forced them to vacate the house. Flames were coming out of the roof. The fire department responded. The house is total loss.
Whirlpool Duet HT WED9400SW
-
Date: 12/18/2016
Consumer's 44YO wife switched on electric dryer & heard something weird. Consumer asked her to power it down & he smelled a foul odor of burning plastic & unplugged the unit. He said there was smoke from burning circuitry & service tech papers caught fire. No Injury.
Whirlpool Duet HT WED9400SW2
-
Date: 1/9/2016
[35 YOF] Dryer caught fire, it started out with a loud screaming noise for about 5 minutes then it went back to normal smoke blaze the back of the dryer.
Whirlpool Duet WGD9150WW0
-
Date: 12/6/2011
Gasket that gathers lint on consumer's gas dryer lint screen dtached & fell off vent. Replacement part was sent & same thing happened to the relplacement. Consumer's concerned about accumulation of lint in the dryer & believes it's a fire hazard.
Whirlpool Duet WGD9400SW0
-
Date: 10/24/2017
Consumer moved and hooked up gas to a dryer. Moments later, it was on fire and started to smoke. Consumer disassembled dryer and found that moisture sensor was burned and smoldering.
Whirlpool WED95HEXW0
-
Date: 1/11/2019
Electric clothes dryer stopped working & it was believed a circuit breaker was popped as the dryer gave no indication that power was working. Strong smell of burning electrical wires/components followed. Service repair tech found a seriously burner circuit board.
Whirlpool WED5300VW0
-
Date: 4/25/2011
Consumer reports that the timer in the electric clothes dryer fails to function/advance once the dryer is started. It will not shut off and runs for hours causing the laundry to become very hot and dry. Consumer says this creates an apparent fire hazard.
Whirlpool W10150610A
-
Date: 5/9/2011
The consumer was using the clothes dryer, pushed the button to turn it on, but the dryer doesn't work. He left the door open, he came back 20 minutes later and the coils were red hot. The consumer says when he turned the temperature setting back to off, coils cooled down.
Whirlpool WGD5600XW0
-
Date: 6/10/2011
Consumer started experiencing problems with his gas dryer, the clothes would be still be damped after a drying cycle & he had to be using excessive amount of time to dry the clothes. Consumer stated the lint filter inside the machine is not working properly.
Whirlpool WED5300SQ0
-
Date: 9/28/2011
Consumer reports that the electric clothes dryer was extremely hot. Consumer says that when the door was opened the inside of the dryer was melting ad a vent inside the dryer looked burnt. Consumer says that there may have been a fire while clothes were drying.
Whirlpool Duet Sport WED8500 SRO
-
Date: 10/13/2011
Electrical fire occurred in dryer wiring harness.
Whirlpool MLER 36245Q1
-
Date: 10/19/2011
Firefighters found a dryer inside the home that had clothes in it that were burning. Dryer apparently malfunctioned & set the clothes on fire. Dryer was carried outside & clothes taken out & extinguished. Fire damage estimated at $500.
Whirlpool Cabrio AccuDry WED5500XW0
-
Date: 12/31/2011
63 yof sustained bleach burns & swelling to her hands, arms & legs after measuring cup containing bleach slid to front of clothes dryer & fell to floor, splashing bleach everywhere. she stated Forward downward slope of top caused objects placed on tops to slide down & fell.
Whirlpool Cabrio WGD64005WD
-
Date: 1/12/2012
Laundry room smelled smoky & odor was strong near gas dryer on next morning after son did laundry. Technicians removed front door, drum & kick plate. They discovered that there was lint fire under appliance. Consumer is concerned about lint building up again.
Whirlpool Duet Sport WGD8300SWD
-
Date: 7/20/2012
Upon opening gas dryer, 65 YOF noticed strange smell & dryer seemed hot. She noticed discoloration in dryer drum & reached in & touched it, burning her finger. She unplugged dryer, but burn mark continued to get bigger, so she shut off gas. She received no first aid.
Whirlpool Duet WED9610XW0
-
Date: 10/10/2012
A 38-YOM says there is a hard, square plastic recess/insert in the door jamb of the dryer which is quite sharp. He says while he was removing a load of clothes from the dryer with the door fully open to the right his left arm was scraped by this spot and it started to bleed.
Whirlpool LEQ9858LW0
-
Date: 12/20/2012
Consumer says the clothes in their clothes dryer ignited. The fire is stated to have occurred in the clothes drum. He says the limited lint in the vent pipe did not catch on fire.
Whirlpool WGD5600XW0
-
Date: 1/8/2013
Consumer noticed smoke smell coming from laundry room & found out it was from a gas dryer. The consumer removed bottom panel from the dryer & saw tons of black burnt lint covering the bottom of the burner compartment. It evidently had a flash fire of the finest lint on top.
Whirlpool WGD9400SW0
-
Date: 11/20/2013
Consumer noticed that, after running the dryer, the smell of natural gas was present. Initial diagnosis was a faulty gas valve. The repairman noted that the glow igniter was shutting off prematurely, & the dryer was venting unburned natural gas into the dryer while running.
Whirlpool CGW9250P
-
Date: 2/10/2014
Consumer reports that gas dryer exploded internally and caught on fire. The flash fire inside the dryer unit's cabinet may have been caused by cat hair and lint built up inside. The fire was contained to the inside of the dryer and was not a vent fire.
Whirlpool WGD9151YW0
-
Date: 3/27/2014
The consumer stated that the gas dryer overheated to a point that one of the interior plastic baffles, along with the lightbulb lens, melted.The thermal fuse did not trip to stop the dryer. Room filled with smoke, unit chassis became hot to touch, but no flames were observed.
Whirlpool Cabrio
-
Date: 6/30/2014
Consumer reported that red vent light was continuously lit. Technician found that dryer that was sold to consumer was for use in natural gas setting, consumer has propane & d/t that large flames of fire running up back of dryer, each time consumer operated it.
Whirlpool LEW0050PQ
-
Date: 7/14/2014
The door switch of an electric dryer stopped working. I ordered the part & had an electrician out to replace it. When he went to install the part he discovered that the switch had caught fire. He said he would not repair the machine as the safety device did not work.
Whirlpool WED9400SW2
-
Date: 12/28/2014
The consumer reports that the electronic control module on the clothes dryer caught fire at the power leads connection.
Whirlpool WGD9400SW1
-
Date: 7/17/2015
The consumer stated that the electronic control board on her gas clothes dryer caught fire.
Whirlpool Duet WED94HEXW0
-
Date: 2/24/2016
Clothes Dryer recently started overheating & smelling like smoke. When top cover was removed, was discovered that control panel had been on fire at power leads connection. Wires were burnt & inner side of dryer cover was scorched with soot from fire.
Whirlpool WED99HED0
-
Date: 9/23/2016
Consumer’s wife noticed that a dryer was taking hours to dry clothes. Later, the dryer stopped working & the consumer contacted a technician to repair the unit. The technician advised that the unit had a lot of lint build up near the compressor & engine, poses a fire hazard.
Whirlpool WGD8000BW
-
Date: 10/7/2016
Dryer had been running for a couple minutes when the consumer’s wife smelled burning. She turned the dryer off. Smoke emitted from the dryer. The fire department came & checked the lint trap & found it clean. Later, the technician found lint under the drum of the dryer.
Whirlpool WGD9200SQ0
-
Date: 10/28/2016
Consumer put a small load of towels in the dryer & pushed the "Start" button. A few seconds later, she heard loud arcing noise & she saw smoke. Her husband unplugged the dryer & the dryer stopped arcing immediately after. He also turned off the gas.
Whirlpool LER8648LW0
-
Date: 11/9/2016
The consumer stated that the electric clothes dryer caught fire filling the house with smoke and burned clothes that were in the dryer.
Whirlpool WED94HEXW1
-
Date: 1/9/2017
Consumer reported that electric dryer caught fire around the relay board during normal operations.
Whirlpool
-
Date: 3/3/2017
Consumer’s nephew noticed a burning odor. The dryer was in the off position. There was smoke in the back of the dryer, coming from the portion of the electric plug. Consumer opened the dryer's door & discovered that the clothing was on fire. She sustained a burn to her arm.
Whirlpool Duet WED94HEXW1
-
Date: 3/16/2017
Consumer stated dryer control board ignited paper pamphlet stored beneath control board, inside dryer cabinet. Dryer failed at end of drying cycle & created "electrical-burn" stench. Consumer shut off outlet for dryer. Section of control board & wiring harness were burned.
Whirlpool WGD9750WW0
-
Date: 6/2/2017
During course of regular laundry consumer noticed burning smell in laundry room. Upon inspection of gas dryer consumer discovered that rear vent or stainless grate on back wall of interior was covered in brown/black burn such as on stove burner.
Whirlpool Duet WED95HEXW0
-
Date: 6/3/2017
The consumer stated that during normal use they noticed burning plastic smell from their electric clothes dryer. Upon further investigation, they found that the circuit board had caught fire.
Whirlpool Cabrio WED5800BW0
-
Date: 10/8/2017
Our smoke detector went off. We smelled smoke coming from our dryer which was running. We unplugged it, emptied it & made it safe. Upon examination, the screen inside & at the back of the drum was black & there was a piece of burned lint on the other side of the screen.
Whirlpool Duet WED94HEXL0
-
Date: 12/15/2019
Upper control board caught fire while (electric dryer) was in use. Unplugged machine and pulled away from the wall. Fire self extinguished minor smoke damage and no injuries. Upper board is also used to store paper users manual so fire could have easily spread.
Whirlpool Duet WED97HEXW
-
Date: 8/31/2020
The Consumer stated that the computer control unit in their electric clothes dryer shorted out and caught fire. The Consumer stated that the particular component that shorted out appeared to be the heater relay #1 (based on the diagram in the Service Technician Manual).
Whirlpool WED95HEDC0
-
Date: 3/6/2021
60 YOF consumer reports that the wires on the top lid of the dryer caught on fire and the dryer continued to run melting items on top of the dryer. The power was cut and 911 was called after discovering thick black smoke. This product is unsafe and a fire hazard.
Whirlpool Duet WED94HEXW1
-
Date: 7/6/2021
The Consumer reported that THEIR electric clothes dryer caught on fire.
Whirlpool Duet WED94HEXL0
-
Date: 7/26/2021
48 YO consumer stated, that it seems upper control board of Clothes Dryer caught fire while unit was in use. When fire was detected, machine was unplugged & fire self-extinguished. There was smoke damage to clothes. Consumer, 14 YO & 17 YO children were involved in incident.
Whirlpool WGD4815EW
-
Date: 10/19/2021
The Consumer, 35, stated that their 16 month old [electric clothes] dryer overheated without shutting off to the point of fire. The Consumer reported injury to self.
Whirlpool WED94HEXW0
-
Date: 5/27/2020
The Consumer stated that their dryer stopped working and produced a strong ozone smell. They found that a component on the main control board had burnt. The wiring harness had burnt, and scorching on the bottom of the top panel showed evidence of a fire on the control board.
Whirlpool Cabrio WED7800XWO
-
Date: 6/4/2017
The consumer stated that the electric dryer motherboard burned and melted. They had just run two loads and then there was no power to the dryer. Upon further inspection and removing the control panel it was discovered that the motherboard had burned and melted.
Whirlpool Cabrio WGD8200YW3
-
Date: 11/30/2019
51 YOF consumer had a gas clothes dryer which started on a very small fire and was not deemed to be dangerous. Consumer stated that later the fire was large. Tech came and took dryer apart, finding a lot of lint in the heating element and elsewhere. Lint caused fire.
Whirlpool Calypso GEW9868KQ3
-
Date: 2/17/2020
Consumer states that a technician manual was taped to control panel wall of electric dryer. It was close to circuit board. Sparks and smoke started to come from control panel. This practice, consumer states, is very dangerous and can present a real case of fire,
Whirlpool Duet WED9600TW1
-
Date: 7/15/2013
Electric dryer overheats and clothes were too hot to touch.
Whirlpool Duet Duet WGD9151WY0
-
Date: 10/2/2014
58 YOM noticed burning smell coming from dryer while load of clothes was in dryer. Door was hot. Interior of dryer was melting. Fire department came, removed unit, & doused it. Technician determined that thermostat malfunctioned & gas kept running to unit.
Whirlpool Duet WGD9150WW0
-
Date: 6/5/2018
57 YOF removed load of laundry from gas dryer. Six hours later she checked dryer & discovered that, despite that dryer was off, somehow it kept heating. Unit felt warm on outside & tub was hot on inside. She burned fingertip when she touched dryer. She didn't get 1st aid.
Whirlpool Duet GGW9260PW3
-
Date: 11/10/2014
My wife ran a load of laundry in our gas dryer. The dryer finished the job & she unloaded it. 3 hours later she noticed a dark brown scorch mark had appeared on the interior of the dryer drum near the front on the right hand side. She found the spot extremely hot.
Whirlpool Duet WED94HEXR0
-
Date: 2/5/2018
While using electric clothes dryer 52 yom noticed electrical burning smell from the dryer. He turned dryer off & unplugged it. He found that electrical harness, electrical control board were burned, melted & covered with black soot from internal electrical fire/short circuit.
Whirlpool Duet WGD9470WW2
-
Date: 11/1/2018
50 YOF consumer's gas dryer failed. The internal gas valve failed and gave out gas and CO. There was a burn mark in the dryer's drum. Alarms activated. Consumer refused to purchase a new dryer and would like a replacement free of charge. She states this is a fire hazard.
Whirlpool Duet WGD9400SU0
-
Date: 2/28/2013
Consumer's daughter turned on gas dryer & it started to smoke immediately. Repair person found that the control board had started a fire & need to be replaced along with a plastic sheet cover that melted.
Whirlpool Duet WGD97HEXL0
-
Date: 5/15/2017
The consumer reported that the gas clothes dryer caught fire while running. Smoke was smelled and it was found to be coming out of the back of the dyer. The consumer reported that lint had apparently gotten behind the drum and caught fire; melting the wires in the dryer.
Whirlpool WED5500SQ0
-
Date: 10/11/2011
Dryer stops drying every 4 months. Consumers discovered a lot of lint in the back of the dryer where exhaust vent blows lent out. Consumer believes this could pose fire hazard.
Whirlpool WGD8600YW0
-
Date: 5/6/2013
Consumer noticed a burning smell coming from gas dryer. He shut off gas supply line valve & unplugged unit. He pulled off back cover & noticed charred lint. He pulled off front cover & noticed massive amount of lint build ip on bottom of cabinet & where ducting is.
Whirlpool WED4800XQ0
-
Date: 4/3/2014
Consumer discovered that electric clothes dryer doesn't turn off automatically as it is supposed to. Consumer loaded dryer & forgot about it & 24 hours later dryer was still running. Dryer & clothes were extremely hot. Consumer stated that this was not one time incident.
View All +