--- title: "The dryer will not turn or will not start" description: "KitchenAid the dryer will not turn or will not start — a drum that will not turn, or a machine that does nothing at all when the button is pressed." url: "https://kitchenaidmiami.support/symptoms/dryer-will-not-spin/" date_modified: "2026-08-23" Appliance type: "Dryers" --- # KitchenAid the dryer will not turn or will not start ### The fastest diagnosis is what you can hear Listen when you press start. A motor that hums with a still drum is usually a broken belt or a seized roller; complete silence is usually the door switch, the start switch or the supply. On an electric machine, remember it runs on a double-pole breaker — half of it tripping gives you a dryer that tumbles without heat or a machine that behaves very strangely indeed. ### Hum or silence Those two sounds split this page. A motor that hums has power and a control that is asking it to run, so what is left is mechanical: a belt, a roller, an idler, or a motor that cannot turn what it is attached to. Silence means nothing is being asked at all, which points at the door switch, the start switch or the supply. Thirty seconds of listening does most of the work. ### A simple appliance, honestly assessed A vented dryer is the least complicated major appliance in most homes, and that is good news on a machine this old. These are not current products — KitchenAid stopped selling them in the United States in the second half of the 2000s — so parts availability belongs in the conversation, and we will have it with you before any work begins rather than after. A broken belt The classic. The motor runs, the drum sits still, and the drum turns far too easily by hand. Usually a straightforward repair on these machines. Drum rollers or the idler pulley The squeal that went on for months before this happened. Worn rollers make a belt work harder until it gives up. The door switch No start at all, and no other symptom. The machine does not believe the door is shut, and it will not run until it does. The start switch On machines of this age it is a mechanical part that has been pressed some tens of thousands of times. Silence when it is pressed is the signature. A hum with a drum that will not turn even by hand, or a machine that trips its breaker when it tries. Last on this list rather than first. Turn the drum by hand With the machine off. Very free and light usually means a broken belt; stiff or gritty usually means rollers. That is a real diagnosis for no money. Listen for the motor A hum with no movement is different from complete silence, and the difference splits this page in half. Check the breaker properly On an electric dryer, switch the double-pole breaker fully off and back on rather than glancing at it. Half a breaker tripping produces very confusing behavior. Then book the visit Tell us what you hear when you press start, how the drum feels by hand, and whether it made a noise for a while before this happened. Motor hums, drum still What it usually means It hums and the drum does not move Nothing at all happens when you press start It squealed for months and then stopped The fastest diagnosis is what you can hear Listen when you press start. A motor that hums with a still drum is usually a broken belt or a seized roller; complete silence is usually the door switch, the start switch or the supply. On an electric machine, remember it runs on a double-pole breaker — half of it tripping gives you a dryer that tumbles without heat or a machine that behaves very strangely indeed. Hum or silence Those two sounds split this page. A motor that hums has power and a control that is asking it to run, so what is left is mechanical: a belt, a roller, an idler, or a motor that cannot turn what it is attached to. Silence means nothing is being asked at all, which points at the door switch, the start switch or the supply. Thirty seconds of listening does most of the work. A simple appliance, honestly assessed A vented dryer is the least complicated major appliance in most homes, and that is good news on a machine this old. These are not current products — KitchenAid stopped selling them in the United States in the second half of the 2000s — so parts availability belongs in the conversation, and we will have it with you before any work begins rather than after. ### It squealed for months. Did I cause this? Not exactly, but the squeal was the warning. Worn rollers make a belt work harder, and the belt eventually gives. Booking it while it is still squealing is a smaller job than booking it after — the parts are the same and there is usually less collateral wear to deal with. ### The drum turns by hand very easily. That is almost the definition of a broken belt. It is one of the more satisfying repairs on a vented dryer, and on machines of this age the parts are generally still available. ### It tumbles but there is no heat at all. On an electric machine, check the double-pole breaker first — one half feeds the motor and the other feeds the heat, so half a breaker tripping produces exactly that. If the breaker is sound, it is the heating page rather than this one. --- **[Read full article: The dryer will not turn or will not start](https://kitchenaidmiami.support/symptoms/dryer-will-not-spin/)**