Never leave your clothes dryer on when you go out or when you go to bed. We all know that, right? But, if you're like me, you've done it many times anyway. And have been lucky enough to get away with it.

About a month ago, I filled my 4 year old GE electric dryer and turned it on. I opened the dryer after I started it, then closed the door and re-started it, and left the laundry room. About 1/2 hour later, I went into the laundry room and was shocked at how hot it was - about 110 degrees! I put my hand on the top of the dryer and it was HOT! I called my darling husband, who is very handy and electrically savvy, to check it out. I did not turn the dryer off, as he needed to see exactly what I was seeing.

He turned the dryer off, did some trouble shooting, etc. and finally turned the dryer back on to finish the load and see if the problem re-occurred, all the while keeping a close eye on it.

He was baffled. Next day he went to a local appliance repair shop and explained what happened. The repair guy asked him if the dryer was set on automatic dry, and was it opened before the cycle ended. (I do that all the time.) He told my husband that he knew what the problem was, it happens a lot with electric dryers that have a FRONT lint catcher. It seems that as the dryer tumbles, the drum rotation sets up a vibration. Over time the vibration and tumbling action move the heating element closer to the drum. Sometimes the heating element touches part of the drum and welds itself to the drum. Then, if you open the dryer before the automatic dry cycle ends and then restart it, the dryer heats up abnormally. According to him, this will not cause the dryer to overheat to the point of starting a fire. It seems the partial weld will not get hot enough for that, plus there is a heat sensor that would cut off the electricity if it happened to get that hot.

It's a GE dryer. We called GE, and they sent a guy out to check it. He did a bunch of tests, none of which duplicated the situation we had, and declared the dryer was working properly. My husband tried to get him to try to replicate the conditions that caused the malfunction, and he would not.

My husband wanted to fix the dryer. I said that he could fix it, but I wasn't going to use it, and asked if he could guarantee me that it wouldn't happen again (he could not). I have worked in the software industry for 20 years, and have done my share of testing during those years. From that I learned that if there is one failure in a system, a second failure is very likely to occur - kind of the unintended consequence of the first failure. I told my husband that one failure in the heating element was enough for me, and what if the next failure is that heat sensor? He thought I was nuts, which I probably am, but I am truly afraid of a fire in my home. He saw my point of view.

The appliance repair guy told my husband that the problem occurs in dryers with the front lint catcher, but not in the ones with the lint filter in the top of the dryer. It's because of the way the drum and the heating element are placed. So we went out and bought a dryer with the lint dryer on the top. It isn't top of the line, which is fine with me, because over the years I've learned that I rarely use more than 2 cycles anyway. We did not purchase a GE because GE wouldn't acknowledge there was a problem.

My husband was a wee bit upset because it didn't match the washer, so I very sweetly asked him if he wanted to buy a new washer, too? He very emphatically said, "NO!"

Needless to say, I will NEVER again leave the dryer on when I go to bed or when I go out. It's too risky!

I don't leave the dryer or washer on when I go out or to bed for those very reasons. (Don't want water all over if the washer goes kerflooey.)

I am guilty of going to bed, but not of leaving. Guess I better change my ways...Thanks for the headsup. I wonder if it does this when you put it on time dry. That is usually the setting I use.

A couple of years ago I left my dryer running and went to work, 1/2 day. When I got home at noon, I could smell it as soon as I opened the front door. I thought it was on fire from the smell, but thank goodness it was just really hot. So I emptied and let it cool down. checked the lint trap, nothing, checked the exhaust, nothing. So being single and on a budget I start taking it apart (done this before to replace parts). There was a big ball of lint behind the drum the lint had made the elements get really hot, the top one was sagging touching the bottom one, they fused together. Long story short, only cost $20 to fix, but then I couldnt get the drum back in the dryer, LOL...thank goodness for men!

i would be very very careful with those dryers, the guy who said it is not a danger is WRONG! one of the number 1 causes of house fires is DRYERS! people turn them on, leave or go to bed, the dryer heats up, the built up lint is very combustable.
a dryer should NEVER be left running, and should be checked on. it is not always enough to just clean out the lint-trap, lint gets by them and can build up in the hose that takes the exhaust outside, when that gets plugged big fire danger! my hubby (who works in the propane industry) insists that the outside hose be taken apart and cleaned out once a month, the lint trap of course every load, and even if i'm just going to run to the corner store and back i have to shut it off before going out the door.

Years ago, I loaded the dishwasher, an under the bench type, and set it running, and went outside to do some gardening. I came back inside about 20 minutes later for a glass of water, and my kitchen was filled with acrid smoke! I quicky ran to the meter box on the house and shut off all the electricity so the house wasnt getting any at all, then ran back inside and got my hands on the fire extinguisher, but there was no fire thank goodness. I managed to get the dishwasher out from under the bench, and the power plug had melted, and welded itself to the powerpoint. To think if i had gone out and left it going horrifies me, I would have lost everything.

So, since then, I do not leave anything running at all, not even the heater or airconditioner when I go out, or when I go to bed. I even go as far as turning the taps off the washing mahine and turning all the switches off too, except the fridge of course.

This serves as a reminder to everyone what can happen. If cathyvv was not at home.....who kows what might have happened??

I took the back off of my dryer due to dog hair almost causing a fire when I had Collies. Smelled something burning and it was my dryer, called a repair guy, first thing he did was remove the back and ask for a vac cleaner to get the hair.
Now once a month I pull out the dryer and vac all dust, hair etc that was around the back, under it etc. Not taking any chances.

I learned to never leave any appliance running unless I'm at home........inside.........and awake. My dear Mother taught me that. I questioned whether that was really necessary until one day, I went to hang the clothes from the dryer (this was before signals), and the dryer cabinet was so hot to the touch it's a wonder it didn't melt! DH was at home that day, unplugged it, took it apart, and the cut off switch had failed to activate. Had we not noticed, it would have definitely caught on fire within the next few moments. So grateful that we were at home, and even more grateful for my Mom's advice!

I clean my dryer lint tube by reaching up and getting out the lint that has coated it. You'd be amazed how much collects. The dryer runs much better then.

I run the washer, dryer, dishwasher, you name it when I'm not home. Accidents can happen ANY time, that's why they are called accidents.
I left the house one day, came home to water running out the front door. Opened the door and there was a waterfall coming down the stairs. Entire downstairs, except for livingroom was flooded. What happened, you ask? The water hose to the toilet broke. There are/were drains in every room that has/had water running in it, but the water came out with such force that it knocked over the waste basket, everything came out and covered the drain so the water couldn't drain down. Took me and Courtney 4 hours of straight mopping and whatnot to clean up. Only lost 2 boxes of books, but even that wasn't bad...it could have been worse. It was an accident that could not have been stopped. Now, should I have turned the water off to all toilets at night and when I left the house? NOPE!! It was an ACCIDENT!! That's why there is insurance. I refuse to live in fear and that's what would happen if I were to run around and make sure everything was off and/or not running when I left the house or went to bed at night.

I never leave the washer or dryer running while I'm out or asleep, but I have started the dishwaser and then went to bed.
Years ago we had a washing machine that vibrated really bad, left it running while DH and I went outside and were greeted on our return with water running out the utility room (back) door! The drain hose had loosened and flooded the entire room with soapy water! At least the floor got a good cleaning! :wink:

Years ago, I went downstairs after hearing a loud KA-THUNK! DH was trying to get the sliding glass door back on track...we had to put it on twice. Then a neighbor stopped by to see our pond. WELLLLLL, all of a sudden I smelled something and KNEW I'd done it -- I'd left a frying pan on with grease!!! Burned my kitchen up. We had to leave for 2 weeks while repairs were being made. It was awful....NEVER want that to happen again! The good part was --- my 25 yr old kitchen got updated!!! :mrgreen:

I feel just like you. I do what I can to avoid accidents but they will happen. My drying seems to run all the time with 4 adults doing laundry.

I never believed that my dryer needed anything more than me cleaning off the slip-in thin mesh on the top of the dryer. And of course it has an outside vent with a flapping cover that opens and closes with the heated air outflow.

Then one day I got a long brush to go under the fridge (gads, the amount of cat hair there scared me) and as for the dryer, it gave up enough to fill a good sized cushion if I'd wanted to make it.

Clean them out often, put it on your calendar. It may save money, it may save your house, it may save your life. It may save the lives of your family, all of whom are irreplaceable.

That is something my Mom never did and made sure it was pounded into me and my sister's head. And making sure the lint filter was cleaned after every use. Several years ago, my sister found out thru her neighbor just how dangerous leaving a drying running unatteded could be.

Her neighbor's wife and 3 children left to go shopping or something like that. Her DH worked nights and was sleeping. She was using the dryer and left it running. Not long after they left, the dryer caught on fire. My sister was home, smelled the smoke and saw the neighbor's house on fire. She beat on the door til she woke up her neighbor. He was sound asleep and in danger of dying from being overcome by smoke. Their home was a total loss. (They lived out in the country.) But no lives were lost.

I WILL NEVER take a chance with leaving a dryer running. It just isn't worth the risk.

I must say I am guilty of leaving my dryer and washer on when I go to work. I know neither of those are good things.

I had a similar experience as Cathy. I had a dryer that would get very hot and it smelled like a mouse or something crawled up in it and died then was heating up when the dryer was on. My husband looked at it several times and couldn't find anything. Finally I said I know there is something inside this thing. He pulled it out from the wall and looked at everything still nothing. Then by accident he put his hand on the plug of the cord while it was plugged in. It was hot as a firecracker. He replaced the plug on the cord and thought all was well. A few loads later it did the same thing. So off to Lowes we went.

Being the sweetie that he is we got both a washer and dryer with quite a few more bells and whistles than what I had. The new ones were delivered and all was well again. Well, not really. About 2 dryer loads later, the same smell. It was not the dryer at all it was actually something in the electrical outlet in the wall itself. Oh the old washer and dryer, they were already on their way to the dump.

A neighbor put her stove in the cleaning mode left the house and it completely burned out the interior of her house. I really think she wasn't thinking because they go up to almost 600° and you have to be so careful with the spills inside before you start it.

I actually feel the same way about water-using appliances, and had a similar incident that happened to happen while I was eating lunch in our kitchen. The hose to the faucet broke. I got the water off in less than 2 minutes, but it was already flowing out onto the kitchen floor. If it had happened while I was downstairs working, I wouldn't have known about it until it started dripping through the ceiling.

However, it's extremely unlikely that me or my family will die from a broken water pipe, hose, etc. Fire, on the other hand, can be a silent thief; the smoke alone can kill you. So we have smoke detectors, close our bedroom doors at night and don't leave appliances running when we're not home or when we're going to bed. Small, absolutely free, precautions.

However, since the kitchen hose incident, we turn the water off in the house when we go on vacation. It only takes a few minutes, doesn't hurt anything and could save us a world of trouble. I admit that could be considered extreme, but, like I said, it doesn't cost anything, so why not?

My husband is an insurance agent and he said you'd be surprised about the number of home fires that started in a clothes dryer. I clean the filter every load and never leave the house with it running. I do run it when I go to bed. Now the dishwasher - never thought about that catching fire. I'll be running that only when I'm home now, too.