Samsung dryers are excellent quality, workhorse appliances that can serve your home well for years. Occasionally, you may have problems with the dryer and struggle to fix it. One of the more common issues is the cooling light comes on and stays on.
If your Samsung dryer cooling light stays on, the cause can be anything from a simple clogged filter or vent to a more technical bad coil or thermostat. Occasionally, the dryer gets stuck in this mode and needs to be reset. Sometimes, the cause is a combination of more than one of these causes.
In this article, I’ll help you troubleshoot the issue with your dryer to isolate the cause and provide the necessary fix. I’ll also advise when it is best to consult a service professional.
Samsung Dryer Cooling Light Stays On No Heat
Samsung dryer owners swear by their appliance because it is reliable and hardworking. They rarely have issues, but when they do, it can be confusing because modern dryers aren’t just mechanical but are basically computer-driven.
When the cooling light is on, but the dryer is heating, this could indicate a problem with the display panel. The dryer needs to be reset. If that doesn’t resolve the cooling light, this could mean a faulty thermostat.
On the other hand, when the cooling light is on and the dryer isn’t heating, more potential issues must be addressed to isolate the cause. Here are the five most common causes and solutions.
1. The Lint Filter Is Clogged
You’d be surprised how often a clogged lint filter creates problems with your dryer!
A clogged lint filter prevents air from flowing out of the dryer freely, which can cause the appliance to heat up internally. This trips the thermostat to tell the dryer that the temperature is too high and turns the heating element off.
This may sound annoying, but it’s actually a good feature. If the heating element didn’t trip off at that high temperature, it could melt critical components in your dryer or even cause a fire. It is a great safety feature in modern dryers.
How to Fix
If your dryer has the cooling light on and isn’t heating, check the lint filter first and clean it thoroughly. You may have to do this more than once if lint has built up behind the filter. Follow the steps below to do this:
Open up the main dryer door. You should see the filter box located just inside the door to the right.
Pull up the lint draw to remove it.
Remove most of the debris with your hands. You can remove any stubborn dirt or fluff with a vacuum cleaner.
Replace the filter box.
2. The Dryer Vent May Be Clogged
Similar to the lint filter issue, your dryer vent might be causing the cooling light to stay on without heat. Often, a dryer vent becomes clogged due to a lint filter not getting cleaned for an extended time.
What happens is that lint that usually collects in the filter builds up in the dryer vent, causing a reduction in airflow from the dryer. Again, the dryer can heat up quickly, which causes the thermostat to tell the dryer to turn off the heating element.
How to Fix
To fix this, you must remove any lint buildup from the vent and the vent tube. Sometimes, it is possible to get some of it by hand, but a more effective method is to use an extended-reach tool to get farther into the dryer vent.
The tool I use is inexpensive and very effective. It is the Sealegend 2 Piece Dryer Vent Cleaner Kit (available on Amazon.com). This product removes lint from the vent, making your life much easier. It has over 19,000 ratings and 4.3 stars on average, so it is tried and tested.
Any dryer vent cleaning kit will help, but select one that reaches at least 6 inches into the vent. This will allow access to any clogs that aren’t visible.
3. The Dryer May Be Stuck in a Mode or Cycle
Sometimes, when the dryer cooling light comes on, the dryer stays stuck in that mode even after you have resolved the underlying issue. Sometimes, this means the dryer begins heating again, but occasionally, it will not.
How to Fix
When this happens, or if you think there’s a chance you have resolved the underlying issue but the error hasn’t cleared out, simply reset the dryer.
Resetting the dryer is simple. Just remove the dryer from the power source and give it 30 minutes or so before plugging it back in.
It is worth resetting the dryer after each attempted fix. If the error is still present when the dryer comes back online, you will definitely know that the attempted fix did not do the trick, and you can move on to another solution.
If you have attempted the first three fixes, the heating coil may not work. If this is the case, there is no workaround or way to fix it other than to replace the heating coil.
How to Fix
A heating element is easy to replace if you’re even slightly handy. If you’re not game for trying, an appliance repair shop can send a technician to your home for the replacement.
Here is a YouTube video to walk you through the process of replacing the heating element:
5. The Thermostat May Be Bad
If you have done all the above, including replacing the heating element, the heating element is okay, but the thermostat might be bad. Just like the heating element, there is no workaround or simple solution other than to replace it with a new thermostat.
How to Fix
Replacing a thermostat in a Samsung dryer is simple, but if you aren’t comfortable trying, it is best to reach out to an appliance repair shop to replace it. If you are willing to try replacing it yourself, here is a YouTube video to walk you through the steps:
Summary
Samsung dryers are popular for a good reason. They are durable, reliable, and relatively problem-free. For such an excellent appliance, they are still relatively simple to troubleshoot, and in no time, you should be able to pinpoint the cause and implement a solution.
