Tumble dryer drum not turning
A motor you can hear running with a drum that stays still points at one part, and it is usually the cheapest thing inside the machine.
What it usually means
The drum of a tumble dryer is not driven directly. One motor does two jobs: it spins a fan to move the air, and it turns a long thin belt that wraps right round the outside of the drum and is held tight by a spring-loaded jockey pulley. That arrangement is the reason this fault has such a distinctive signature, and why the diagnosis usually takes about four seconds.
If you can hear the motor running normally while the drum sits still, the belt has snapped or come off its pulley. It is a low-cost part, it is the commonest mechanical failure in the category, and the machine is otherwise fine. The tell-tale is the sound: no rumble of a turning drum, no thud of clothes falling, just a fan.
If nothing runs at all, work backwards down the chain that gives the motor permission. The door has to be properly latched — every dryer has a switch in the catch, and Samsung note that a machine reporting an open door often has a catch that looks shut and is not. The programme has to be selected and started, and on many machines the water container has to be in place and empty. Some machines will also not restart until an earlier code has been dealt with.
If the motor hums and strains without turning, something is mechanically stopping it. A garment can work its way over the lip of the drum and jam between drum and casing, and a coin or a bra wire in the fan housing does the same to the fan. Both feel identical from outside: heavy, unwilling and hot after a minute. That heat matters, because a motor stalled against an obstruction is a motor drawing its full current and getting nowhere with it, which is what its thermal overload exists to interrupt.
And if the drum turns by hand with a grinding or scraping noise rather than freely, the fault is in the bearings, jockey or rear felt seal rather than the drive. That is a bigger job, and on a machine over about eight years old it is the point where the repair and the replacement start to cost the same.
How to narrow it down
Work through these in order.
Can you hear the motor running?
Start the machine empty with the door shut and listen carefully for ten seconds. A steady whirr with a completely still drum means the belt has gone, and that is both the most likely answer and the cheapest one. Complete silence means the motor is not being asked to run at all, which is a different chain of causes.
Does the drum turn freely by hand?
Open the door and turn it. Free and quiet, with the motor audible, confirms the belt. Stiff, catching or gritty points at the bearings or the rear seal. Solidly jammed usually means something has escaped the drum and wedged behind it, and it is worth looking round the inside lip with a torch before anything else.
Is the door properly latched?
Push it firmly until it clicks rather than swinging it. The catch holds a switch that gives the whole machine permission to start, and a slightly proud door, a worn catch or a lint build-up in the recess will stop everything with no code and no clue. It is the first thing to rule out when nothing at all happens.
Is the water container in and empty?
On condenser and heat pump machines a full or missing container stops the cycle, usually with a light or a code rather than an explanation. Empty it, seat it firmly, and check the drain hose if the machine is plumbed instead — a machine that thinks it has nowhere to put the water will not run for long.
Does it start and then stop after a few seconds?
That points at a motor overload cutting out, which happens either because something is jamming the drum or fan, or because the motor itself is failing. Both are worth stopping for rather than repeatedly restarting: each restart against a jam puts the motor through its worst possible operating condition.
Was the machine overloaded?
A drum packed tight cannot tumble, and some machines detect that and refuse rather than trying. Bosch publish a loading test worth borrowing: the load should reach no more than about two-thirds of the drum, with room for clothes to fall. Half-empty it and try again before assuming anything has broken.
Is there a smell of hot rubber or burning?
Unplug it and stop there. A belt slipping against a stationary pulley, or a motor stalled against an obstruction, gets hot enough to smell, and this is the category where heat, a heating element and dry lint in one cabinet is the specific hazard. It needs looking at rather than another attempt.
Codes commonly shown with this
- E50AEGAEG’s support site calls this a motor or software fault and sends you to an engineer. AEG’s own manual says it is usually just too much washing in the drum.Get it checked
- E40AEGThe machine cannot confirm the door is properly shut, so it will not start. Usually the door, sometimes the seal, occasionally the latch itself.Usually simple to fix
- dCSamsungThe dryer thinks the door is open. Samsung name a cause most people would never guess: the child lock can produce this on a machine that is not even running.Usually simple to fix
- 3CSamsungThe inverter motor that turns the drum is not doing what the board asked. Samsung want one restart before you conclude anything.Get it checked
- F7CandyThe motor has faulted, and Candy narrow it usefully: the driver board has either overloaded or overheated.Get it checked
- LE1LGThe motor stopped suddenly. LG give one owner check before their usual instruction, and it is worth doing because it is free.Get it checked
When it is urgent
Take care
What it costs
Typical repair cost
£0–£240
Typical UK prices including parts and labour, updated September 2026. Your quote may differ.
Get an engineer to look at this
We do not pass enquiries to a repair firm, so there is no form here. When you book a qualified appliance engineer, tell them the make, the model and the exact code or message on the display, and ask whether they carry parts for this make — that is what turns one visit into a repair rather than a quote.
Technical review
Not reviewed by an engineer
No engineer has read this page. Severity follows what the manufacturer publishes, and we would rather tell you that than let a byline imply a sign-off.