Typical malfunctions: repair with your own hands
Let’s look at the most common malfunctions of a hair dryer:
Blows cold air
Possible malfunctions: the coil is burned out
You can usually see the breakage with the naked eye, even without a multimeter. There are several ways to repair the coil:
- You can place the torn ends of the coil in a thin brass or copper tube and crimp with pliers.
- The coil is held on a framework of heat-resistant, non-conductive plates. In such a plate should be carefully with a sharp object to make a circular hole with a diameter of about 2-3 mm, insert a short bolt with a washer there, tucked under the washer torn ends of the coil and tighten.
- Throw one torn end over the other.
- If the ends are broken they can be simply twisted together. Note that the third and fourth methods are less reliable than the first two. The point is that when you connect the broken ends by casting and twisting the repaired section of the coil has an increased resistance and therefore overheats and soon enough burns out in the same place.
- Disassemble the donor hair dryer (of course, if you have one) and take it from there.
- (not for everyone): you can wind the coil yourself. Where to get the nichrome? For example, to order in China.
- You can buy a prefabricated coil. To find the right one, type in the search bar of your browser. The coils come in different wattages and are sold in packs of several.
To see examples of coil repair, see these
Viconte VC-372 hair dryer repair (coil burned out)
Where to Buy Nichrome
Does not turn on, t. е. The fan doesn’t heat up and doesn’t spin
Possible malfunctions: no voltage, i.e. problem with the power cable
First carefully look through the cable from the power plug to the housing: there are no obvious damages. If there is, remove the damaged section and solder the cable ends. Perhaps all of these faults and the hair dryer will work. There is an example of cable repair in the above How to Disassemble and Repair a Scarlet Hair Dryer.
Impeller does not spin or spins at low speed
Possible malfunctions: the motor is defective or the shaft is wound with hair.
HOW TO FIX HAIR DRYER NO POWER
If you have hair wrapped around the motor shaft, you will have to remove the impeller to remove it. You will also need to remove the impeller if you are going to lubricate the motor shaft or replace it. You can see how to do this in these two
Removing the impeller from the hair dryer
How to Remove the Fan from a Hair Dryer Motor
Also in some cases you can grasp the base of the impeller with your fingers and, pulling, remove it.
As for checking the electric motor, the author believes that the best way. in terms of safety. is to remove the motor and connect it to a suitable power supply with short-circuit protection. If the motor does not rotate, you need to check the continuity of the windings with a multimeter. If the winding breaks you have to buy a new motor (although you can rewind the old one, but that probably only makes sense as a bit of fun). If the motor sparks strongly, you will also need to buy a new one. Wiping with alcohol in this case, if it helps, will not last long. One option where you can get a new motor: order from China (search for ).
Ionizing air dryers and infrared machines
Hair dryers with ionization. when you turn on this mode. release a lot of negative ions, neutralizing the positive charge on the hair, making them smooth and not dry out. To create negative ions a special module placed in the handle of the hair dryer is used. The wire coming out of this module is located in the heater area. The air is ionized by contact with this conductor.
Diagnose failure of the ionization module without special tools can be by indirect signs. If you can’t feel any difference when the ionization module is turned on and off. and you’ve verified that the module is receiving normal power. then the module is defective. Next you need to find the module for the right voltage and suitable size. Again, look for it in China.
Photo gallery: example view of ionization modules
Module 1: the size and purpose of the terminals
Module 2: Dimensions and pin assignment
Infrared hair dryers do not dry hair with hot air, but with infrared radiation. They are quite expensive, belong to the category of professional and dry hair much faster than conventional dryers. Instead of a nichrome coil, they use an infrared heating element (like in infrared heaters). Otherwise, their design is similar to that of an ordinary hair dryer.
How to Disassemble a Hair Dryer
Now the tools are prepared, the desire to repair the device is not lost, but how to disassemble this device without damaging the fragile plastic?
HOW TO FIX HAIR DRYERS / BLOW DRYERS, RESET AND REPAIR GUIDE
But to disassemble the case can be a problem, because the manufacturer is confident in the reliable operation of his device and did not care about the rapid and safe disassembly of his device.
The body can be held in place simply by latches. And if you know where they are located, you just have to squeeze them to open the patient.
The external parts of the case can also be connected with screws. But not regular ones, but non-standard ones, which can have several types of contact facets on the head:
There may be only one screw, covered with a decorative sticker, and then the two parts of the housing connect with latches.
It is necessary to be very attentive and careful not to break off latches accidentally. And it is very easy to do. It is enough not to notice hidden under a sticker or a decorative plug, a self-tapping screw or a screw.
There are also hair dryers, which have a handle that rotates in several positions. Here you need to be very careful and remember the order of disassembly of all elements. Otherwise you can not reassemble it.
When all the screws are unscrewed and the latches are released both halves of the device are in your hands. Now you can start treating the patient.
How the machine works
Any hair dryer has a motor with an impeller and a heater. The impeller sucks in air from one side of the hair dryer, then it blows on the heater and comes out already hot on the other side. Also the hair dryer has a switch and elements to protect the heater from overheating.
impeller; 2. electric motor; 3. heater; 4. thermal protection; 5. mode switch; 6. power cord
Household hair dryers fan assembled on a DC collector motor, designed for a voltage of 12, 18, 24 or 36 volts (sometimes there are motors running on AC 220 volts). A separate coil is used for powering the electric motor. DC voltage is obtained from the diode bridge, mounted on the terminals of the electric motor.
The hair dryer heater is a frame made of non-flammable and non-conductive plates, on which a nichrome coil is wound. The coil is made up of several sections, depending on how many times you want your hair dryer to run.
The coil is wound on a heat-resistant frame
The hot heater must be permanently cooled by a flow of air. If the coil overheats, it can burn out or cause a fire. Therefore, the hair dryer is designed to turn off automatically if it gets too hot. It uses a thermostat. It is a pair of normally closed contacts on a bimetal plate. The thermostat is located on the heater closer to the outlet of the dryer and is constantly being blown around by the hot air. If the air temperature exceeds the allowed temperature, the bimetal plate opens the contacts and the heating stops. After several minutes the thermostat cools down and closes the circuit again.
Sometimes a thermal fuse is also used as additional protection. It is disposable and burns out when it exceeds a certain temperature, after which it must be replaced.
Construction of the hair dryer
Before we tell you how to do hair dryer repair, we will describe its design. Modern hair dryers from the company Rowenta (Rowenta) and other manufacturers, inside consist of the following elements:
- electric motor;
- fan;
- spiral (heating element);
- control panel (speed switches and switches);
- cable for connecting it to the mains through a socket.
As you can judge from the above list of elements, the device has a very simple design, so that you can disassemble your machine and make repairs with your hands is not difficult.
From the tools you will need the following things. multimeter, screwdriver, flat or Phillips (depending on the design) and a small soldering iron.
Possible malfunctions
Because of its simple principle of operation, the following breakdowns of a household hair dryer most often occur:
- No power at all (the device does not turn on)
- The fan does not spin or the blades do not gain speed;
- During operation you can hear the smell of burning or something sparks in the motor area;
- The hair dryer does not blow hot air (only cold air).
No power. check the circuit
The first thing if the hair dryer does not turn on, you need to check the power in the socket and the integrity of the electrical cord. To do this you can use an indicator screwdriver or a special tester. multimeter. About, and. we told in the relevant articles.
If there is power in the socket, but the hair dryer does not work, for repair, carefully review the appearance of the cord: it may be somewhere frayed, frayed or cut. The most problematic places of the cord are considered the point of entry into the body of the device, as well as the connection point with the electrical plug. If you can not find any obvious cause of the damage, proceed to disassemble the housing. To disassemble the body of the hair dryer with your own hands is not difficult, the main thing. to find all the fasteners and unscrew them (they can be hidden behind stickers, rubber plugs, etc.).д.).
When you get to the internal structure (pictured above), the first thing to do is to look at the connection of the electrical cord to the rest of the circuit. Very often the motor does not start because a wire falls off at the bonding. If that is the case in your case, the repair can be completed by simple soldering or stranding.
The cord is working, but the hair dryer still does not work? Continue the repair and check the rest of the circuit. If you have a diagram of your model, use a tester to test the other elements: the fuse, the circuit breaker and the mode switch. It is not uncommon when a household appliance overheats and shuts down because the fuse has blown. It must be replaced with the exact same one with the same characteristics.
By the way, it happens the opposite situation. after turning on and drying your hair, the hair dryer does not turn off. It is also the fault of the switch itself!
Another type of defect. the on/off button does not work. We already told you about. Repair in this case is similar. check the break contacts with a tester, polish them to a metallic color and if you can not repair the breakage with your own hands, replace the switch. Similarly, check the switch and mode, if the hair dryer does not switch speed or does not regulate the temperature (for example, does not work at 2 speed), try to repair the controller or perform a simple replacement.
The fan does not spin. clean it
Another type of failure. problems with the fan, which does not accelerate. If the hair dryer does not work because the fan does not spin, disassemble the housing and look at how clean the blades are. Sometimes the fan does not pick up speed, because there is a hair on it. To repair you only need to perform cleaning. remove the blades from the shaft, remove all debris and re-install the fan in its seat.
You can see the repair process in more detail in the instruction video below. Some models of equipment have filters, which also need to be cleaned.
By the way, if when you turn on the fan it smells sooty, it is likely that the hair dryer stinks due to heavy dirt. Very often a thorough cleaning helps to solve the problem yourself at home with minimal !
The air is not heated. look at the coil
Another no less popular malfunction is the burnout of the coil, which is the main heating element. If your fan does not heat or heats air weakly, get to the coil, ring it with a tester and make a visual inspection. A damaged heating element can try to be repaired, but most often after repair (for example, connecting the nichrome filament) passes a few months and the hair dryer breaks down again. It is better to replace the coil with a new one, so that in the future the failure did not occur.
Problems with the electric motor
Well and last, the most unpleasant breakage. when the hair dryer does not work because the burned motor. In this case, when repairing you can only use the tester to make sure that it is the engine that is faulty. In addition to this signs of failure can be considered a smell of burning and sparks in the fan area. You are unlikely to succeed in repairing the device yourself, so it is better to either replace the motor, or take the device to the service center.
That’s all I wanted to tell you about what to do if the hair dryer does not work and how to repair it with your own hands if the fan, switch or motor is broken. We hope that the instruction provided was useful and interesting for you. By the way, the industrial model (construction) can be repaired by the same instruction in pictures. In essence, a construction hair dryer is similar in design, only more protected externally and has more powerful parts inside!
Hair dryer, like any household appliance, tends to go out of order, in this article we will tell you how to make repairs hair dryer with their own hands, without carrying it to the service, where you take a lot of money.
Before we tell you how to do hair dryer repair. we will describe its construction. Modern hair dryers from Rowenta (Rowenta) and other manufacturers, inside consist of the following elements:
- electric motor;
- fan;
- Spiral (heating element);
- control panel (speed switches and switches);
- cable for connecting to the network through the socket.
As you can judge from the above list of elements, the device has a very simple design, so that you yourself disassemble your unit and make hair dryer repair with your own hands will not be difficult.
Of tools you will need the following things. multimeter, screwdriver flat or Phillips (depending on design) and a small soldering iron.
About the causes of overheating of the hair dryer
Let’s start with the fact that regular disconnection of a technical device in the work process is a normal phenomenon. It means that the protection is triggered.
Worse, when the hair dryer heats up, and then melts: as a result, a short circuit may occur in the network, which can cause harm to its owner. This is no good. Consider different situations.
The breakdown may be caused by a technical defect on the part of the manufacturer. However, this situation occurs very rarely.
Most often it is overheating of household working hair dryer, caused by weak airflow. This situation should be detailed:
- Probably, the household appliance behaves so from the moment of purchase;
- Or the household appliance initially worked steadily, and after some time began to warm up and spontaneously shut down.
To any of the above causes, it is possible to “find a key”.
Reduced outgoing air flow: the blades of the hair dryer are working at the set mode, and less air is coming in. The cause could be a clogged filter grid or a dirty filter element itself. The problem can be solved in 10-15 minutes. It is necessary to clean the hair dryer, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Another possible problem: clogging of the household appliance with small foreign objects and/or hair. There is an additional load on the blades, they either can not cope, or cope with more tension (spin slower). What to do? In this case you should not disassemble the device and try to engage in independent “technical treatment”. Have the problem repaired by one of our service specialists.
The most confusing situation with the stuffing of the household appliance, with which only masters can cope.
The hair dryer can overheat and turn off when it does not have enough power. If the power unit of the device is low-powered, and you dry long hair, the drying procedure takes a long time. The motor does not fuse, working constantly in an amplified mode.
A few words about possible malfunctions
Knowing the problem will significantly reduce the repair time of the household appliance. The most typical malfunctions are:
- No power: the technical model does not turn on;
- The fan has stopped or its blades are not working at full power;
- A characteristic smell of burning is heard when the appliance is running;
- The appearance of a spark is a clear sign of problems with the power unit;
- the hot air supply has been cut off. There is only the output of cold air.
Based on the knowledge of the device of modern models, and possible causes of failure, let’s consider different options and try to solve this or that problem.
What To Do If Your Blow Dryer Won’t Start! ~~~Nancy
To perform the repair of the hair dryer with our own hands we need a certain set of tools: multimeter, screwdriver and soldering iron.
Hair dryer set and device
The modern model of the equipment can be equipped with:
- With an electric power unit.
- A glow plug.
- A fan for cold and/or hot air (which requires cold air).
- A speed shift element.
- The electric cord.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated, so even at home it is not difficult to cope with most of the problems of a non-working household appliance.
The hair dryer overheated and does not turn on because of what?
The main and most common cause of overheating is that the airflow is too weak. A powerful hair dryer transmits all of the excess heat from the heating element to the air, so it does not overheat itself.
Such situations can be divided into two groups:
The second is more frustrating. But more often than not, it can be solved.
Why does a good hair dryer start to overheat to begin with??
At a glance, there are three possible causes.
- The most simple and easy to solve clogged filter or filter grid. Accordingly, the airflow at the inlet has decreased, the blades spin with the same power, but they lack air. Please forgive me, this is solved by simple cleaning, which you can do yourself in fifteen minutes. See here for detailed instructions on how to clean your hair dryer.
- Medium difficulty, but rather rare Small objects or hair clogged blades. Now they’re spinning slower on their own. It’s rare because the filter is there for a reason. Do I have to go into the interior of the hair dryer myself to check it?? Oh, I don’t know. It’s probably better to take the hair dryer to the service center.
- Difficult Something in the technical filling of the hair dryer has gone wrong. Here, of course, only the service center, if you’re not a self-made man. But most likely the problem is solvable.
So you don’t have to worry. Just quietly clean your hair dryer and see if the situation improves. Usually correctable. If it doesn’t fix it, take it to a service center.
Why does a hair dryer quickly overheat when it is running to begin with??
What to do. You seem to have chosen the wrong hair dryer. I mean, it’s possible that it’s a defect in a particular product. That is, the model itself is excellent, but this time there was some kind of failure. Ask for warranty service, it is possible that the problem will be fixed.
But usually, of course, it’s not the fault. It’s just the hair dryer. What’s wrong with it??
- Your hair dryer is underpowered. In a special article we explained why power is so important for a hair dryer. Yes thick and long hair with a weak hair dryer can dry for half an hour, in several stages and with pauses to cool the hair dryer. It’s a painful and unpleasant thing to do. Well, don’t be sad. It was an investment in experience now you know you need a more powerful hair dryer, and you won’t make that mistake again next time.
- Bad choice of hair dryer materials. It is also possible. That’s not a good indication of the manufacturer of the hair dryer. But the truth is, when information about why powerful hair dryers are better, became quite common, some manufacturers began to cheat, screwing in a nominally powerful motor and indicating the impressive figures on the packaging. All other parts of the hair dryer, however, remained the same poor quality All in all, too, of course, an investment in experience.
Okay, I see. But what do you do with such a hair dryer now?? You can somehow make it good?
Sadly, you are better off selling such a hair dryer on Avito, specifically pointing out that the hair dryer works, but it was just not powerful enough for your hair. You will not get the full price, but you can add money and buy a professional Mustang hair dryer, with which you don’t have to worry about overheating.
I mean, of course, any hair dryer can be overheated. If you want. But to overheat the MBF-1, you’ll have to do a lot of hard work. It handles even the most voluminous hairstyles playfully:
Why it doesn’t work
Only an expert can determine the exact reason your hair dryer stopped working. But it is quite real to make the first assumptions on the characteristic indirect signs. There are only a few basic breakdowns, but there are many more reasons why they occur. Let’s try to figure them out.
Your hair dryer won’t turn on
If the device has just worked normally, but suddenly turned off and turn it back on does not work, and the body hair dryer hot. most likely, triggered the thermal fuse. This is a kind of watchdog to prevent the appliance from overheating too much. Wait a while and when the body is completely cooled down try to turn it on again. If it’s working. everything’s fine.
When such shutoffs occur too often or after 3-5 minutes after you start using the hair dryer. it is better to take the device to the service, to check there to fix the thermostat. It may be damaged or its service life has expired, and the element needs to be replaced. It costs less and is done directly to you. But if it does not perform. the thermostat can fail, and the hair dryer just burns out.
Second common cause is a problem with the cord or plug. They are especially common in models that do not have an element for free rotation of the cord around its axis.
From the constant twisting of the wire is damaged: first the creases are created, not visible under the insulating vinyl sheath, and then it breaks, and the current does not come into the device. Replacing the cord can also be quick and relatively inexpensive.
Can not turn on the hair dryer, and because the switch simply broke. If it is mechanical, then this breakage is usually noticeable at once. the button falls or the lever can not move your finger. Functionality of the sensor by eye is not possible to determine. the hair dryer will have to take “to the reception” to a specialist.
The air is cold
If suddenly the hair dryer stopped blowing hot air, then there is a high probability that the heating element is broken, or, as they say popularly, “burned out coil. Usually such a breakdown occurs when the thermostat fails or, when there is no thermostat, when the hair dryer is operated too long at maximum mode.
But there is another common cause. if the filter screen located in the back of the device is clogged and the air does not circulate normally, warming up the hair dryer from the inside.
In this case there is only one way of resuscitation. the replacement of the heating element. But the problem is that the price can be different, because sometimes the burnout of the coil is accompanied by a short circuit, in which almost all the internal “stuffing” of the device suffers, and often its case. This is exactly the case when a repair may not be justified.
Fan does not rotate
A very common problem. The device turns on, the heating occurs, but there is no air movement. In this case it must be switched off at once until it overheats and melting of internal elements takes place. It’s easy to inspect the fan at home by yourself. It may not even need repair, but is simply contaminated.
- Carefully remove the back cover of the hair dryer (sometimes it is secured with one or two screws);
- Remove the grid-filter, clean it from dust and dirt (and better to wash well in a soapy solution);
- Carefully inspect the impeller of the fan. perhaps there are hairs wound on it, which do not allow it to rotate;
- If necessary, carefully and thoroughly clean the fan blades;
- Replace the dried grid and fasten the back cover.
Now you can try to turn on the device again. If everything is done correctly and the cause is contamination. it will work fine. Otherwise it will have to take it to a technician.
Broken motor
If after all home reanimation measures the hair dryer did not work. most likely the problem is in the electric motor. This is the most expensive and complicated version of failure. Indirectly it is often indicated by the fact that the hair dryer stopped working suddenly during the drying process and began to smell bad. Even worse is when the hair dryer suddenly starts to smoke or sprinkle.
All that remains to be done in this case. immediately disconnect it from the network, let it cool down completely, pack it up and take it to the service center. Ask to first make a diagnosis and estimate the approximate cost of repair.
Most likely, the master himself will recommend that you throw out the old hair dryer and buy a new one. All the more so, that now you can find quite decent models at a very reasonable price.
