You've got a pile of wet towels. You toss them in, turn the dial, and... nothing. Total silence. It's frustrating because Hotpoint machines are usually the workhorses of the British and American laundry room. They just work. Until they don't. When your hotpoint dryer won't start, your brain immediately jumps to the worst-case scenario. You're thinking about a £400 replacement or a week-long wait for a repairman who charges just to look at the thing.
Stop. Breathe.
Most of the time, the reason a Hotpoint dryer refuses to kick over is actually something boring. It’s often a safety feature doing exactly what it was designed to do. Or maybe a tiny plastic component gave up the ghost. Before you start shopping for a new appliance, we need to talk about what's actually happening under that white metal casing.
The Door Switch: The Most Common Culprit
Honestly, start here. The door switch is a tiny, unassuming bit of plastic, but it’s the gatekeeper of the whole operation. If the dryer thinks the door is open, it won’t spin. It’s a safety thing—nobody wants a tumble dryer spinning with the door wide.
Check the peg on the door first. Is it snapped? If that little plastic tongue is gone, it can’t depress the switch. Even if the peg is fine, the switch itself might have failed internally. You can usually hear a distinct "click" when you press it with your finger. No click? That's your smoking gun. According to repair data from platforms like iFixit, door switch failure accounts for a massive chunk of "no-start" complaints in older Hotpoint Aquarius models.
Sometimes it’s not even broken. It’s just gunked up. Lint is the enemy of all things mechanical. A buildup of fluff around the latch can prevent the door from sealing tight enough to engage the sensor. Give it a good wipe. You’d be surprised how often a damp cloth fixes a "broken" appliance.
Did the Thermal Fuse Pop?
This is the big one. If your hotpoint dryer won't start and the drum feels completely dead, the thermal fuse is the likely villain. Think of it like a sacrificial lamb. If the dryer gets too hot—usually because the vent is clogged with lint—the fuse blows to prevent a house fire.
Once it blows, it’s done. There is no "resetting" a thermal fuse; it’s a one-way trip. You’ll need a multimeter to test it for continuity. If you touch the probes to the fuse terminals and the meter doesn’t beep or show nearly zero ohms, the circuit is broken.
Why did it blow, though? That’s the real question. Replacing the fuse without cleaning your vent ducting is just asking for it to happen again in twenty minutes. It’s like putting a new bandage on a wound without cleaning out the dirt. Check that silver corrugated pipe behind the machine. If it's heavy or feels full of sand, that’s years of compacted lint. It’s a fire hazard, frankly.
The Start Switch and Timer Troubles
Sometimes the button itself is the problem. You press "Start," and it feels mushy. Or it feels fine, but nothing happens. On older Hotpoint models with manual dials, the timer assembly is a complex beast of gears and electrical contacts. If one of those contacts burns out, the "start" signal never reaches the motor.
It's sorta like a car ignition. If the key doesn't send the signal, the engine won't crank.
You can test the start switch with that same multimeter. If you press the button and the circuit doesn't close, the switch is dead. However, if you’re using a modern Hotpoint with a digital display and you see flashing lights or an error code like "F01" or "F05," the problem is likely the electronic control board. That’s a tougher pill to swallow because those boards aren't cheap.
The Drive Belt Snapped
Wait, does the motor hum?
This is a crucial distinction. If you press start and you hear a low hummmmmm but the drum doesn't move, your motor is trying its best, but it's not connected to anything. Or, more likely, the drum is jammed.
Hotpoint dryers use a long rubber belt that wraps around the entire drum. Over years of heat cycles, that rubber gets brittle. It cracks. Eventually, it snaps. When the belt breaks, many modern Hotpoints have a "broken belt switch" near the idler pulley that cuts power to the motor entirely as a precaution.
You can check this easily. Reach into the dryer and try to spin the drum by hand. If it spins incredibly easily—like it’s floating on air—the belt is definitely broken. There should be some resistance. Replacing a belt is a bit of a "skin your knuckles" type of job, but it’s a £15 part versus a £300 machine.
A Quick Reality Check on Motors
Motors rarely just "die" silently. Usually, they scream first. If your dryer was making a screeching sound like a banshee for weeks before it finally stopped starting, the bearings probably seized. If the motor is genuinely burnt out, you’ll often smell something like toasted electronics or melting plastic.
Power Issues: The "Duh" Moment
We have to say it. Is it plugged in?
Don't be insulted. Professional technicians have thousands of stories about driving an hour to a customer’s house just to push a plug back into a socket. Sometimes the vibration of the dryer itself can wiggle a loose plug out of the wall.
Also, check your breaker box. Dryers pull a lot of juice. A sudden surge or a heavy load might have tripped the circuit breaker. If the dryer is on a dual-breaker (which most electric dryers are), one half might have tripped while the other stayed on. This can result in a dryer that has lights on the dashboard but won't actually turn the motor or heat up. Flip the breaker all the way to "Off" and then back to "On" just to be sure.
Dealing with the Control Board
If you have a high-end Hotpoint and the screen is blank or showing nonsense, the Main Power Board (PCB) might have a "cold solder joint" or a blown capacitor.
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Honestly, this is where most DIYers should stop.
Unless you're comfortable with a soldering iron and know your way around a circuit diagram, the PCB is a "replace only" part. These boards are sensitive to static and very easy to fry if you touch the wrong thing. In the 2020s, supply chain issues made these boards harder to find, though things have stabilized lately. If your machine is more than 10 years old and the board dies, it’s usually time to look at the sales at Currys or Best Buy.
Real-World Fix: The "Reset" Trick
Before you tear the back off the machine, try a hard reset. It sounds too simple to work, but it frequently clears "glitches" in the logic board.
- Unplug the dryer from the wall.
- Walk away. Go make a cup of tea. Leave it for at least 10 minutes.
- While it's unplugged, press and hold the "Start" button for about 20 seconds to dissipate any stored electricity in the capacitors.
- Plug it back in.
- Try to start a simple "Timed Dry" cycle rather than an "Auto" or "Sensor" cycle.
Sometimes the moisture sensors (those silver bars inside the drum) get coated in a film from dryer sheets. If the sensor thinks the clothes are already dry, it might refuse to start a sensor cycle. Cleaning those bars with a bit of rubbing alcohol can occasionally "fix" a dryer that won't start.
Practical Next Steps
If your hotpoint dryer won't start, don't panic. Follow this logic chain to get back to dry clothes:
- Check the latch: Inspect the door peg for damage and clean the latch area of all lint. Ensure the door clicks firmly shut.
- Test the Power: Verify the breaker hasn't partially tripped. Plug a small lamp into the outlet to ensure the socket is actually live.
- The Drum Spin Test: Rotate the drum by hand. If it spins with zero resistance, buy a replacement drive belt.
- Inspect the Exhaust: If the dryer was running hot before it died, the thermal fuse is likely blown. Order a replacement fuse and a vent cleaning kit.
- Identify the Sound: Listen closely when you hit start. A hum means a jammed drum or bad capacitor; total silence usually means an electrical break (fuse, switch, or board).
If you’ve checked the fuse and the door switch and the machine is still a paperweight, it’s time to call in a professional or consult the specific wiring diagram located inside the top panel of your machine. Most Hotpoints have a "tech sheet" tucked away inside the cabinet that can guide you through a diagnostic mode. Use it. It’s the map the pros use.