Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается.

Yes. Сушильная машина literally means drying machine, and it is a standard way to say clothes dryer / tumble dryer.

• сушильная = drying
• машина = machine

Russian often uses an adjective + noun where English uses a single noun or a compound noun.

You may also hear сушилка, which can mean dryer, but it can also mean drying rack or other kinds of drying device depending on context. Сушильная машина is clearer if you specifically mean the appliance.

It is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the action.

You can see this from the endings:

• сушильная — feminine nominative singular adjective
• машина — feminine nominative singular noun

So the sentence structure is basically:

Сушильная машина = subject
то и дело = adverbial expression
останавливается = verb

То и дело is a fixed expression meaning something like:

• constantly
• repeatedly
• again and again
• every now and then
• keeps on ...-ing

In this sentence, it suggests that the dryer stops over and over, probably in an annoying or noticeable way.

So Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается feels like:

• The dryer keeps stopping.
• The dryer stops all the time.
• The dryer keeps stopping again and again.

It is an idiomatic phrase, so it is best learned as a whole chunk.

It is fairly neutral and common in everyday Russian. It is not slang, and it is not especially formal either.

You can use it in normal speech and writing. It often adds a bit of expressive color, especially when something happens repeatedly and is noticeable or irritating.

Because останавливается is imperfective, and that fits a repeated / habitual action.

• останавливаться / останавливаться (imperfective) → to stop, to be stopping, to keep stopping
• остановиться (perfective) → to stop once, to come to a stop

Here the idea is not it will stop one time, but it keeps stopping. That is why Russian uses the imperfective present:

• Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается.
  = The dryer keeps stopping.

If you said остановится, that would usually mean will stop once in the future.

In Russian, the present tense of an imperfective verb is often used for:

• actions happening now
• repeated actions
• habitual actions
• general tendencies

So останавливается can mean:

• is stopping
• stops
• keeps stopping

The phrase то и дело makes it clear that this is a repeated action, so English often translates it with keeps stopping or stops all the time.

The verb is останавливаться / остановиться, and the -ся is part of the verb itself.

Here it means to stop in the sense that the subject stops by itself or comes to a stop.

Compare:

• останавливать что-то = to stop something
  
  • Я останавливаю машину. = I stop the car.
• останавливаться = to stop, come to a stop
  
  • Машина останавливается. = The car stops.

So in your sentence:

• Сушильная машина останавливается = The dryer stops

The -ся does not always mean a truly reflexive meaning like oneself. Very often it just forms an intransitive verb.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and то и дело can move around.

For example:

• Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается.
• То и дело сушильная машина останавливается.
• Сушильная машина останавливается то и дело.

All are possible, but they may sound slightly different in emphasis.

The original version is very natural. It puts the subject first, then the adverbial phrase, then the verb.

They are similar, but not always identical.

• то и дело emphasizes repeated occurrences
• всё время often means all the time / continuously

Compare the feeling:

• Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается.
  = It stops again and again.
• Сушильная машина всё время останавливается.
  = It is stopping all the time.

In many situations these are close in meaning, but то и дело especially highlights the repeated, recurring nature of the stopping.

Usually the stress would fall on то и дело or on останавливается, depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize.

For example:

• Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается.
  Neutral statement.
• Сушильная машина ТО И ДЕЛО останавливается.
  Emphasizes the repeated nature: it keeps happening.
• Сушильная машина то и дело ОСТАНАВЛИВАЕТСЯ.
  Emphasizes what the problem is: it stops.

In ordinary conversation, то и дело often gets noticeable stress because it carries the key idea.

Often yes, if the context is clear.

• Сушилка то и дело останавливается.

This can sound natural in conversation if everyone knows you mean the dryer appliance. But сушилка can be ambiguous in some contexts, because it can also refer to other drying devices or even a drying rack.

So:

• сушильная машина = clearer, more explicit
• сушилка = shorter, more conversational, but sometimes less precise

It most naturally describes a general or repeated problem, not a single event.

That comes from two things together:

• то и дело = repeatedly
• останавливается = imperfective present

So the sentence sounds like someone describing an ongoing issue:

• The dryer keeps stopping.
• The dryer is always stopping.

If you wanted a one-time event, Russian would use different wording, for example a past-tense perfective form.

Сушильная машина остановилась means:

• The dryer stopped.

That describes a single completed event in the past.

But:

• Сушильная машина то и дело останавливается means
  The dryer keeps stopping or stops again and again

So the difference is:

• остановилась = one stop, completed, past
• то и дело останавливается = repeated stopping, ongoing/general situation