Dryer problem

My dryer is getting hot but, the clothes are not drying as they used to. It's up to two hours to dry a fairly small load. I have ruled out the heating element as it gets quite hot. If the exhaust is partially plugged up with lint, could that cause this problem. If so, what is the best way to clear the duct? I cleaned the duct from the dryer into the wall. It goes into the wall but I don't know where it ends up outside. Maybe on the roof? Can I blow it clean with a shopvac? Any ideas? TIA Chuck B.

Reply to
Chuck
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It sounds like the exhaust must be clogged. You need to find out where it is venting and be sure it has no more length and bends than the manufacturer recommends. The outside discharge damper is a likely place for lint to collect.

Reply to
RBM

First make sure the dryer is 'blowing' hot air, on some models you can sometimes check this by taking out the lint filter, while the dryer is running. Because if the blower fan has jammed (perhaps needs to be taken apart lubricated or replaced?) and or a belt driving that fan has snapped there will be no hot damp air exhaust blowing from the dryer.

After that the most likley cause would seem to be a blocked exhaust vent. Somewhere; maybe the outside flap is jammed closed or damaged? Or full of lint, or has rusted and collapsed etc.

Dryers should always vent outside. NEVER vent into an attic or other space. You don't want all that damp hot air condensing up there in say a cold attic, causing mould and rot; replacing a rotted roof is expensive!

Reply to
terry

Try drying a small load with the dryer disconnected from the vent. Monitor closely - hot moist air blowing out of the dryer? Load dries about the normal time?

They make a brush attachment for a drill that you push in the vent pipe to clean it. But you should find where the exit vent is. These little louver vents they use these days are prone to get lint on the flaps and they don't open fully. Get this clean and your close will dry normally.

Note that the exit is probably within 20 ft or so of the dryer and depending on where the dryer is, it probably doesn't go thru the roof....

Reply to
Mark

After you've followed all the other advice here, especially mechanical removal of lint, instead of using a shop-vac, consider a leaf blower to purge the pipe.

Reply to
HeyBub

Replace the vent. I had the same problem, same symptoms, and cleaned out the vent, stuck the leaf blower in it, nothing worked. I could feel hot air coming out where it vented at the house, but it still didn't dry.

I replaced the vent, and it worked like a charm.

Replace the vent, don't even bother blowing it out.

I think I even got the advice from this newsgroup...

Reply to
Mike

"RBM" wrote .

Agreed. It may ave anything in there at the vent end, even a bird nest.

If the blockage is far enough away, it may not pose a fire hazard from the dryer heat at least, but the dryer will be working overtime and fail soon if not fixed.

ChuckB, the dryer i gather is in an interior room not along an exterior wall? Have you a crawlspace or attic? The vent will be either below in the crawlspace, or above in the Attic. If you have a not high 'attic' you might call that a crawlspace too where you are.

We rented a place once where the dryer vented to the attic and up through the roof. Over time, the roof 'cap' over the vent degraded and rain started running down (horribly unsafe so we fixed it right way). Once we replaced the cap, we got a new vent coil. We detached the old at the dryer and attached the new one to the dryer, then 'sewed' the new one to the old one and pulled the old one with new at the bottom up that way to the attic. It worked for us.

Reply to
Cshenk

If this is an old Maytag they have a blower drum that rounds out the "D" shaped hole and spins on the shaft. It "almost" blows enough air.

Reply to
gfretwell

I will add one more, if it is electric, it is possible that it may be running at 50%. (120 vs 240 volts.) You may want to check that out AFTER checking the venting, which I believe is the most likely problem.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Thanks to all of you. I'll be busy today getting it fixed. Thanks again! Chuck B.

Reply to
Chuck

Before you do anything, you should locate the exhaust vent and make sure it is open at the exit end. You should also be able to tell whether there is any air coming out when the dryer is running. It seems to me, a non-expert, that it would be highly unusual for the duct to be so completely blocked with lint that there would be no air flow, so that my help determine what the problem is. We recently had our old dryer repaired. It had a broken shaft on the fan, so it made a horrible noise starting up but would run well ... ran a much longer time than normal to get the clothes dry. Could it be the fan motor not operating?

Reply to
Norminn

Pull hose off, run dryer for a minute or two, put hand behind exhaust vent. It should be obvious if it's exhausting hot air or not.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Sounds like great advice. Don't waste the time on a seven dollar length of flex.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I am an expert. Disconnect the transition duct from the wall and attach pantyhose. If you clothes dry in 30 minutes, your vent is clogged. This is usually the case.

Find where the vent terminates - either through the roof or out the side of the house - and clean the vent pipe from the inside and out. A shop van is one of the tools that quite often works, but is not the full solution.

Alisa LeSueur Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician

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Reply to
CDET 14

Thanks Joe. I bought a brush at Harbor Freight that is designed to clean the vent. I still haven't found the the vent on the outside of the house. The guy next door has the same model of house. I'll have to ask him. (It's my daughter's house that has the problem.) Chuck

Reply to
Chuck

Turn the dryer on and walk around the house. It should be easy to hear.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Pack the dryer with crumpled news paper. Light them on fire, and turn the dryer on. Look for the smoke coming out of your house. On second thought, maybe just use a military surplus smoke grenade. On third thought, just do what Joseph says.

Or, you could walk around and look for the square vent with the flapper.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Can't be that hard to find, if you know the layout of the house. Outside should be a square vent with a flapper. Very possibly behind some bushes.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I'd leave the flex as short as possible and use metal duct for as much of the vent as possible. The flex does increase restriction even if it's clean (speaking of which, I meant to follow my own advice but haven't yet...)

nate

Reply to
N8N

This learned years ago: Don't use zip screws for dryer ducts. They catch dust, and clog up the air flow. Slip the parts together, and wrap the joint with duct tape.

Yep, flex sure has a lot of air resistance. Very good reminder.

As a bachelor living alone, I clothesline dry all my clothes. Indoors, too. Short walk from the washing machine and no electric bill for drying.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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