DRYER VENT HOUSE IS FILLING WITH WATER.

My Tenant complained that the dryer was taking multiple cycles to dry clothes. I found the dryer vent tubing filled with water, causing it to sag. I removed the water from the line and it operated fine. I checked a month later and the line had refilled with water which I drained again. The dryer vent line is @ 15 feet from dryer to outside exhaust. The vent line runs along the outer wall of the house. Could this be causing the water condensing issue????

Reply to
Concerned landlord
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Well it's full of steam, it's going to get wet. Make sure it slopes slightly downhill, or if you can't, perhaps make a small hole in the middle and let it drain into something?

Reply to
James Wilkinson Sword

If the vent line is sagging it will eventually cause water to pool and fill up. Sounds as if this is the flexible line. Suggest replace it with solid duct work and pitch it toward the outside outlet (vent). This should solve any problems not and in the future.

Reply to
NamPhong

First of all NEVER use flexible "ducting" for a dryer!!!!. Second, run the vertical high enough that the horizontal run actually runs downhill. That way no condensation can ever build up in the ductwork.

Reply to
clare

I agree with some of the other suggestions, such as using rigid ducts instead of flexible ducts, etc.

If you mean that the existing venting duct work runs along an outside wall, but it is inside the house, I doubt that there would be condensation in the duct due to the location of the duct work. Even if the location of the duct work along the outside wall is in an unheated part of the house, I doubt that the temperature would be so low there that condensation would form.

Make sure that you verified that there truly is good air flow coming out of the dryer vent when the dryer is operating. I suspect that you may have a problem with the dryer itself -- and specifically, the dryer blower housing fan. In other words, if the dryer blower isn't blowing the hot air out of the dryer properly, the air flow will be so slow that condensation will build up in the line. And, of course, the dryer will take a very long time to dry clothes.

I recently had a problem with a dryer that was taking too long to dry clothes. It turned out that the dryer blower fan was not working. It had power and the blower motor was spinning, but the fan "fins" were not turning, so no air was being forced out of the dryer. In my case, it turned out that the problem existed for a very long time before anyone said anything. When I checked the dryer, the vent was full of wet lint -- yuck, a big mess.

I usually don't try to fix washers and dryers on my own since I don't know a lot about doing those types of repairs. But, this time, I decided to take a shot at it and I was able to fix it myself.

First, as I always do, I went to

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. Then I clicked on "Repair Help" and I entered my dryer model number etc. I learned what the problem may be and how to check for that. In my case, it was a Frigidaire dryer that needed a new dryer blower housing assembly. I bought the part locally, but I used the following repairclinic.com repair video to do the job, and that solved the problem:
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.

Good luck.

Reply to
TomR

When I moved into my house years ago I noticed a similar problem. My laund ry is on the second floor and the dryer duct goes through the attic. One d ay while using the dryer when it was exceptionally cold outside, I noticed water dripping down from the ceiling where the dryer duct penetrated. I we nt up in the attic and found water in the dryer duct. This is all steel ri gid duct, not flex. I cleaned all of the wet lint out of the duct and also cleaned the outside vent cap. I insulated the dryer air duct with duct wr ap insulation and never had that problem again.

I would check your outside vent cap to make sure that it is loose enough to open when there is air pressure. Also get rid of the flexible duct and us e rigid for the bulk of the run. Home Depot sells small rolls of duct wrap insulation and metal foil tape.

John Grabowski

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Reply to
John G

to open when there is air pressure. Also get rid of the flexible duct and use rigid for the bulk of the run. Home Depot sells small rolls of duct wr ap insulation and metal foil tape.

I don't see what good sloping the duct would do, there will still be a low spot and water will still collect there.

Maybe the tenant needs to let the dryer run longer at the end of the cycle when the clothes are almost completely dry so any water that collects in the duct can be evaporated and expelled.

And route the duct not so close to the cold outside wall?

Does the problem occur in summer as well?

m
Reply to
makolber

That point makes me think that the problem is not condensation allegedly due to the dryer duct being along an outside wall (unknown if on the INSIDE of the outside wall or on the OUTSIDE of the outside wall). I just think that water vapor condensing on the inside of the duct is unlikely to happen under these circumstances, especially since the at the end of every drying cycle it is virtually dry (not moist) air that is being pumped through the duct. And, as you mentioned, that would dry out any alleged condensation inside the pipe. Another test would be to simple run the dryer for about 5 minutes on high heat with no clothes in the dryer and see what happens.

It doesn't matter, in my opinion. I doubt that is the problem.

Good question. I would bet that it does. And, I would be that the underlying problem is an air flow problem, maybe due to a defective blower fan in the dryer, or a blocked or stuck-closed vent cap.

In my case, the problem existed during the summer -- although the occupant never told me that the problem was going on for at least several months. And, during the summer when I checked, the duct was full of soaking wet lint -- all due to no air flow, due to the blower fan not working.

Reply to
TomR

h to open when there is air pressure. Also get rid of the flexible duct an d use rigid for the bulk of the run. Home Depot sells small rolls of duct wrap insulation and metal foil tape.

w spot and water will still collect there.

The idea is for it to slope all the way to the end, where any condensation will run out. It would need to be sheet metal, not the vinyl flex stuff. It also would depend on what's on the end of it. Presumably there is one of those vent covers with louvers. He'd have to make sure that somehow allows water to trickle out, instead of backing up.

It's not clear if it's in an outside wall or really outside the house. The latter though would not seem to make sense.

e when the clothes are almost completely dry so any water that collects in the duct can be evaporated and expelled.

That's a good question.

Reply to
trader_4

replying to TomR, Clueless wrote: My outside dryer vent only fills with water when it rains and I can't figure out why this happens, help?

Reply to
Clueless

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