ELECTRIC DRYER?

We have an electric clothes dryer that isn't drying any more...Takes forever for the load to get done...The Q. is, do these things go bad, as in the element?

Or could, as they say, it be blocked with so much lint that it's being impeded by lint and not efficient as it could be?

I clean the lint trap, have a long brush to fish out the lint, and so on. Could this be plugged up deep inside? We are on the 2nd floor of a condo. Is there a fire hazard, like these guys say, that want to clean out the line of lint?

Any comments would be much appreciated... TIA.

Reply to
Paddy Waggin
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The element can go bad. Run the dryer for about 5 minuits and open the door and see if it is warm inside.

If it is warm, you may have a stopped up vent line and that will cause the element to burn out at some time. YOu may be able to open the door and hold down the safety switch and start the dryer without anything in it. Becareful of the rotating drum and see if you can see the heating element turning red. or feel the heat from it. If no heat, you probably need a new heating element.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

There is no fire hazard. Even if the lint caught fire, there's not much fuel and it's in a metal pipe.

Don't worry about it.

As to whether the vent line is clogged, run the dryer and look at the vent as it leave the building. Is a goodly volume of air coming out? If so, the vent's not blocked.

Reply to
HeyBub

the best way to diagnose if the vent tube is the problem, is to just run the dryer with it not hooked to it. If it does better, then it's time to swab out the duct to the outside.

Reply to
Steve Barker

I would disconnect the vent to the outside and see if there is a good volume of hot air blowing out of the pipe from the dryer. If you are worried about too much lint in the exhaust getting into the room, put a nylon stocking over the exhaust. That will filter out the worst of the lint, but not block the air flow. The exhaust should be hot (assuming you have the heat control set to high heat) and blowing a fairly strong volume of air. If the air flow is too low, the heating element overheat thermostat may be kicking in to limit the heat, and the lack of air flow will slow down the drying process. You have to find out if the air flow is normal or not, and let us know here for further ideas.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Do you have a belt-driven drum?

I think it's also possible the belt that spins the basket is loose and the basket is not turning much. It won't dry if it doesn't turn. I'm almost sure -- does anyone know -- that this would be worse the more weight, the more clothes and the wetter they are, is in the dryer.

My mother's whirlpool needed a new belt in the 60's when it was less than 3 years old -- now that I think about it, it probably just needed tightening**, but I was 12 -- but never needed one again. My whirlpool now is 32 years old and still doesn't need a new belt, nor has this one ever been tightened. So there is some variability in life span. :)

**Nonetheless, my mother and I fixed it. I told her what to do and she did it. Maybe we did just tighten it, because getting the belt off requires loosening and moving something that goes through the center of the belt. I don't remember doing that part.

You can probably see how fast the drum is turning by putting a quarter or three in the dryer and listening. Hmmm. Even with my normal dryer, the clothes keep the change from making noise much of the time. You could also run it for 2 seconds and see if the clothes are tumbling down as you open the door.

Reply to
mm

*I was working on the outside electric service of a multi-story condo building two years ago. About 20' above me were the dryer vents lined up in a row. Every so often I would look up to see a little bird with a twig in its mouth fly into one of the vents. In that particular complex they require that the owners have their vents cleaned once a year. Other communities that I work in require it done every two years. I do my own at least once a year.

I know of one couple in a condo that were about ready to buy a new dryer, but had the vent cleaned first. They didn't need to buy a new dryer after that. If you have not had someone come in and shove a rotating brush through the entire length of your dryer exhaust pipe, then I suggest that you do that. There still could be something else wrong with your dryer, but you need that pipe clean for it to function properly. If your clothes are getting dry, but it is taking a long time, a clogged vent could be the problem.

Reply to
John Grabowski

Turn the dryer on for a half a minute when there are no clothes in the dryer. Did the inside of the dryer get warm?

If so, the dryer is working, and you might have a plugged up duct.

If the dryer did not get get warm, something is amiss. Usually it is a thermostat or the thermal safety, but sometimes it is the element. You can test these components with a multimeter after you unplug the dryer and remove the back cover.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

I've had 2 electric dryers where the element went. I did repair the element by joining the broken pieces of the nichrome wire. On one, I repaired with a small screw and nut, making loops on the 2 broken ends of the nichrome wire. I was careful to wash my hands so that I didn't get skin grease on the wires, which might cause a hot spot later. The other, I used a metal tube and crimped it. Both were probably not exactly "code" but both worked. And, if it should break again, it would only fall and short to the grounded metal housing. If the break is close to one leg of the 240, it would probably trip the breaker. I it was in the middle somewhere, it would probably just heat on 120. As a matter of fact, the 1st dryer did just that, short in the middle to the metal housing. Funny thing here is that it continued to heat, but very, very slow drying due to only 120 volts on the element.

Reply to
Art Todesco

On the driers I've worked on, the belt just goes around a motor pulley and the drum (there is a tensioner on the back side of the belt). There is no reason to remove anything to replace the belt. If you're in there, the pads the front of the drum rests on should be replaced, too.

Reply to
krw

You'll play hell getting that belt around that drum without taking SOMETHING apart. duh.

Reply to
Steve Barker

The front of the case has to come off, obviously, and that's simple. Nothing else, other than what is required to get the case apart, needs removal. It really is an easy job.

Reply to
krw

In my experience lack of heat is usually caused by one of two things:

  1. Heating Element
  2. Thermostat that is screwed or clipped to the duct or heating element housing.

Usually #1 and both are pretty easy to replace.

If you are not getting heat, I doubt if it has much to do with plugged vent plumbing. However, it is always good to check for lint build up and clean from time-to-time. Lint burns very easy. When I was a Boy Scout leader it was the fuel of choice for training fire starting. Get a spark in it, blow and you have fire and burned fingers if not careful.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

In my experience lack of heat is usually caused by one of two things:

  1. Heating Element
  2. Thermostat that is screwed or clipped to the duct or heating element housing.

Usually #1 and both are pretty easy to replace.

If you are not getting heat, I doubt if it has much to do with plugged vent plumbing. However, it is always good to check for lint build up and clean from time-to-time. Lint burns very easy. When I was a Boy Scout leader it was the fuel of choice for training fire starting. Get a spark in it, blow and you have fire and burned fingers if not careful.

RonB

*The OP states in his first two broken sentences: "We have an electric clothes dryer that isn't drying any more...Takes forever for the load to get done..."

From that I am not sure if it isn't drying at all or if it is just drying very slowly. We may never know.

Reply to
John Grabowski

Yes, the question is, if it dries after forever, is that slowly or not at all. The fact that it does get done seems to me that it's very slowly.

Reply to
mm

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