Dryer Vent 4 years worth of lint...

[jgp12000]

I know we all know to do it but stuff happens,this is the 1st house we have owned that the dryer vent is  routed through the attic to the roof.My wife said it seemed like the clothes were taking longer to dry.I found a brush on Amazon that attaches to the drill.It worked great!After I vacuumed I read some people run their leaf blowers up there,so I had to try it.FYI,a gas blower in the laundry room will set off your CO detector imagine that...If you haven't done it in awhile do it ASAP.I lit the pile in the fire pit,fired right up.


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[Brewcrafter]

Heh, heh, I wrapped a wet towel around the end of my leaf blower to make a good seal in our old 2-story and it worked like a charm.  Neighbor had just had his car detailed and was parked in their driveway - it looked like it had snowed on it.  I knocked on their door with a nice bottle of wine in hand... they were cool about it! - john

[oldmanjoe]

    Next up is the refrigerator ?  Another neglected appliance . 

[xjchad]

Heh, heh, I wrapped a wet towel around the end of my leaf blower to make a good seal in our old 2-story and it worked like a charm.  Neighbor had just had his car detailed and was parked in their driveway - it looked like it had snowed on it.  I knocked on their door with a nice bottle of wine in hand... they were cool about it! - john

 
Wine John?  I thought you were a beer guy???

[alantani]

a buddy of mine is an appliance guy.  he says that the lint can be a serious fire hazard.  my old dryer had lint and it actually did catch fire.   

[foakes]

We have an old '70's? Whirlpool Gas Dryer.

We keep the lint screen clear after each use — and the vent goes out the side of the house —- and I have that run as short and straight as possible.

We were going to replace this dryer when we moved up here 13 years ago with our existing electric dryer —- I even installed a 220V receptacle.  But the LP Whirlpool is still going strong and effectively.

Equipment maintenance is key —- whether you live in a high-rise condo in a big city —- or out in the remote mountains, like us.

1. Preventive maintenance: This involves regularly scheduled  maintenance tasks designed to prevent equipment breakdowns and extend the lifespan of the equipment.

2. Predictive maintenance: This involves monitoring equipment for signs of potential failure and taking action to prevent breakdowns before they occur.

3. Corrective maintenance: This involves repairing equipment after a breakdown has occurred, and may also include replacing worn or damaged parts.

I try to stay with number 1 & 2 —- but sometimes get involved with number 3. 

Good job & good reminder post, James!

You have eliminated a fire safety issue, as well as allowing your equipment to run less constricted, and more effective.

Best, Fred

[Midway Tommy]

The IRC max length of a straight shot smooth metal dryer vent is 35', no flex is permitted except at the dryer connection to the vent. It used to be only 25' but for some silly reason, probably industry pressure, they extended it 10'. Here's  the kicker, though, every 45 degree elbow reduces that length by 2.5' and each 90 reduces it by 5'. So, if your vent comes out of the wall and heads up or down you're now limited to 30'. The next 90, the one takes it into a horizontal direction, reduces it by another 5'. Now your overall max is 25'. This is one the biggest code violations. Designers seem to care less about where they locate laundry rooms. In addition, dryer vent sections are not to be connected together with screws. Taped joints are only those permitted.

[Swami805]

A couple weeks ago our dryer quit and was flashing a code. Called the appliance guy, $150 to come look at it. I went on line and found that my circuit board was bad. $280, no bueno. Dug a little further and a common problem is a relay on the board. $12 shipped,I like it.  Never soldered anything before but it was a piece of cake. I gotta say if I didn't hang around you lot I wouldn't have attempted it, if you can fix a reel you can fix a dryer!!!
We have a really funky exhaust run on our dryer, i clean it out every few months. I have an 18' telescoping brush  and a leaf blower, works like a charm
Our washer has a filter in it for the waste line that needs periodic cleaning too.  If it clogs if will flash a code too.

[Gfish]

Good job Swami! I'd be scared of digging-out a circuit board and then desoldering the bad relay/resoldering the good one back in.

A for sure thing is the lack of durability of nowadays appliances. Too much digital technology!
Time to check my dryer vent. I hang a wash load to get it as dry as can be, but here with the humidity, I still godda use the dryer. Also the heat helps kill the mold spores.

[JasonGotaProblem]

I actually just replaced the board on my dryer recently. Flashed a code, apparently an uncommon one, because it wasn't o. Samsung's list. Found another website that said bad board. New one was $200. Found a used one for $40 and decided to gamble on it. So far so good!

[happyhooker]

Note what Tommy said about solid metal vent pipe; flex really isn't the way to go unless absolutely no other way.

Frank

[JasonGotaProblem]

The reason for the loss in allowable length is due to loss of head pressure associated with bends. Usually comes up more in discussion of liquid in pipes, but certainly still valid in discussion of moving air.

Flexible pipe is basically like a ton of bends in a short area. So it likely has a very detrimental effect on air flow.

[jgp12000]

Our pipe is around 12ft to the roof no elbows all joints appear to be painted with some white sealer.
Everyone I know that has owned the purty front load glass door Samsung washer/dryers  have had troubles around the 2 year mark.We had a kenmore set over 20 years til we built  our current house with the inlaws.We have 2 kitchens,their kitchen has a stove top and microwave/convection oven & we share the laundry room.They had a newer  maytag set so we left our old set .I had to replace the shocks on the maytag washer once.(bouncing)Also,being in electronics 38 years I have desoldered and soldered a few things...surface mount,micro mini, leadless chip carriers &  large gate arrays in ground planes where the circuit board had to be preheated,then the GA was removed with a solder fountain.I never got to solder any ball grid arrays while in the shop,the solder joints are checked by xray.We used magnets to
Energize small reed relays to unstick them.If you can get to the contacts on larger relays you can clean the contacts with emery cloth or alcohol with it unplugged of course.

[Squidder Bidder]

Dryer lint is a main component in my homemade fire starters - it's dangerous stuff in the wrong places!

[Gobi King]

Nowadays they sell a brush like a smaller version of  a chimney brush, which you can use to feed from one side and clean out the vent, I take my shop vac nozzle just behind the brush and go nuts and it picks up a bunch.

Don't forget to open up the dryer to clean the insides too.