PSA: Don't go 5 years without cleaning out your dryer vent pipe, or
it'll look like a coronary artery with a bad...
PSA: Don't go 5 years without cleaning out your dryer vent pipe, or it'll look like a coronary artery with a bad case of plaque build-up (and you don't want your house having a heart attack).
I posted an easy way to clean it from the roof to the dryer using a heavy "3 inch Pitching Washer" dropped from above on a string, then attach a rag and pull it back up! Critical for roof vent's!
I keep mine nice and clean. But recently I had to make some repairs and I found that the duct inside the dryer between the point of the lint trap and the start of the vent hose was almost completely blocked. Had never thought about that. So pop off the housing and clean it out.
While you are at it clean out the drainage filter at the bottom of the washing machine. I found a few dollars in change, a missing key, and a bunch of garbage in mine. No wonder it was taking so long to drain.
Mike Nowacki I actually called a repair man to figure that one out, and it was worth the money, because I learned what the warning signs would be when my Maytag was contemplating setting fire to either the house or my bank account; when the first symptom appeared, I got rid of it pronto.
Hmmm.... That shouldn't happen. Poor or missing filter in the dryer itself? A leak somewhere earlier in the pipe or joins causing poor air flow? Pipe too long?
Greg A. Woods Everything's working as it should, but the filter screen in the dryer is ~20 years old and the exhaust run is about 20 feet long (this straight stretch is near the end).
20 feet of duct through a cold space could be a problem -- the length allows the particles of lint to slow down, and condensation on the duct walls will stick the lint to them. (20 feet through a cold space is probably enough to condense all of the moisture out of the outflow, and that's a LOT of moisture -- if you can see your breath outside but you don't see a huge cloud of condensed vapour from the the air leaving vent outside then the run through cold space is part of the problem)
If you can try wrapping it in some form of insulation that may improve the situation for the future.
Greg A. Woods No, no, the dryer is 20 years old, but the exhaust ducting is only about 5 years old. I disassembled it all to clean it out and reassembled it, but in a way that it's much easier to take apart again (so cleaning it out, say, once a year won't be as much of a chore). The majority of the duct runs through our unheated garage, so yeah, I'm sure temp is an issue. But, hey, all that lint acts like an insulator, right? ;->
More like a fire: that lint can burn.
ReplyDeleteSteve S It was a metaphor.
ReplyDeletePretty sure ours is worse. The part near the dryer is clear, but the actual 7' of duct isn't particularly accessible.
ReplyDeleteThis is one piece of household maintenance I always keep up on. I got frequent lectures on this as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I prefer line drying.
ReplyDeletegiphy.com - Mochimochiland GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
So heartburn would have been a better metaphor?
ReplyDeleteI posted an easy way to clean it from the roof to the dryer using a heavy "3 inch Pitching Washer" dropped from above on a string, then attach a rag and pull it back up! Critical for roof vent's!
ReplyDeleteI keep mine nice and clean. But recently I had to make some repairs and I found that the duct inside the dryer between the point of the lint trap and the start of the vent hose was almost completely blocked. Had never thought about that. So pop off the housing and clean it out.
ReplyDeleteDon't let Keith Wilson see this. He might have a coronary.
ReplyDeleteWhile you are at it clean out the drainage filter at the bottom of the washing machine. I found a few dollars in change, a missing key, and a bunch of garbage in mine. No wonder it was taking so long to drain.
ReplyDeleteMike Nowacki I actually called a repair man to figure that one out, and it was worth the money, because I learned what the warning signs would be when my Maytag was contemplating setting fire to either the house or my bank account; when the first symptom appeared, I got rid of it pronto.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise known as the McDonald effect
ReplyDeleteRay of Sunshine Gilbert Gottfried's finest role.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... That shouldn't happen. Poor or missing filter in the dryer itself? A leak somewhere earlier in the pipe or joins causing poor air flow? Pipe too long?
ReplyDeleteGreg A. Woods Everything's working as it should, but the filter screen in the dryer is ~20 years old and the exhaust run is about 20 feet long (this straight stretch is near the end).
ReplyDeleteIs that ~20 years of accumulation then? :-)
ReplyDelete20 feet of duct through a cold space could be a problem -- the length allows the particles of lint to slow down, and condensation on the duct walls will stick the lint to them. (20 feet through a cold space is probably enough to condense all of the moisture out of the outflow, and that's a LOT of moisture -- if you can see your breath outside but you don't see a huge cloud of condensed vapour from the the air leaving vent outside then the run through cold space is part of the problem)
If you can try wrapping it in some form of insulation that may improve the situation for the future.
Greg A. Woods No, no, the dryer is 20 years old, but the exhaust ducting is only about 5 years old. I disassembled it all to clean it out and reassembled it, but in a way that it's much easier to take apart again (so cleaning it out, say, once a year won't be as much of a chore). The majority of the duct runs through our unheated garage, so yeah, I'm sure temp is an issue. But, hey, all that lint acts like an insulator, right? ;->
ReplyDelete