Dryer Exhaust Clean-out

[electrolux137]

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<div data-contents="true">We cleaned the laundry room today in preparation for moving Falyn's comfort station in there from the bathroom.

I pulled the dryer out from the wall to vacuum out the vent and flexible vent hose. I was shocked at how much lint had accumulated in there! The vacuum cleaner bag was jammed full!!

The last time I cleaned it was in February, per the recommended six-month intervals. We can tell when it needs to be done, because it starts taking longer and longer for clothes to get dry -- and I had noticed that was the case. But I guess I'd better clean it out more often...</div>

 

[real1shep]

When the lint can't get out of the vent, it starts to build up inside of the dryer....in a place not usually accessible unless you take some of the dryer apart. The danger there is that it can get dangerously close to the heating elements.


 


I bought a Maytag Neptune washer/dryer from a country gal who had five boys and a husband. I went through the dryer before I used it. I found about a pound of lint inches away from the heating elements. That would have been a fire for sure. Since then, I've been fastidious about the vent and the lint filter. Some of the blame there was the lint filter too....positioned vertically, if it's full, the lint has nowhere to go but fall down to the bottom of the dryer.


 


Kevin

 

[fcs3]

Real1shep's right, electrolux137

Its even recommended to remove the dryer's back panel
(after unplugging of course) and give everything you can
reach with a plastic attachment a good vacuuming.
Lint dust can be very small and get through traps.
I moved from an apartment just before the laundry room
beneath it had a "dryer fire". Those traps were cleaned daily!

 

[electrolux137]

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Yes, I do know about taking the back off of the dryer and vacuuming all around inside and I did do that. I even took off the fan housing and cleaned the fan blades. However, there was a minimum of lint and dust in there. The vast percentage of it was in the flexible exhaust hose.


 


I tried using one of those rigid exhaust extensions that have two parts that slide in and out to adjust for the length but found that it got clogged faster than a flexible hose. Lint got trapped around the 90-degree bends of the two ends and attracted more and more lint.

 

[real1shep]

The flexible vents are more forgiving as a lint 'trap'...they move and wiggle a bit causing a potential clog to keep moving in many cases. Depends though on how far the dryer has to push lint UP and how many bends the run has etc. I had a rent house once where my dryer was in the kitchen and no outside vent. I had to use one of those floor water lint traps....what mess!


 


As I said earlier, if a verticle machine lint filter is full, the extra has nowhere to go but fall back down inside the machine.....often near the heating elements.


 


Kevin


 


 

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I empty my vent after each use.

I also bought, (for myself and many others) the "Lint Wizard". You attach it to your vacuum, and it goes way down inside. I replaced the exhaust vent last year for a better one, there was almost NOTHING inside that dryer.
A family friend's house went to the ground due to a dryer fire. That took it to the fire lab. They also think it may have been a faulty appliance. (GE)
I'm obsessed with stuff like this.

 

[real1shep]

This thing, John?


 


Kevin


 


 



http://https//video.search.yahoo.co...=0592a4b01f9e2940d2eb639f86768630&action=view

 

[electrolux137]

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I have a Lint Wizard as well, and use it once a month or so. Another thing I use is a straightened-out wire coat hanger (cue Mommie Dearest!) with a small wash cloth wrapped around one end and secured with duct tape. Sliding that down and around into the area behind the lint trap picks up a good bit of lint.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

yes.

My dryer is never really full of lint, as I keep it clean. However, I DO get some lint out when I use it. I have a Maytag gas dryer from 1990.
I've given this little tool to many people. I even gave them as prizes at my post-Christmas mini meet.

 

[real1shep]

Ok well, the reviews are all over the place. I guess some dryer slots are too narrow for the one inch hose (is that ID or OD?).


 


I made something almost exactly like that for sucking the sediment out of a water heater, through the lower element hole opening.....the 45 degree cut on the end of the hose is critical.  Maybe I should patent it...lol.


 


Would someone please measure the OD of their hose so I can see if it even fits my dryer slot?


 


It's actually Lint LIZARD, not Wizard......I found that out when I was Googling it...lol.


 


Obviously, with some lint trap configurations, it's not going to work well or at all. See my link. In my Maytag Neptune (if it fits) it should work really well.


 


Kevin


 



http://https//video.search.yahoo.co...=fa2ce191bbee3d2be6b3eff189c313e4&action=view

 

[real1shep]

Now in this link (this is most like my dryer),  look what this guy got out after six yrs!!


 


Kevin



http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXSl1pZvPrQ

 

[vacuumlad1650]

My Grandparents have that Lint Wizard. They second floor is a small apartment, so they have 2 dryers. I clean them both out each time I go. One of two little clumps always get aimed up. Every year or so I pull the dryer away, and clean inside it, around it, and the vent.

 

[real1shep]

Lint LIZARD....lol!


 


 


Kevin

 

[kirbysthebest]

I have a lint lizzard

I use it to clean the coils under my refrigerator as well as the dryer. 

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Yes.... LIZARD!

I was in a hurry when I wrote it. I saw the box as I was going downstairs into the basement. um... my hose fits very well.
This contraption DOES do nicely under the refrigerator as well.

 

[suckolux]

I had moved and cleaned my dryer hose 2 weeks ago, normally not too much, run the hose down it, this time I used the yard blower, WOW should have seen how far tiny dust/ lint shot out into the yard, It looked clean too

 

[huskyvacs]

Throw away those garbage tinfoil expandable hoses that come with dryers. Especially if you have a gas dryer, those hoses catch all the lint in the folds and make a dangerous fire hazard. They can burn through in less than 20 seconds. I replaced that garbage with rigid HVAC duct in the same diameter as the output on my dryer and I have never had to clean the pipe in the 6 years since I installed it. I only have to clean the lint trap outside weekly when I do laundry. No screws, only foil HVAC tape used. It's completely smooth inside, no risk of creating a lint dam.

I occasionally use one of those manual dryer brushes and rattle it around in the dryer screen area and then run the dryer for a couple minutes to flush out the loosened lint.

If I ever upgrade to a tumble dryer with the window on it, I'll have to tear out the pipe and redo it (need to add some brackets to secure it anyway) and have a better method for the upper bend in the pipe where it goes outside through the wall, but it's a small task compared to never having to worry about a dryer fire.