Clothes Dryers

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Mary_Gail_36

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Today, as I was taking the clothes out of the dryer, I noticed that they felt much warmer than usual.(almost hot) I thought they were set on “cotton”, but I realized it was set on “easy care” a lower temperature setting.

The drum also felt very warm. The dryer is only about 1.5 years old.

Would anybody know what would cause this overheating?

A few variables:

It’s been pretty muggy and rainy for a while. Would the muggy weather not allow for optimum air circulation?

Also, the dryer is somewhat far from the exhaust opening, there is a long metal exhaust tube to vent it. Maybe that should be replaced? Cleaned?

Any ideas how to remedy the problem? I’d rather not call the repair man, and I have lots of laundry to do. 😃
 
Good chance that the exhaust is getting plugged with lint - and this can cause a fire. There are brushes you can buy to clean out those vents - possibly you can get one at the hardware store, if not here’s a link:

Fly Lady Shop - Dryer lint kit

I’m told you can get a lot of it out with your vacuum cleaner hose - might be worth a try if you have to wait for a brush. . . . or call the appliance place and ask if you can borrow the attachment (my appliance guy really like me . . . )
 
Yup… sounds like a possible clog in the vent from the dryer to the outside. Also the long run of the vent might be causing problems especially if there are a lot of turns that can cause restrictions in the air flow.

If you can get to the outside where the vent leaves the house, see if you can feel a strong flow of air when the dryer is running. If the flow is weak, then you probably have a clog somewhere. Either way, it needs to be corrected as soon as possible. I wouldn’t leave the dryer run unattended until you get it checked out. This can be a potential fire hazard.
:cool:
 
Sounds like the other 2 posts are right… I had a similar problem last spring… when I investigated I found out we had a family of sparrows that had moved in, built a nest and had 3 little ones already. Needless to say after they flew the coop I proceeded to clear out the nest and attached bird and critter cages over both of my vents and havn’t had the problem with the dryer since. Good luck with the fix and check to see if you have company in the vent exhaust 🙂

Paul
 
OK…I tested the exhaust tube…some lint but no clogs.

I also vacuumed out the lint trap. Next step is to check the outside vent. DH said that he didn’t feel a strong air flow, so he’ll check in their when he gets home. I hope the heating element that is working properly…lo and behold the warranty expired.😦
 
Heating element should be fine as you said the clothes were very hot. Most dryers should have a high-temp shut-off in case of overheating and I know because we had the exact same situation happen in our house. The washer and dryer are on the second floor, in the center of the house, and the exhaust is outside. Turns out a squirrel had chewed through the cover I installed outside and made a nest in the warm duct. This ‘clog’ was too far to reach with a vacuum or by hand.

Check in your yellow pages for ‘duct cleaning’. We found a very reasonable gentleman who did air conditioning and dryer ducts as a second job and I think it only cost around $120 to have him completely remove the nest. I did, however, have to take care of the squirrel that ran all the way through the duct and lodged itself inside the dryer. :eek:
 
Hmmm… we had this problem a few months back. Our vent was REALLY long and had several corners to bend before it traveled outside…which is not a good scenario. We had the vent cleaned, but still, it was taking forever for our clothes to dry… eventually, the heating element died because it was working too hard to dry the clothes because the air-flow was just so low. Our solution was to re-route the vent. We shortened it and vented it into our garage, which now has to remain open when we run our dryer (which is fine) so that the moisture doesn’t build up in the garage and cause mold issues. Shortening the vent TOTALLY did the trick. The air-flow is really great now and our clothes dry so much faster! 😃 😃 😃
I highly recommend having someone look at the length of your vent and see if there’s any way to shorten it or have it vent somewhere else. 👍
 
Thanks for the replies.

A squirrel in the dryer? Hope he left without much protest.

Em…The way the laundry room is situated, first is the outside wall with the dryer vent, then the boiler, then a utility sink, then the washer, then the dryer. I couldn’t vent it into the garage, even though it’s close, keeping it open isn’t an option.

I did some trouble shooting on the dryer company’s website, it seems to be the vent…I’ll have DH check it outside. I hope it is the vent and not the thermostat sensors. Then I do need a repair person. 😦
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
Thanks for the replies.

A squirrel in the dryer? Hope he left without much protest.
Click to expand...
Friend of ours had a squirrel get in her dryer. She kept hearing a bumping sound coming from the dryer…opened it up to find a very “dry” squirrel!!:eek:
 
Mary Gail… Sorry about your dryer problems. Hope DH can fix it for you.

Gas dryers are not only expensive to run, but they can be extremely dangerous. Especially, if the vents are (as you say) “snaked” all through the house to a remote outside vent. It can be nearly impossible to remove the gunk that can build up. Mine works the same way. 🤷 Our washer and dryer are placed in one of those teeny-tiny laundry closets on the 2nd floor, with the vents “snaking” all through the upstairs attic… and under the floor… coming out over our patio. The patio constantly has “lint bunnies” all over it.

When we were growing up in California, my mother had a gas dryer in the garage… but she ALSO had one of those circular clothes lines in the back yard. She used it OFTEN. It not only saved money, but it was safer too.

And the funny thing is… that now, I’m seeing a lot mail order catalogs that are offering the old fashioned clothes lines… as a kind of “new, money saving” innovation. :rotfl: Makes laugh so hard… because our GRANDMOTHERS used these things! :doh2:

HO HUM. I think this is just another case of the OLD ways being superior to the NEW ways. 😉 I think we should all go back to clothes lines. 😃

Of course, you moms with lots of kids… won’t agree with that. :o

God bless.
 
Hi MarieVeronica, My dryer is actually electric, so there is no carbon monoxide. Part of the troubleshooting suggested to try running it without the vent attachment on. It seemed to work a little better that way.

As for hanging the clothes outside, I normally love the smell of sun-dried clothes…but it’s been raining almost every day for a while.
 
happymommy said:
Friend of ours had a squirrel get in her dryer. She kept hearing a bumping sound coming from the dryer…opened it up to find a very “dry” squirrel!!:eek:
Click to expand...
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I’ll bet it had a really fluffy tail!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

By the way, the proper name for a “squirrel” is “tree rat”. I find them about as cute as their cousins, but a bit more tasty.
 
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