Dryer question

[PrincessPerky]

My dryer is dying . I takes two run throughs to get towels dry and diapers, and jeans. I try to line dry when I can, but this week is rainy, and I never can line dry towels, no room . Honest I clean the lint trap!

Anyone know if there is maybe a small (cheap) thing I can do to get it working better? Some minor fix I might be overlooking?

[Ima saver]

Sorry, I don't. Whenever my dryer dies, I just go and get a new one. It is not worth it to pay a repairman.

[kashi]

I don't think PrincessPerky has the luxury of buying a new dryer.

I did a short search on it and found this link. Hopefully there will be something there that can help you!

[Frugal_Cheap_Pants]

I've been having to run my dryer 1.5 cycles. DH found lots of lint in the thing on the outside of the house...I empty the lint after every cycle and the dryer is only 3 years old so I hope it's nothing major. Also, my laundry room is not well insulated (its an addition to the home) so I think the cold temperatures in that room may be making the dryer work harder.

I wish I had more advice for you other than checking the lint vent on the outside of the house as well as the hose.

I hang lots of laundry up inside. A few years ago I bought a retractable line. This way its out of sight when not in use.

Good luck...

[Razzy]

I spin my clothes in the washing machine 4 or 5 times to get out as much of the water as possible. I have found by doing this it cuts down on dryer time and cuts down on how long the clothes need to be outside to dry.


I have a hall and I have a couple of tension rods that I hang clothes from. If you don't have hall you can put the tension rod in the doorway of your bedroom or any other room. Just hang your clothes from a hanger and let them dry over night.

Razzy

[34saving]

The lint trap is just the beginning of a (possibly) pretty long tube to the outside. Sometimes that can get clogged and make things really inefficient. There might be a joint that's just held together by friction or duct tape. You might want to try opening that to see what's there. If there's not a joint in the middle you could also try a vacuum from the inside or outside outlet.

[cheapbastard]

This response is only valid if your dryer is heated by electricity, not natural gas. A few years ago we had an old dryer that went cold. I thought I had nothing to lose if I opened it up and had a look. I was able to work out that the element wire had broken. Our dryer had two elements and both were broken. Maybe your dryer has one broken element and the other is still working and this is why it takes twice as long to dry things.

Here is what I did. Unplug the dryer first. This is very important as you don't want to get an electric shock. Take the back off. Inside you will see two coils of wire that circle the back of the rotating drum. If they are broken take them out and go to a washing machine/dryer repair shop and ask for a new element wire. I don'e remember how much this cost me, but it couldn't have been more than $10. I replaced the broken elements and reattached the back of the machine.

I plugged it in and it worked. I was quite pleased with myself and I saved on a big repair bill.

If you don't know anything about electricity, it might be a good idea not to attempt this. But if you have a basic understanding and respect for electricity go for it.

[Razzy]

If you are drying too many heavy items in the dryer at once then they will take a long time to dry. My sil washes bout 10 or more pairs of jeans, she then puts them in a top of the line dryers and it still takes more than one dryer cycle to dry all the jeans, (another relative has the top of the line dryer).

Razzy

[Fern]

Originally Posted by Razzy

I spin my clothes in the washing machine 4 or 5 times to get out as much of the water as possible. I have found by doing this it cuts down on dryer time and cuts down on how long the clothes need to be outside to dry.


I have a hall and I have a couple of tension rods that I hang clothes from. If you don't have hall you can put the tension rod in the doorway of your bedroom or any other room. Just hang your clothes from a hanger and let them dry over night.

Razzy

Razzy's right. I read about this somewhere also, just doing an extra spin, especially for heavy items like towels that tend to hold more water.

[Fern]

Originally Posted by cheapbastard

This response is only valid if your dryer is heated by electricity, not natural gas. A few years ago we had an old dryer that went cold. I thought I had nothing to lose if I opened it up and had a look. I was able to work out that the element wire had broken. Our dryer had two elements and both were broken. Maybe your dryer has one broken element and the other is still working and this is why it takes twice as long to dry things.

Here is what I did. Unplug the dryer first. This is very important as you don't want to get an electric shock. Take the back off. Inside you will see two coils of wire that circle the back of the rotating drum. If they are broken take them out and go to a washing machine/dryer repair shop and ask for a new element wire. I don'e remember how much this cost me, but it couldn't have been more than $10. I replaced the broken elements and reattached the back of the machine.

I plugged it in and it worked. I was quite pleased with myself and I saved on a big repair bill.

If you don't know anything about electricity, it might be a good idea not to attempt this. But if you have a basic understanding and respect for electricity go for it.

Actually, my 10 year old dryer doesn't seem to be heating as well as it used to, so i'm going to try what cheapb.... said myself. as he/she said, i have nothing to lose by trying. SOUNDS simple enough.

[cercis]

Everyone already suggested what I was going to suggest. Start with either cleaning the dryer vent tube or replacing it (I think they're $4 or so). If that doesn't work, check the elements.

Dryers should last for practically forever. They're pretty simple items (especially if you don't get a programmable one).

[PrincessPerky]

Thanks a bunch! I will look into the vent-thingie, and see if DH will look at the elements.

My last dryer was older than me, so I will be pretty annoyed if this one dies already (the last dryer was fixed multiple times, but the same thing kept breaking). This ione is a handme down, but it isn't as old as me .

[flash]

Is it gas or electric?

My previous dryer was a handmedown, twenty years, I think. Same symptoms.

It could be the heating element or a fuse.
It could be the lint trap and line.
The line vents to the outside, so something could have clogged it up (happened to me this summer, turned out DH's tarp had fallen down outside and over the exhaust).

If the clothes aren't getting HOT, probably element or fuse.
If the clothes are hot and wet, probably the vent line.

[flash]

Oh, and usually the lint trap has quite a bit of space under it inside the machine. If you have a vacuum with a very long skinny attachment, you can usually remove quite a bit of gunk. Or a long bottle brush, something to "snake" it out.

[cercis]

I just remembered one thing - check the power cord. We found that ours had frayed on one side and was no longer spinning (I guess one side does the spinning and one side the heating?). We replaced the power cord and it worked wonderfully.

[PrincessPerky]

Electric, and the clothes are half dry, but I have no idea if hot..no wait they do get hot. I never take them out when it stops (I know I should but...) so they are always cold by the time I get o them, but only half wet.

[flash]

Okay, if the clothes are getting hot, and assuming the barrel is rotating, then probably humidity (water) is not able to escape/vent.

Pull the dryer away from the wall, pull the big gray hose out of the wall and detach from the dryer. Clear out the hose, check the hole in the wall, check inside the dryer where the hose attaches, as well as the lint trap and under the lint trap. And outside the house, where the vent exits and all the hot wet air should be going to.

If that's all clear, and the barrel is rotating, write back!

[jodi]

I saw an ad in a magazine for a little spiky ball (can't remember the name) that you throw in with the clothes. It is supposed to somehow shorten the drying time by not letting the clothes bunch up. Anyone ever heard of this or know if it works? I must admit I was intrigued by the idea of shaving 10-20 minutes off the drying time...might even be worth the price (I think it was $15-20?) IF it works.

[Razzy]

I would see what people on the web are saying about and give it 4 to 5 years. If you want to save drying time run the spin cycle on your washer 4, 5times or more and that will cut your drying time.

If your going to invest your money on something that will cut drying time get a spin dryer, they are popular in Europe and are suppose to really cut the drying time. We are looking into buying one but have not had any luck finding an American company that sells them.

Razzy

[cercis]

Or, when you need a new washer, get a front loader, they use less water, less electricity, are easier on your clothes and spin more of the water out of them.

I love my front loader. I no longer have surprise holes in my clothes or bras stretched out of shape because they got caught on the agitator.