dryer vent issues

[rfuerst911sc]

We have a fairly new ( past 3-4 years ) LG gas clothes dryer that works fine. However I have to pull the dryer out of its cove several times a year to vacuum the vent which is a pain in the butt. The washer/dryer are bordering on being too large for the cove they reside in which doesn't help. The vent goes through the floor via flexible ducting ( garbage ) . Then takes a right turn and travels about 30 ' and takes another right turn ( stupid ) . It gets better, it then travels about 5 ' and take another right turn to exit out of the back of the house !!! Not sure who the rocket scientist was that designed this run but the only way it could be more restrictive if it was filled with concrete . Seems to me the best solution is to come off the back of the dryer with a hard elbow facing the floor. I can access from the basement looking up at the floor. I'm thinking of making the hole in the floor a little bigger giving some wiggle room. Then I'm thinking of installing a tee, this would allow one side of the tee to be capped with a removable cap so to clean just remove the cap and snake in a vacuum hose. Then it would be a straight shot to the front of the house which would be about 10 - 12 feet total. Anyone else have any ideas ? I'm not fond of venting at the front of the house due to lint coming out the vent but the current setup is garbage. The better half vacuums out the dryer from the inside screen about once a week so normal maint. is being done. But when the dryer won't continue to run we know the vent is plugged. It doesn't help that the flexible vent is " bunched up " when you slide the dryer into position. But you have to have some extra length of hose to allow the dryer to be pulled forward/connected but when you slide it back the hose has to curl/bend which is restrictive.

[vash]

Oh man. That is a long run. The closet wall is the front of the house?


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[billybek]

What type of flex is this? That plastic wire supported junk?
Gas driers should have hard pipe or a type of flex pipe with very little restriction.(designed for gas application)

A friend of mine had a drier vented with flex and was complaining on how long it took to dry clothes. I had some hard pipe left over and re ran his venting in it. It is amazing how restrictive that cheap flex is. The air is so turbulated before it leaves the tubing that the lint gets dizzy and needs to stop and rest for a while.

If you are assembling hard pipe for a drier use good quality foil tape to assemble the joints.

Find another route out or simplify the run. Use hard pipe instead of flex.

Gas driers will push out products of combustion into the home so make sure it is well vented, low restriction and tight.

[billybek]

Booster fans are also available for long runs.

[rfuerst911sc]

The flex vent is foil type with wire reinforcement. I agree hard pipe is preferred the trick is getting it all lined up once the dryer is pushed back. Once pushed back there is no way to see/work back there. But i just got an idea i can make a removable panel in the floor that can be removed from the basement. So it would be an elbow at the back of the dryer , a tee or elbow to transition to horizontalthen a run of hard pipe about 10 foot to the outside vent.

[chrismorse]

I have done a few dryer runs.
The best thing to use is 4 inch "SD" pvc pipe. It is thin wall and readily available at most ace hardware stores.
Use large radius elbows or build up the turns with short sections of pipe and 1/8th bend elbows.
Keep the turns to a minimum.
Keep the pipe constantly sloping downhill, or you will have water ponding in the pipe, which attracts and holds lint.
If it is a long run, insulate the pipe to keep all of the moisture from condensing in the pipe.
Leave one or two joints loose, (not glued up), so you can do the clean out.
Make sure the pipe is well and frequently supported, or things will come apart or you will get ponding.
Use the semi rigid aluminum flex to get from the dryer to the pipe run. Make these turns as gentle as possible. You can sometimes find an aluminum elbow that will fit onto the back of the dryer, which leaves you with just one 90 degree turn to go through the floor.

The booster fan idea is also good, but simpler is better.
I like your idea of the hatch in the floor to access it from the bottom.
Be carefull with "Ts", they are often a very tight turn.

HTH,
chris

[1990C4S]

Maybe an external lint trap before you enter the loooooooong run would help.

Personally I find a clothesline is pretty effective.

[dyount]

Oh dryer vents.... I do not have a code book with me at the moment but here goes.

1 the overall length of dryer vent is 25' if memory serves. Reduce by 5' for each 90 degree turn.

2 DO NOT use PVC for venting. Static electricity builds up in PVC and then you've got a source of ignition for the lint.

3 The only place you can use a UL listed flex is between the dryer and hard pipe.

4 Use hard pipe held together with UL listed foil tape 181 P to make your connections.

5 Booster fans are not listed by UL as far as I know... yes the motors are listed but the fans not that I remember.

6 Back to the 25' thing... most dryer manufacturers have spec's that go greater than the minimum 25'

I would recommend keeping the run as short as possible for several reasons. Gas dryers are a ton hotter than electric ones, the length of run has alot to do with why the current set up is dropping lint in the piping.

Best of luck and if you need more info pm me

[dyount]

Oh, and no you cannot pass flex through a floor space or wall

[campbellcj]

We've had vent woes for several years. Our hard pipe has 2 right angle turns and the straight run is about 20 feet. It used to work adequately but now I think there's a rusted-out spot up in the ceiling. I've had 3 different people recommend replacing the whole pipe but can't find anybody yet who will bid on doing it. It is totally inaccessible behind drywall and frame in some spots.

So, the housekeeper air dries a lot of stuff...it's such a PITA when builders do this Mickey Mouse stuff.