clothes dryer vent rant !

[rfuerst911sc]

I just finished pulling out the dryer and cleaning out the vent, I have to do this about twice a year. If I don't do this the " smart " dryer won't turn on. What a piece of $hit a dryer vent setup is In my case the gas pipe come up through the floor right where the vent should go ! So instead the flex vent ( more garbage ! ) has to take a right turn THEN make another turn to go through the floor. Now I'm in the basement looking up at the flex vent coming through the floor. It then takes another right angle and runs about 25 feet, then takes another right angle down THEN another right angle to horizontal where it runs for three feet and TAKES ANOTHER right angle out through the masonary wall to the outside. You have got to be kidding me this is the best the builder could come up with !!! Could have run the vent out the front and saved 20 foot of run and a crap load of turns ! I know I have to run it out the front but just haven't done it yet. And of course the space where the washer/dryer reside was designed in the mid 80's when apparently appliances were smaller. So not much wiggle room to pull them out. So how often do you have to clean the vent ? My wife cleans the internal filter in the front of the machine weekly and runs a vacumn cleaner hose down there weekly. Not sure how much more we can do ? Thanks for letting me vent

[Neilk]

Similar setup but ours goes to the roof. About once every 6 weeks, I have to go into the attic, disconnect the vent to the outside and clean the lint off the screen that prevents animals from coming in the house. Total pain in the ass too!

[cashflyer]

You need to go green. No vent problems.

[GH85Carrera]

Our vent hose is just three feet long. I have to replace the louvered cover every few years because the sun eats the plastic and turns it to powder. Other than that we clean the lint filter on the dryer for every load.

[Oh Haha]

Seeing as how I am now the "laundry guy" :

I have to clean the pull-out lint catcher thingy every other session or it is full. I blow the rear vent pipe about every 6 months. Ours is only about 6 feet total and connected to the outside with only 2 slight bends.

Keeping the internal lint trap clean will improve the efficiency for faster drying.

I WILL be using our clothesline come summer!

[jyl]

My dryer vent makes one turn, goes up three or four feet, then turns once more and exits the house immediately. Plenty of room to work. No flex hose. But I still complain about it. Face it, dryer vents just don't get much love.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Our vent hose is just three feet long. I have to replace the louvered cover every few years because the sun eats the plastic and turns it to powder. Other than that we clean the lint filter on the dryer for every load.

Ours too, and we only need about 8 inches of that 3 foot host.

[Evans, Marv]

I'm surprised you haven't had real problems with that long of a run and that many turns - especially if most of it is that accordion like flex vent tubing. I can't imagine keeping that all cleaned out. For safety's sake, I would reroute it and try to put in as much smooth ridged tubing as I could. Sound like a real project.

[chapo]

Sounds like some of you gifts need the dryer vent clean out. It is plastic with a clear cover and mounts in the wall behind the dryer. They are mandatory for any vent that goes up through the roof. You can see when it needs to be emptied, easy

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by jyl

Face it, dryer vents just don't get much love.

You just don't understand! I love my vent and we will be happy together!

But seriously... previous owner ran the vent up and sideways fifteen feet to the side of the building. No doubt so it would be "out of sight and out of mind" however that made for clog city. I ran steel pipe up, over, and out in front of the laundry. Nary a clog since.

Ironically my wife just had me install a clothesline... she is old school.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

I'm surprised you haven't had real problems with that long of a run and that many turns - especially if most of it is that accordion like flex vent tubing. I can't imagine keeping that all cleaned out. For safety's sake, I would reroute it and try to put in as much smooth ridged tubing as I could. Sound like a real project.

The entire run is steel 4 " pipe/elbows except the flex pipe going from the dryer through the floor. The flex pipe is probably 2 ' long but makes two turns in that 2 ' I believe that is the most restriction in the run. I just need to get off my butt and reroute it to the front of the house. I may install a tee where the flex pipe comes through the floor, my thoughts are maybe I can pop a cap off the tee and run a vacumn cleaner hose up from the basement to clean out the flex pipe. As I get older my desire to wrestle the dryer is less and less

[look 171]

Too long and too many bends. A fan (or inline fan) to pull the heat/moisture out of there from the other end maybe necessary. It will aid drying so your dryer wouldn't have to work as hard. The booster fan will sense air pressure and kick on automatically. Fan tech makes an inline booster for dryers. They are the best, quiet and powerful.

[Grog]

That run is too long. I'm surprised that you haven't had a fire yet. I don't remember the exact specs, but I think a dryer vent run can't be more than 30 feet if it is straight. You have to subtract length for 90 degree elbows and 45's.

[BE911SC]

My home's laundry is upstairs, second floor. Vent goes into the wall, makes a 90 and drops straight down 15 feet or so under the house (no basement), makes another 90 and goes about 20 feet to the wall where it vents outside. I have a coiled up section of 3" plastic hose that I connect to my industrial portable shop vac, feed the hose in from the outside wall and suck out a huge lint ball every six months or so. I also feed the 3" hose down from the top. My clue for needing to clean it out is that laundry starts taking longer to dry. High-end house built in the mid-1980s, not jerry-rigged. Coincidentally, the dryer just croaked after ten years so another gets delivered on Sunday.

[onewhippedpuppy]

For starters, I would (and do) empty the internal filter with every load. And I would definitely re-route before you have a fire. I have never needed to clean out my vent tubing, and have lived here for 7 years.

[Scuba Steve]

I clean the screen from the dryer every time I run a load through it. As far as the actual duct, I think I was the first person in years to have cleaned it when I did it about a month ago. I put the leaf blower in there and fired it up, quick and easy. It's cheap flex line and runs about 20 feet with two 90 degree bends + a 45 and dumps out into the bushes. Not a great design.

The washer and dryer are in the garage addition - typical for the 1970s when it was done. I plan on moving them indoors when I redo the master bedroom/bathroom/closets early next year. The only concern I have is with noise. The washer and dryer work great but will probably be too loud unless I can figure out a way to make the laundry room more quiet.

[URY914]

Our vent pipe is PVC and goes from the wall to being cast in the slab and exits low on the outside wall. It has 2 90 degree bends. I found using a long vacuum hose (I duct tape several together) on a shop vac to both blow and suck the lint out works for me.

[john70t]

The OP's setup sounds like a downhill run.

Get rid of that flex portion. Make it smooth.

To clean:
Attach a high-flow lightweight round nozzle to a flexible section of hose to a compressor, using fittings.
Take out the filter and run the dryer on low.
Feed hose through the run until it reaches exhaust exit.
Repeat.

[NY65912]

I ran 4" lightwall aluminum tubing and long radius elbows, coupled by hi temp silicone couplings. The line is buried for the most part in the ceiling from an interior wall out straight through to the out side wall. I have two 90°s and then straight out. It still builds a lot of lint. I clean out twice a year.

To the OP....you can get a booster fan to help suck/push through specifically for dryer vent.

I think the lint problem is due to crappy clothing.

[billybek]

That vinyl drier ducting should be outlawed.
Incredible pressure drop through the length even when it is run in a straight line.
Lowers the velocity through the vent. Drier works harder and vent temps are hotter. Results in a fire.
As mentioned before, remove that crap and install a hard vent line with as few fittings as possible.
Tape the fittings together with foil tape and avoid using screws. I know this should be pretty obvious but put the fittings together in the direction of flow so the air enters the fitting or length of pipe without running into an edge. Pipe would slide into the fitting on the entering air side of the fitting.