My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

On 4/5/2014 6:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?


If you can DIY it is probably worth the fix. If you have to call a
service guy, it will be $200+ and after all those years, I'd replace.
It is time for the belt to go, or the motor, or controls. New models
are marginally better. They are just a hot spinning tube with a little fan.

On 04/05/2014 06:21 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 4/5/2014 6:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?


If you can DIY it is probably worth the fix. If you have to call a
service guy, it will be $200+ and after all those years, I'd replace. It
is time for the belt to go, or the motor, or controls. New models are
marginally better. They are just a hot spinning tube with a little fan.



Many of the newer machines have fancy and expensive electronic controls
but the basics are all pretty much the same.

No harm in looking inside but a 25 year old drier is probably not worth
repairing.


If you get a new one, the no-frills variety are not terribly expensive.
The old standard Sears Kenmore is $300 - $400

On 05 Apr 2014, Ed Pawlowski wrote in
alt.home.repair:

On 4/5/2014 6:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it
two or three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out
the vent pipe and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still
doesn't dry very well. I'm guessing either the heating element is
partially dead or the thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened
up the machine to test the parts yet. A new heating element seems
to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and
more reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early
'90s. Do you think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old
appliance, or would it be better to cut my losses and put the
money toward a new one?

If you can DIY it is probably worth the fix. If you have to call
a service guy, it will be $200+ and after all those years, I'd
replace. It is time for the belt to go, or the motor, or controls.
New models are marginally better. They are just a hot spinning
tube with a little fan.

I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.

On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:58:34 -0400, Nil
wrote:


I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.

Not sure where you live, but I often see "FREE" washers and dryers on
Craiglsist. Folks just buy new units, keeping up with the Jones'.
Worth a look - even for parts if the appliance is the same.
--
Army Mechanized Infantry Artillery

On 4/5/2014 3:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

I've never seen a "partially dead" heater. If it's burned out it doesn't
heat at all.

On 05 Apr 2014, sms wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I've never seen a "partially dead" heater. If it's burned out it
doesn't heat at all.

The heater in this dryer has two coils, and from the descriptions I've
read from other people having similar symptoms, it sounds like one of
the two coils can fail while the other continues to heat.

Do you have a voltmeter? If so, you can use it to determine if voltage is getting to both coils or not. Just be careful, the coils probably operates on 240 Volts, the rotational motor probably runs on 120V. You don't say if the temperature on high heat seems cooler than usual, but I would expeect that if the thermostat went bad, you would get too much or not any heat. You can always clip lead around the thermostat and see if the heat then gets as hot as it used to.

Nil:

Every dryer will typically have three heat settings; High, Permanent Press and Delicates. High typically uses a 160 to 165 degree thermostat. Delicates typically uses a 140 degree thermostat. Permanent Press uses the 160 to 165 thermostat, but it stops power to the heating element 5 or 10 minutes before the cycle ends so that the clothes cool down while tumbling to prevent them from getting wrinkles.

Try running your dryer on the Delicates cycle instead and see if the dryer seems to work better. If it does, it's very possible that the high thermostat needs to be replaced.

it appears all new appliances are made on the super cheap, with beancounters running design.
the fancy electronic controls are not only pricey to replace but unreliable.

If you can DIY repair you existing dryer your probably better off.

take the dryer apart and vacuumn and blow it all out with a air hose....

look for low spots in the vent line, a low spot can accumulate condensation water and block air flow.

my vent poipe is pretty long and accumulates lint that forms into pads that block te venting.

now that the weater is better I am going to pull it all down and either relace it or wash it out with a garden hose

Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Hi,
Didn't clean out the inside the dryer?

Oren wrote:
On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:58:34 -0400, Nil
wrote:


I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.

Not sure where you live, but I often see "FREE" washers and dryers on
Craiglsist. Folks just buy new units, keeping up with the Jones'.
Worth a look - even for parts if the appliance is the same.

Hi,
People are funny. When I tried to give away my old working GE DW,
no one would take it. When I said price is 50.00, a few wanted to
pay for it.

Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two
or three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent
pipe and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very
well. I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Take a weed blower or air nozzle on your air compressor and blow out all air
passages you can get at, including the filter area. Blow out the chassis too
while your at it. Do this all outside - it makes a mess. Chances are good it
will work like new.

Tony Hwang wrote:
Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Hi,
Didn't clean out the inside the dryer?

I have not finished the job, but there was a lot of lint behind the main
screen on mine. I got to take panels off to get access.

Greg

On 4/5/2014 5:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

If it was clogged with lint, I'm guessing the high limit(over temp
safety) has been clicking on and off on and off until it is worn out.
There could also be a bad connection somewhere since 1/4" Faston
connectors can and will go bad when subjected to continuous high current
loads. The heating element is either good or bad not intermittent.
That's a Klixon or connection problem. The main thermostats in
conventional simple electric clothes dryers don't usually go bad and
will outlast everything else but can still have bad connections. Do a
little trouble shooting. When I was helping my late friend GB with
residential HVAC work, there was always that customer who would say, "I
think it's a bad thermostat." ^_^

Oh yea, check all the connections first. Look for something loose or
burnt. ^_^

TDD

On 4/5/2014 5:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Since there was a lot of lint, it's likely a
thermal cutout has been activated. These are
known to go bad (or do the job they are
designed to do). I'd pull the box apart,
and check the thermal cutouts. They come in a
kit of three, I think it is. Might be two.
Replace all, if one is bad.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 4/5/2014 6:58 PM, Nil wrote:
I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.


I doubt there is enough savings to be worth the
cost of the machine. Thermal cut outs are a known
problem, especially on lint clogged machine.

After the cycle, are the clothes warm when you take
them out?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 4/5/2014 10:53 PM, bob haller wrote:
it appears all new appliances are made on the super cheap, with beancounters running design.
the fancy electronic controls are not only pricey to replace but unreliable.

If you can DIY repair you existing dryer your probably better off.


I was, and am, thinking that the electronic
nightmare will be more expensive in the
future to keep it repaired.


--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 23:43:38 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:

Oren wrote:
On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:58:34 -0400, Nil
wrote:


I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.

Not sure where you live, but I often see "FREE" washers and dryers on
Craiglsist. Folks just buy new units, keeping up with the Jones'.
Worth a look - even for parts if the appliance is the same.

Hi,
People are funny. When I tried to give away my old working GE DW,
no one would take it. When I said price is 50.00, a few wanted to
pay for it.

LOL

When I was involved in politics, the organizer (or maybe a booklet)
told us, When there are a bunch of chilren, don't give them all campaign
buttons to wear. If you they'll wear them a bit and then stop. If you
only give some of them buttons they'll wear them for days or weeks.

(Not that I've ever noticed anyone do this.)

On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 18:42:33 -0400, Nil
wrote:

My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more

I've been told that electric heaters are 100% efficient. Minus I
guess if the cabinet is hot. My electric dryer is 35 years old, only
dries for one person, but it's doing well. Original belt and
everything else.

reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

Don't forget possibly clogged output hose, output hose connection at the
outside house wall, output path within the dryer, and lint filter.

On 4/5/2014 6:58 PM, Nil wrote:
On 05 Apr 2014, Ed Pawlowski wrote in
alt.home.repair:

On 4/5/2014 6:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it
two or three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out
the vent pipe and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still
doesn't dry very well. I'm guessing either the heating element
is partially dead or the thermostat is bad or both. I haven't
opened up the machine to test the parts yet. A new heating
element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and
more reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early
'90s. Do you think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old
appliance, or would it be better to cut my losses and put the
money toward a new one?

If you can DIY it is probably worth the fix. If you have to call a
service guy, it will be $200+ and after all those years, I'd
replace. It is time for the belt to go, or the motor, or controls.
New models are marginally better. They are just a hot spinning
tube with a little fan.

I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt
about 10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less
than I thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45
and the individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The
thermostats are less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the
machine, testing the parts with my multimeter, closing up the
machine, ordering the parts, opening up the machine again when they
arrive and doing the fix. My time and labor is cheap if it's for
myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots
of other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer
would work better and be cheaper to run.

We have one of the early water saver 1.6gal flush toilets. I must flush
it a half dozen times because it chokes on my load of ready mix. New
isn't always more efficient. o_O

TDD

On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 23:43:38 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

Oren wrote:
On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:58:34 -0400, Nil
wrote:


I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.

Not sure where you live, but I often see "FREE" washers and dryers on
Craiglsist. Folks just buy new units, keeping up with the Jones'.
Worth a look - even for parts if the appliance is the same.

Hi,
People are funny. When I tried to give away my old working GE DW,
no one would take it. When I said price is 50.00, a few wanted to
pay for it.
If you want to get rid of it, put it on the curb with a sign "Works
like new, $100" - it'l be gone the first night.

On Sun, 06 Apr 2014 06:52:55 -0500, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 4/5/2014 6:58 PM, Nil wrote:
I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.


I doubt there is enough savings to be worth the
cost of the machine. Thermal cut outs are a known
problem, especially on lint clogged machine.

After the cycle, are the clothes warm when you take
them out?
It's hard to make an electric heater more or less than 100%
efficient.

But there are ways to make a dryer where the clothes never fully dry, and other ways to make a dryer so that the clothes dry much faster with less electricity use. Som there are differences.

Nil posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP


On 05 Apr 2014, Ed Pawlowski wrote in
alt.home.repair:

On 4/5/2014 6:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it
two or three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out
the vent pipe and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still
doesn't dry very well. I'm guessing either the heating element is
partially dead or the thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened
up the machine to test the parts yet. A new heating element seems
to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and
more reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early
'90s. Do you think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old
appliance, or would it be better to cut my losses and put the
money toward a new one?

If you can DIY it is probably worth the fix. If you have to call
a service guy, it will be $200+ and after all those years, I'd
replace. It is time for the belt to go, or the motor, or controls.
New models are marginally better. They are just a hot spinning
tube with a little fan.

I think I can DIY it. I've fixed it before - I replaced the belt about
10 years ago, and it wasn't too hard. And the parts may be less than I
thought. I see on Ebay that a used heater goes for about $45 and the
individual heating coils are only about $15 each. The thermostats are
less than $10. So it's matter of me opening up the machine, testing the
parts with my multimeter, closing up the machine, ordering the parts,
opening up the machine again when they arrive and doing the fix. My
time and labor is cheap if it's for myself.

Fixing it will definitely be cheaper than a new unit. But since lots of
other big appliances are more energy efficient, maybe a new dryer would
work better and be cheaper to run.

I don't think a new dryer would be any more energy savings than yours.

--
Tekkie

The Daring Dufas posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP


On 4/5/2014 5:42 PM, Nil wrote:
My 25-year-old Hotpoint dryer is getting flaky. I have to run it two or
three times to dry a load of wet clothes. I cleaned out the vent pipe
and got quite a lot of lint out, but it still doesn't dry very well.
I'm guessing either the heating element is partially dead or the
thermostat is bad or both. I haven't opened up the machine to test the
parts yet. A new heating element seems to cost about $100.

I'm wondering if modern dryers are better, more efficient, and more
reliable these days than they were in the late '80s/early '90s. Do you
think it's worth sinking $100 into such an old appliance, or would it
be better to cut my losses and put the money toward a new one?

If it was clogged with lint, I'm guessing the high limit(over temp
safety) has been clicking on and off on and off until it is worn out.
There could also be a bad connection somewhere since 1/4" Faston
connectors can and will go bad when subjected to continuous high current
loads. The heating element is either good or bad not intermittent.
That's a Klixon or connection problem. The main thermostats in
conventional simple electric clothes dryers don't usually go bad and
will outlast everything else but can still have bad connections. Do a
little trouble shooting. When I was helping my late friend GB with
residential HVAC work, there was always that customer who would say, "I
think it's a bad thermostat." ^_^

Oh yea, check all the connections first. Look for something loose or
burnt. ^_^

TDD

And the Faston connectors are high temperature rated vs the cheap crimp ons
you find most places.

--
Tekkie

well my brand new dryer is only a couple months old and not heating or drying properly. So i will disconnect the vent line and dry a load of clothes as a experiment. if it drys well the vent line will get replaced. if it doesnt dry well I will call for warranty service.......

the tech is coming to fix again our 6 month old dishwasher. first the control panel failed, that got repaired and then it quit heating water and heater doesnt dry dishes....

new appliances have been designed to fail easily

oh yeah both of my just over a year old garmin gps failed, both units hard drives started screeching and spontaneously rebooting...

so I bought a new garmin it didnt work, it doesnt know where it is , calculates and goes to a black screen, although the audio continues.

we were going on a long trip so I bought another one from wallmart. a different better more expensive model. it has all identical troubles.....

so I called garmin and reported the issue, the !@$^ tech hung up on me, so I called back and asked for a supervisor, they werent available I left my name and number and no one called me back....

we have 2 vehicles each with a navigator..

garmin isnt going to like me I will do the social media trash thing and am cntacting consumer reports.

truly sad i have had garmins forever my first cost 650 bucks and paid for itself in a few months...

Bob Haller:

It probably is the vent.

I don't know about your dryer, but when I bought three Maytag coin operated commercial dryers, the company I bought them from sent out a contractor/monkey to install the vents.

And, as you would expect, he did it the fastest easiest way he could, which wasn't the best way to do it. You see, he gets paid a flat rate for connecting the dryer vent, so there's no incentive to do it the best way he can. He ended up using the white vinyl tubing that I subsequently learned was banned for dryer installations because it was a fire hazard. The installer pretended to be dumb about that because the white vinyl hose made for faster easier installations. And, of course, the company I bought the dryers from didn't care since they'd already made their profit. How well the dryers worked was of no concern to them.

When you replace the venting, keep in mind that the best air flow is obtained by using the shortest, straightest, smoothest wall solid aluminum or galvanized steel vent piping possible. And, going from 4 inch diameter up to 6 or even 8 inch diameter vent pipe, if doable, will help too. As long as you can get a louvered cap to fit on the end that'll let the air out but won't let the rain in, then bigger is better. Any heating contractor can show you what's available in 6 and 8 inch louvered vents. And, DO NOT use short sheet metal screws to hold the sections of vent pipe together. You can only do that on the flue venting from gas fired boilers, furnaces and water heaters. With clothes dryers ONLY use duct tape at the joints to hold the vent piping together. Lint can accumulate on the screws and cause a fire hazard.

Finally, if you want to do a Cadillac job installing that vent piping, if your vent pipe has to run vertically, DON'T connect the dryer to the bottom of that vertical vent pipe. It's smarter to use a 45 degree saddle (see image below)

https://www.indoorcomfortsupply.com/...dle_Tap_45.jpg

to connect the dryer to the SIDE of that vertical vent pipe a foot or two above the bottom of the vertical vent pipe. Then, put a removable clean out cap at the bottom of the vertical vent pipe. That way, lint that is to heavy to be carried by the air stream will fall out and collect at the bottom of the vertical vent pipe where it can be cleaned out by removing the clean out cap. That means all the heaviest lint collects at the bottom of the vent pipe so you don't need to clear the lint out of the rest of the vent piping nearly as often.

On 4/8/2014 2:26 AM, nestork wrote:

When you replace the venting, keep in mind that the best air flow is
obtained by using the shortest, straightest, smoothest wall solid
aluminum or galvanized steel vent piping possible.

Agree

And, going from 4
inch diameter up to 6 or even 8 inch diameter vent pipe, if doable, will
help too. As long as you can get a louvered cap to fit on the end
that'll let the air out but won't let the rain in, then bigger is
better.

Once the air transitions from a 4" to a 6", won't the velocity drop?
Won't than have the potential for lint accumulation?

On Mon, 7 Apr 2014 22:16:52 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

well my brand new dryer is only a couple months old and not heating or drying properly. So i will disconnect the vent line and dry a load of clothes as a experiment. if it drys well the vent line will get replaced. if it doesnt dry well I will call for warranty service.......

the tech is coming to fix again our 6 month old dishwasher. first the control panel failed, that got repaired and then it quit heating water and heater doesnt dry dishes....

new appliances have been designed to fail easily

oh yeah both of my just over a year old garmin gps failed, both units hard drives started screeching and spontaneously rebooting...

so I bought a new garmin it didnt work, it doesnt know where it is , calculates and goes to a black screen, although the audio continues.

we were going on a long trip so I bought another one from wallmart. a different better more expensive model. it has all identical troubles.....

so I called garmin and reported the issue, the !@$^ tech hung up on me, so I called back and asked for a supervisor, they werent available I left my name and number and no one called me back....

we have 2 vehicles each with a navigator..

garmin isnt going to like me I will do the social media trash thing and am cntacting consumer reports.

truly sad i have had garmins forever my first cost 650 bucks and paid for itself in a few months...
Buy a TomTom. If it fails at least you can beat on it!!

Yes, certainly, the velocity would drop, but more importantly the resistance to flow would also drop, thereby resulting in greater air flow through 6 or 8 inch venting than he'd get through 4 inch venting.

The exhaust from the dryer will be 4 inches in diameter, and there's no way to get around that. But, if he can use a couple of 45 degree elbows and connect to a vertical 6 or 8 inch vent with a 4 by 6 or 4 by 8 inch 45 degree saddle, all of the lint that's too heavy to be carried by the air flow would collect at the bottom of that vertical 6 or 8 inch vent pipe. You put a clean out at the bottom of that 6 or 8 inch vent pipe and that makes it fast and easy to remove the lint accumulated there. The rest of the 6 or 8 inch venting would rarely ever need to be cleaned.

On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:55:30 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/8/2014 2:26 AM, nestork wrote:

When you replace the venting, keep in mind that the best air flow is
obtained by using the shortest, straightest, smoothest wall solid
aluminum or galvanized steel vent piping possible.

Agree

And, going from 4
inch diameter up to 6 or even 8 inch diameter vent pipe, if doable, will
help too. As long as you can get a louvered cap to fit on the end
that'll let the air out but won't let the rain in, then bigger is
better.

Once the air transitions from a 4" to a 6", won't the velocity drop?
Won't than have the potential for lint accumulation?
Definitely. Bigger is not always better. If you go to big pipe you
NEED to do the side entry thing, with the "drop-out" cleanout.

On Tuesday, April 8, 2014 2:26:44 AM UTC-4, nestork wrote:
Bob Haller:



It probably is the vent.



I don't know about your dryer, but when I bought three Maytag coin

operated commercial dryers, the company I bought them from sent out a

contractor/monkey to install the vents.



And, as you would expect, he did it the fastest easiest way he could,

which wasn't the best way to do it. You see, he gets paid a flat rate

for connecting the dryer vent, so there's no incentive to do it the best

way he can. He ended up using the white vinyl tubing that I

subsequently learned was banned for dryer installations because it was a

fire hazard. The installer pretended to be dumb about that because the

white vinyl hose made for faster easier installations. And, of course,

the company I bought the dryers from didn't care since they'd already

made their profit. How well the dryers worked was of no concern to

them.



When you replace the venting, keep in mind that the best air flow is

obtained by using the shortest, straightest, smoothest wall solid

aluminum or galvanized steel vent piping possible. And, going from 4

inch diameter up to 6 or even 8 inch diameter vent pipe, if doable, will

help too. As long as you can get a louvered cap to fit on the end

that'll let the air out but won't let the rain in, then bigger is

better. Any heating contractor can show you what's available in 6 and 8

inch louvered vents. And, DO NOT use short sheet metal screws to hold

the sections of vent pipe together. You can only do that on the flue

venting from gas fired boilers, furnaces and water heaters. With

clothes dryers ONLY use duct tape at the joints to hold the vent piping

together. Lint can accumulate on the screws and cause a fire hazard.



Finally, if you want to do a Cadillac job installing that vent piping,

if your vent pipe has to run vertically, DON'T connect the dryer to the

bottom of that vertical vent pipe. It's smarter to use a 45 degree

saddle (see image below)



https://www.indoorcomfortsupply.com/...dle_Tap_45.jpg



to connect the dryer to the SIDE of that vertical vent pipe a foot or

two above the bottom of the vertical vent pipe. Then, put a removable

clean out cap at the bottom of the vertical vent pipe. That way, lint

that is to heavy to be carried by the air stream will fall out and

collect at the bottom of the vertical vent pipe where it can be cleaned

out by removing the clean out cap. That means all the heaviest lint

collects at the bottom of the vent pipe so you don't need to clear the

lint out of the rest of the vent piping nearly as often. nestork

I took a sample of that white plastic vent hose and tried to light it. even with a propane torch it burned poorly......

I mentioned to a tech here repairing our diswasher nder warranty that our new dryer wasnt working well.

tech said new dryers are much less able to handle long vent runs

bob haller wrote:


I took a sample of that white plastic vent hose and tried to light
it. even with a propane torch it burned poorly......

Any better than steel?

I don't know that the reason those white vinyl ducts were banned for dryers is because of how well the vinyl burns. I expect it's got as much or more to do with the fact that those ducts impose so much resistance to air flow that they cause large amounts of lint to accumulate in them, and that accumulation of lint is a fire hazard.

Did he explain that response? I don't see why that would be the case. Dryers now use 120 VAC electric motors just like they did 50 years ago, and so far as I know, neither the size nor the speed of the blower impellers has changed.

On 04/10/2014 02:20 AM, nestork wrote:
bob haller;3220751 Wrote:
I mentioned to a tech here repairing our diswasher nder warranty that
our new dryer wasnt working well.

tech said new dryers are much less able to handle long vent runs

Did he explain that response? I don't see why that would be the case.
Dryers now use 120 VAC electric motors just like they did 50 years ago,
and so far as I know, neither the size nor the speed of the blower
impellers has changed.

It's all about the Energy Guide label and the highly coveted Energy Star rating.

More airflow requires more heat...and more heat requires more energy...and more energy costs more money...which gives the dryer a bad Energy Guide rating.

Engineering consumer products is like being married...no matter what a guy does - it's wrong!

On 4/9/2014 11:23 PM, bob haller wrote:
On Tuesday, April 8, 2014 2:26:44 AM UTC-4, nestork wrote:
inch louvered vents. And, DO NOT use short sheet metal screws to hold

the sections of vent pipe together. You can only do that on the flue

venting from gas fired boilers, furnaces and water heaters. With

clothes dryers ONLY use duct tape at the joints to hold the vent piping

together. Lint can accumulate on the screws and cause a fire hazard.

I took a sample of that white plastic vent hose and
tried to light it. even with a propane torch it burned
poorly......

Good to know. I'd think the lint would cause a
heck of a mess, if it caught fire. Of course, lot
based on what kind of fabric you'd been drying.
Cotton, poly, nylon, etc. I don't wish a dryer
vent fire on anyone.

Usually in a seldom used part of the house, and
fire would likely get a head start before it was
noticed.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 4/9/2014 11:25 PM, bob haller wrote:
I mentioned to a tech here repairing our
diswasher nder warranty that our new dryer
wasnt working well.

tech said new dryers are much less able
to handle long vent runs


Wow, that blows. Or does it suck? Yeah, I
think that sucks. But then, I'm full of hot
air. Thanks, I just had to vent.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..