I have a Kenmore dryer, Series 90 that Ifeel, and so does the woman that uses it most, that it takes way too long todry clothes. Last night I replaced the vent hosebetween the dryer and the wall with the metal flex hose, making sure there wereno kinks in it.

The hose that was onthere was the white plastic hose and it did look somewhat in a bind.A year or two ago I replaced the heatingelement.]I took off the bottom front cover so Icould view the element. While running the dryer before and after replacing thehose the element would come on for about 10 seconds and then go off for a while( did not time it but probably a minute or so) then come back on for 10 moreseconds and repeat this process.

I also noticed that the foam sealbetween the fan housing and the other metal housing that goes to the lintfilter and the vent pipe and a section missing about the size of your thumb.

The vent pipe from the wall to theoutside is probably about 16 feet.At the wall it elbows down about 18 to24 inches the elbows back the opposite direction for about a 14 foot run to theoutdoors.

I built the house about 8 years ago andthe vent pipe has never been cleaned.I hope I can fix this instead of buyinganother dryer.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'll let the Pros answer....but please just use the standard format for posting. Your original post was extremely difficult to read until I removed all the font type and size issues.

 

Did it used to dry clothes faster or has it always been this way?

 

Yes it used to dry better.

 

Almost always means a lint buildup, finding it can be another story....

 

Clean the vent pipe to the outside, 99% of all dryer problems start there. I hear this every day.

 

How would you recommend doing this on this long run?
Do I need to buy a special tool to do this or what.

Thanks

 

Is the vent pipe 14', 16, or 30'. Hard to tell from your description.

The angles and bends are the problem causers. They interrupt the flow of the exhaust and that's right where the lint stops.

A brush on an extension, like in the picture below, is a start. This brush from Brushtec is the model B68C ten foot long brush. It's available everywhere from Amazon to the home improvement stores. There is also a twenty foot model available but not from the same company. More of a pro series cleaning item.

I was just reading at another site that some people have used leaf blowers to clean out lines. Probably works real good. Definitely need damper door/outside hood removed first.

At home I have a central vacuum cleaning system. I take the end cuff off and just send the hose in. The hose is 35' so it vacuums as it cleans the dust out of the duct.

On the road I use a brush like below. I'll take off the outdoor hood and put the hose from the shop vac with rags into the duct and then brush from the inside out. If it's a long run you can switch and do it from both ends.

 

Sounds like a great idea with the brush and vacuum.
I will try this, this weekend and see if the dryer still acts the same.

Cound I not just unhook the hose from the wall and see if the element clicks on and off like its been doing.. Wouldnt that be a good way to test it even before cleaning out the vent pipe.

Yes I know the pipe should be cleaned anyway and I will but just for argument sake and for time sake I thought I may test it by unhooking dryer from vent pipe just to run a few minutes.

 

Yes it is a good way to test, but when you disconnect vent at back of dryer feel air flow, should be the same outside of house.

 

What Method do y'all prefer for cleaning long vent pipes.
Brush Method
Air pressure; air hose, leaf blower
Or another
??

 

No preferred method......use what you have or makes sense to you. The brush on the 10' tether is probably the most effective.

If you used a leaf blower....you would have to bring it inside to blow out. Some have a vacuum connection and then you could use it outside. You don't wont to blow the lint in

 

Just blowing or sucking won't do any good btw. You need some sort of brushing/rubbing action.

Seems I saw some innovative person that used a brush or nerf ball of some sort that was attached to a pull string and the string was blown or pulled through using a shop vac or the dryer air.

When I moved here our dryer and bath fans needed to have the crappy beat up flex replaced and the rigid vent cleaned. I dropped a weighted string down with a bunch of plastic bags tied in the middle and pulled it back and forth top to bottom till no more junk fell out.


This was before the DIY cleaning tools you can find at home centers now.