clothes dryer still taking too long to dry

[GA native]

Originally Posted by oldfella1962

I can't control that - that's the way the house was designed. My 220 volts for the dryer is right in the center of the house - 15 or 20 feet to the nearest outside wall.

Builders and architects should be slapped for such a design. I had the same problem with my dryer. The exhaust vent went up the wall eight feet, and across the ceiling 20' feet. Denim would not dry. The wife's delicates, on low heat, would not dry.

I rerouted my vent through the garage and out of the wall. It is now 5' long with three 90 degree turns. Everything dries fine now.

You've got a ton of ideas here, and I would say just keep eliminating suspects.

I would disconnect the drier from the exhaust vent, and see if the situation improves. If it does, then your vent is likely the cause. But it could be that the blower fan is clogged. Or the blower motor is weak.

[Bill Mc]

Too much soap can cause that.

[GoldDot40]

I'm thinking if it was a vent length issue, this would've been a problem from day 1. If it's something that just started recently, I'm thinking it's mechanical. What brand dryer is it? I'm betting the answer is Maytag.

[oldfella1962]

Originally Posted by lagrangedave

Thinking out of the box here. Is your spin cycle on your washer working properly?

yes I checked that last night. Since I'm an electronic tech by trade I'm going to go the checking the thermostat & shut off switches/sensors/heating element and whatnot as suggested by some of you - if it's something along these lines I can replace the parts by myself. Now I can't wait for the workday to end so I can try these things out! Thanks everyone for the advice & ideas.

[oldfella1962]

Originally Posted by GA native

Builders and architects should be slapped for such a design. I had the same problem with my dryer. The exhaust vent went up the wall eight feet, and across the ceiling 20' feet. Denim would not dry. The wife's delicates, on low heat, would not dry.

I rerouted my vent through the garage and out of the wall. It is now 5' long with three 90 degree turns. Everything dries fine now.

You've got a ton of ideas here, and I would say just keep eliminating suspects.

I would disconnect the drier from the exhaust vent, and see if the situation improves. If it does, then your vent is likely the cause. But it could be that the blower fan is clogged. Or the blower motor is weak.

I'm a big fan of having a laundry room adjacent to the garage or entryway with a straight shot right from the dryer to an exterior wall, just a couple of feet of tubing total, so you can just replace that section every now & again for about ten dollars.

[firebreather]

I find that some times , and I quote disconnect power , 2 remove back cover make sure that the 4in pipe it clear from all debris like sand etc once my pipe was halfway clogged , 3 go ahead and clean blower louvers in wheel , it's just like hvac , air flow is a big thing , , 4 make sure there's no blockages in discharge line to outside , my buddy had a bird get in his flapper n make a nest , ha never figured that one , good luck if you've got air flow , a safety or thermal overloads causing your troubles I'd bet , also just because there's a belt doesn't mean it's not tumbling them fast enough , I'd check 1 first n move on

[Bob Shaw]

My old dryer used to do that when it got clogged-up with lint behind the lint filter, inside the dryer. I used to have to clean it out with a coat hanger. In my opinion, you need to find out what's going on because those suckers'll catch fire on ya'.

[Milkman]

So what did you find ??

[oldfella1962]

Originally Posted by Milkman

So what did you find ??

My wife has been doing laundry during the day - I'll ask her how it's been acting tonight.

[mattech]

The drum will still get hot with a bad heating element. The underwire from a bra is bad about coming out during a dry cycle and hitting the element. I've had to replace a couple heating elements, only about $15 and now my wife puts all her bras in a garment bag to dry. No issues since.

[oldfella1962]

okay - I watched a youtube video that shows how to test out every...single....electronic component on my exact dryer. Everything tests good! Heating element,

yet when I take the dryer vent off the back of the dryer, water and lint pours out.

and indeed my wife said it still takes hours to dry a single load. I checked the entire length of the venting all the way to the outside of the house, and it's not clogged - no lint at all.

My wife wants to get a new dryer, but "in theory" this dryer works! This dryer should be working fine, but it's not.
I just don't get it. But I can't have water mixing with electricity!

[Milkman]

Dry a load without the dryer vent attached

See what happens

[Cmp1]

Originally Posted by oldfella1962

okay - I watched a youtube video that shows how to test out every...single....electronic component on my exact dryer. Everything tests good! Heating element,

yet when I take the dryer vent off the back of the dryer, water and lint pours out.

and indeed my wife said it still takes hours to dry a single load. I checked the entire length of the venting all the way to the outside of the house, and it's not clogged - no lint at all.

My wife wants to get a new dryer, but "in theory" this dryer works! This dryer should be working fine, but it's not.
I just don't get it. But I can't have water mixing with electricity!

Check your spin cycle on your washer,,,, shouldn't be getting that much moisture out the vent,,,,

[NOYDB]

yet when I take the dryer vent off the back of the dryer, water and lint pours out.

Water?

To be getting water out you have to be putting water in. As cmp1 suggests check washer. What is the condition of the clothes when the washer stops?

[oldfella1962]

Originally Posted by NOYDB

Water?

To be getting water out you have to be putting water in. As cmp1 suggests check washer. What is the condition of the clothes when the washer stops?

you couldn't wring any more water out of them if you tried - the washer drains and spins with no problem.

[Fuzzy D Fellers]

Originally Posted by oldfella1962

you couldn't wring any more water out of them if you tried - the washer drains and spins with no problem.

Something is trapping moisture inside.

[Crakajak]

Originally Posted by oldfella1962

you couldn't wring any more water out of them if you tried - the washer drains and spins with no problem.

Are we talking about the washer or dryer?
It can cause a moisture backup in the dryer if the blower motor isn't turning the proper RPMs,could still be showing proper voltage/amp draw within tolerance but spins slower(think furnace blower motor.)

If its the washer. The pump might have a partial blockage before the pump .

[oldfella1962]

Originally Posted by Migmack

Something is trapping moisture inside.

it's a real head scratcher! But it never crossed my mind that maybe the clothes are going in "too wet" from the washer. Just how "dry" should clothes be when they come out of the washer? I googled the question, but there was no answer for that exact question - just another question of "is your washer not spinning your clothes dry?" - I need a definition of "dry"! Obviously not dripping wet and heavy, but what if there is more moisture that I'm just not noticing. I would almost have to have two washers to compare which one spins them better.

Bottom line I get a new dryer and have the same problem (long drying times and water collecting in the vent tubing) I guess my washer is bad too.

[Milkman]

Originally Posted by Milkman

Dry a load without the dryer vent attached

See what happens

Have you done this ?

[Fuzzy D Fellers]

Originally Posted by oldfella1962

it's a real head scratcher! But it never crossed my mind that maybe the clothes are going in "too wet" from the washer. Just how "dry" should clothes be when they come out of the washer? I googled the question, but there was no answer for that exact question - just another question of "is your washer not spinning your clothes dry?" - I need a definition of "dry"! Obviously not dripping wet and heavy, but what if there is more moisture that I'm just not noticing. I would almost have to have two washers to compare which one spins them better.

Bottom line I get a new dryer and have the same problem (long drying times and water collecting in the vent tubing) I guess my washer is bad too.

I'm leaning towards the vent tubing being to long and the moist air isn't being pushed out fast enough to dry the clothes.

Clothes out of the washing machine should be damp and you shouldn't be able to ring water out of the clothe.

Also, how much of a load is your wife drying at one time?

[Crakajak]

If your exhaust vent goes up and over to the outside you should have a inline fan to help exhaust the moist air.
As the dryer is pushing the hot exhaust out,the moist collects and will back into the dryer.I found out when my inline exhaust fan went out and I had to replace.Dryer wasn't drying clothes even though everything checked out electrically.

[oldfella1962]

Originally Posted by Migmack

I'm leaning towards the vent tubing being to long and the moist air isn't being pushed out fast enough to dry the clothes.

Clothes out of the washing machine should be damp and you shouldn't be able to ring water out of the clothe.

Also, how much of a load is your wife drying at one time?

No, you can't wring water out of the clothes when they are done washing. Yes the total venting distance is long, but it has worked since we bought the dryer several years ago. The dryer has only recently started acting like this (a few months at most). I reamed out the entire length (which I figured would solve my problem) about a month ago, but since then had the water in the section just coming out of the dryer two more times fill with water & lint.

Plenty of hot air getting all the way to the outside vent of the house too. Weird!

[EAGLE EYE 444]

oldfella1962,

Now here is a thought that I haven't seen mentioned yet.

I think that a good way to be sure that your washer is spinning enough of the actual water out of the clothes would be to take a load to the nearest Laundry-Mat type facility which are scattered throughout the Evans area and wash the load as you normally would. Then immediately take that load home and run it through your dryer as soon as possible and then compare the results in dryness after the normal dryer cycle.

If the results are the same at that point, at least, you might have eliminated a possible problem with your current washing machine. I would consider doing this as it surely wouldn't cost very much to try this experiment and hopefully know exactly where the problem might be then before you think about buying any new appliances.

If the same problem persisted, then you know there is a problem with the dryer and/or the ductwork exhaust not functioning properly.

This might be the cheapest way to determine this.

[GoldDot40]

I'm curious to know if your dryer has a steam cycle with a water supply ran to it?

[mattech]

A dryer needs three main things to dry. Fluff ( spin) heat ( heating element) and moving air (blower). Run a cycle, open the door in the middle of a run, and see if you can catch the clothes falling back down, if so, then it's spinning. Take the vent off the back and run a cycle, keep your hand back there for the whole cycle, make sure airflow is strong and constant, and continuously warm. Blower could be intermittent, and cutting off and on. Like I said earlier, just because the frame of the dryer is getting hot doesn't mean the heating element is working correct. Being a homeowner has taught me a dryer is one of the simplest easiest things to fix. There's just not much to them. I did a total rebuild on mine twice before my wife wanted front load washer and dryers, and the dryer was working great when we upgraded.