Dryer taking forever to dry clothes

[jrsharp21]

In the past two weeks we have noticed that our dryer is taking forever to dry a load of clothes. Where normally we would be able to dry a load of towels in an 80 minute cycle, if not a little bit longer, it is taking us almost 3 of those cycles to dry a load. Or we only have to put in a few towels at a time it takes the 80 minute cycle. When I open the dryer I notice that there is indeed heat coming out, but also I have noticed maybe a little bit more humidity than normal. I don't know if its due to the clothes being in there not drying fast enough or if this is a result of the problem.

Anyone have any ideas what I should check for?

 

[DonnaFL]

This just happened to us, too. Disconnect the dryer from the outside vent connection and clean it out. We did this and found the exhaust vent almost completely blocked by lent. This worked for us and now we can once again get a load of towels dry in the normal time.

 

[travelover]

Right on. You have a plugged vent.

 

[BimmerJon]

clogged vent..

Most important aspect to a dryer, even over heat temp..

Evaporation!

 

[inspectorD]

I like when the squirrels move in.

First.........unplug dryer.
Then...

You need to clean the vent entirely..not just at the connection. Clean it all out and you can sometimes remove the back panel of the dryer and find tons more dryer lint.

By the way ..dryer lint is the key ingredient in fires.

It is in the top ten house fire starters...clean em out bi-monthly at least.

 

[jackofallmastertonone]

make sure you are using dryer vent pipe and nothing else. I had used a drain pipe for exhaust and was not venting properly. We had the same prob. Clothes would not dry and lots of humidity.

 

[glennjanie]

The lint screen needs to be cleaned with dish detergent occasionally too. You can brush the lint off and put it under the faucet and it will hold water. Its because of the surface tension caused by fabric softener; especially dryer sheets.
Glenn

 

[Daryl]

After cleaning the exhaust line and reconnecting it you need to assure there is a good flow of air exiting it! Since most of you won't own an anomometer just hold your hand over the exit opening . there should be enough force that your hand will be pushed against gently. Sometimes the lines will get cut off when you push the dryer back against the wall and kink the line. Vent lines should be serviced at least once a year.

 

[booft]

Best to get in the habbit of doing this before every load (not after ever load as the lint you clean will go on the just cleaned clothes ) )

Good catch, I know many that forget this and then wonder why their clothes are more fuzzy than when they went in! The little things add up with lint for sure.

 

[cheesefood]

Great tip! We had just bought a new W&D a few months ago and I was very disappointed that it was taking so long to dry a load - we're talking over an hour. So tonight I pulled out the new vent tubing they'd installed and felt around . Sure enough there was a huge ball of lint clogging up the vent. There's too much snow and it's too damned cold to go outside and thoroughly clean it out but I pulled out as much as I could (which was substantial) and put the shop vac in there to suck out the rest. It's fairly clean, although it could stand to have a far more thorough clean once it warms up.

 

[glennjanie]

Hey Cheesefood:
That was a good shot on the dryer vent. Now, the filter screen needs to be washed with Dawn (the grease cutter) to allow full air flow through it. Here's how you can prove it to yourself; take the screen to the sink and run a few drops on it, watch it bead up like water on a freshly waxed car. We know that where water won't penetrate, neither will air. Fabric softener is the culprit in this case; it leaves an oily film on the filter screen, especially if you use dryer sheets.
Glenn

 

[cheesefood]

Hey Cheesefood:
That was a good shot on the dryer vent. Now, the filter screen needs to be washed with Dawn (the grease cutter) to allow full air flow through it. Here's how you can prove it to yourself; take the screen to the sink and run a few drops on it, watch it bead up like water on a freshly waxed car. We know that where water won't penetrate, neither will air. Fabric softener is the culprit in this case; it leaves an oily film on the filter screen, especially if you use dryer sheets.
Glenn

Probably wouldn't hurt to do that once a month.

 

[bowanna03]

I had the same problem did all that amd it still didn't work so i ordered a heater element off of ebay and installed it and now i have to change the thermostat also

 

[JModason]

I've had this problem for quite some time. I'm pretty lazy so obviously I've done nothing to fix it. Somebody told me it could be a bad heating element. What should I do to fix that if that's the case?

 

[Charlie]

I've had this problem for quite some time. I'm pretty lazy so obviously I've done nothing to fix it. Somebody told me it could be a bad heating element. What should I do to fix that if that's the case?

Heating elements vary by dryer, but they all have a coil of nickle/chrome wires. Depending on the dryer, you may have to open it up to access the heating element.

It is usually a pretty straightforward swap. Some elements are two pieces and you only need to replace one piece(the wire coil)

 

[fun to repair]

Keep in mind, a plugged vent can become a fire hazard. They should be cleaned periodically, it should be on the normal maintenance list.

 

[inspectorD]

Well everybody, I just returned back from training some fellow Inspectors.
One of the inspectors had the house across the street from him burn to the ground two nights ago when the temp was 15 degrees.
Turns out it was a dryer fire which started in the basement of a balloon framed house,(google it)and they lost everything because they did not check the dryer vent.

My advice to you all, get off the computer and remove the hose to the dryer and clean it. Get going.....
I'm sorry I am may be comming off as harsh, but you need to get off your lazy behind and check those vents, It's not for you, but your family.

Then you can come back here and tell me how wrong I was to tell you to do something for yourself.
Or that your dryer had no lint. Are you doing it yet.....

 

[SublimeMasterJW]

If you have a maytag/norge/crosley these are notorious for having the blower wheel loose on the shaft.

 

[mht7159]

I had the same problem with my whirlpool dryer after cleaning out the vent and using one of those dryer vent brushes (useless) I opened the blower fan cover and found at least 6-8 inches of compacted lint blocking the fan area after cleaning and putting it all back together it's working like new.

 

[Wirenuts]

If cleaning the vent out doesn't solve the problem you may have a bad low limit or high limit button thermostat. [/I]