April 19, 2007
What I Learned Today - Clean your dryer vent!
When I first moved into my house, I bought what I thought was a really nice washer and dryer, the Maytag Neptune series. As it turns out, the model of washer I got was plagued by at least a couple of problems; a badly designed seal that caused mildew to grow if it wasn't meticulously dried out constantly, and a circuit board for the controls that would blow a particular resistor.
The blown resistor seems to just be a sign of a badly designed circuit that ended up involving the automatic door lock on the door, and on, and on. The dryer seemed to fair better, but Ronda and I noticed a while ago that her cheaper dryer worked much better than my pimp-daddy dryer.
When she moved in we switched out my washer and dryer for hers. Lo! And behold! Her dryer worked no better at my house than my old one. That's when Ronda busted out her Girl Knowledge.
It turns out you have to clean your dryer vent every once in a while. I'm not talking about the dryer screen in the dryer. I'm talking about the big tube that goes from the back of the dryer, into the wall, under the house, and out the wall.
Ronda ordered some special cleaning devices and when they arrived, we got to work. We moved the dryer out from the wall and disconnected it, then used the special devices to try and bore through the years of accumulated dryer lint. The main device looked like a toilet brush on a long wire.
The Dryer Cleaning Device
We were able to shove this brush-like thing into the vent from the outside wall and drag out a couple of lint balls the size of Astro. When we turned on the dryer no hot air came out the vent, though.
That's when I got the idea to enlist my shop vacuum into service. In the end, the combined lint balls were probably about the size of Tanner. Air was flowing freely out the vents. Our clothes dried rapidly.
So, lesson learned! Clean your dryer vent, especially if you're clothes aren't drying in one cycle. Man, that Ronda's handy.
Closed because of comment spam
Posted by Rob at April 19, 2007 10:11 AMCongratulations! You're nearly fully domesticated now...
;)
Posted by: Jeffrey Fredrick at April 19, 2007 11:28 AMI think Ronda probably has a different perspective at this point.
Posted by: Rob at April 19, 2007 03:58 PMOh, Very Nearly, Jeff! I would like to say that the WADS were quite a bit bigger than Astro. I found them quite Fribble like...at least Raccoon like!
If a Raccoon can be made of a concrete-like material. I am a HUGE fan of Power Tools and anything manly…I will say that his Fein Shop Vac is a mighty powerful tool and aided my “store bought toilet brush” immensely.
As a team….our powers are strongest!
As you can see, Ronda's geekification is about as far along as my domestication. I think by "Fribble" she meant "Tribble".
Posted by: Rob at April 20, 2007 08:55 AMStephanie and I had a dead bird fall out of ours the other day. I's still lying there. I guess I should clean it up.
Posted by: Ron at April 20, 2007 02:18 PMOh yeah. This is a Fribble.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fribble
As "domesticated" as Max is...I'm surprised that he hasn't gotten the bird!
Posted by: Ronda at April 21, 2007 09:43 AM