Dryer not drying
I put a bunch of sheets, pillowcases, and other laundry in the dryer
around midday and set the dryer to dry for an hour, but when I opened the dryer
to remove the items in the evening, the items were still wet, though my
wife told me she had restarted the dryer twice during the day. A few months
ago when we had a similar problem with clothes not drying even after
several cycles in the dryer, when I looked in the vent outside, I saw a
clump of lint was blocking the vent. When I removed it, the dryer
then performed as expected. I had looked in the vent a month ago, but had
not seen any lint blocking the opening, but I went out again with a flashlight,
since it was nighttime, and peered into the opening. Though the dryer was
running, I could not detect much air coming out of the duct. With the
flashlight, I could see what appeared to be a clump of lint near a bend in the
tube leading to the vent opening. I had a hard time getting my arm far
enough into the duct to pull out the clump of lint, but I was eventually
able to get it out. When I did so, I suddenly felt a great deal of hot
air coming out of the vent. So if your dryer isn't drying as well as you
would expect, check the lint filter and the outside vent. Fixing the problem
might be as simple as removing lint lodged in the vent. If there is no
blockage visible, you might have to pull the dryer further away from a
wall and remove any ducting/tube leading from the dryer to the outside
to check it, but there may be a no-cost solution to the problem. I didn't
think the problem with our dryer could be a faulty moisture sensor, since
I had set the dryer for a timed drying period, which normally would be
enough to dry a load of laundry.
I've also ordered a flexible
drain snake (drain clog remover) one can use for cleaning
sinks to make it easier to remove lint. I'm hoping I can feed it into the vent
opening and pull out lint, if a similar clog occurs.
