I may have mentioned it on here that my dryer has been crazy. I clean the lint filter when I put a new load in and recently, if it’s been a day or two since I used the dryer, the lint in the filter is damp . . sometimes, it’s really wet. Over the weekend, I could see moisture rolling down the back of the inside of the dryer. I’ve lived in southwest Louisiana, where it’s about as humid as it gets, and never had a problem like that. I kept thinking about how moisture could be getting in the dryer . . there’s nothing on top of it that could be leaking, the roof isn’t leaking . . besides, it never rains this time of year. I just couldn’t figure it out.
I told Vince . . something is crazy with that dryer. I explained to him what it was doing . .
Vince: Maybe the drain line is plugged?
Me: The drain line?
Vince: How does the water get out of the dryer from wet clothes?
I just looked at him and my answer when he says weird stuff is always the same “I wish I was an engineer!”
So, I convinced him that the moisture from the clothes goes out through the exhaust vent. Therein lies the problem.
The exhaust vent comes through the foundation and out right smack onto the ground. Who does that? I told Vince today . . we need to add to our list of things we want in a house . . laundry room with the dryer on an outside wall . . not in the middle of a house!
Earlier this week, Vince took the vent cover off and there was some lint hung up in that vent cover so he cleaned it out and put the vent back on but when I went to put clothes in the dryer last night, the moisture was back.
This morning, he pulled that cap back off, got the “snake” tool out and went from the outside in and then poked it down the dryer from the inside and went out with it . . or as far out as he could get.
He vacuumed. He kept getting lint out but he said he felt like there was more in there that he wasn’t able to get out.
This is what he finally pulled out, after pulling out a LOT of lint . . a piece of drywall, probably where they cut the gas line coming in for the dryer, or the water line coming in for the washer. Some doofus left that piece of drywall and a couple of pieces of sandpaper inside the dryer vent line and after 16 years of use, it collected enough lint to cause problems.
I’ve given Vince a hard time about the “dryer drain line” and then he brought up about when he drained the water heater, through the downstairs living room, to the outside door, with a soaker hose! He’s explained for 12 years why he did it and it still makes no sense to me, especially since there was a drain line right there in the floor next to the water heater for that exact purpose!
Yesterday morning we were talking about the water heater here and I said “We probably need to drain that and flush it . . it’s been about 4 years since you put it in.” He said “I’ll have to buy a soaker hose before I drain the water heater”. We got a good laugh out of that.
But . . here’s what gave me my biggest laugh. Vince didn’t want to glue the dryer vent cap back on til he’s sure it’s fixed, and he didn’t want a snake crawling up through the drain line so here’s his solution. For a few days, I’ll remove the soda bottle when I dry clothes, and stick it back in there when I’m done. Once we’re sure the lint obstruction has been removed, Vince will glue the cap back on and hopefully, all will be well for at least another 16 years!
A club soda bottle stuffed in the hole. Every time I walk past it, it makes me laugh. Vince said “It works!” and it does. All over again, it makes me wish we were all engineers! 🙂
I’m not making fun of him. He’s hilarious and he does fix everything that gets messed up around here .. sometimes in his own special way!
Judy in MO says
Still laughing! You should record your conversations and put them on YouTube.
Joyce says
I love the “dryer drain line”. I remember my father once complaining that his vacuum didn’t have good suction and that he needed a new one. The kid that cleaned for him took it apart, but didn’t see a problem. I took the hose off and discovered some doofus (could have been the kid, could have been my father) had tried to suck a paper towel up with the vacuum. I think it took me over an hour to get it out of the hose, because it was right in the middle where you couldn’t easily get to it. (I didn’t have anything quite long enough to push it out.) After I finally got it out of the hose, the vacuum worked just fine. My father just kind of looked at it and said, “I wonder how that got in there?” men…sigh…
Cheryl says
I had some dryer issues a few years ago and went to the outside dryer vent to make sure the lint had not built up. A bird flew out of the vent and scared me to death. She had built a nest in the vent tube! I put a new cover on the vent with a grid to keep the critters out!
dezertsuz says
I’m a pragmatist. Sounds like Vince is, too! My dryer hose has come disconnected from the outside, and I need to pull out the dryer and put it back together, but it isn’t high on my priority list, except when I use it and go into the garage on a hot day … and it’s really warm in there!
Linda in NE says
Vince was certainly thinking outside the box with that soda bottle idea! I guess if it works all is well.
Laura says
A few years ago we had to replace our dryer. The vent tube goes through the house in the space between the basement ceiling and first floor floor. The house was built in 1968 and the first owner finished the basement. We figured a lint fire in that tube was only a matter of time, so we got a ventless dryer. I love it. Will never go back to a conventional one.
Nelle Coursey says
We call that “Southern Engineering” here in the South!! LOL Works most of the time!