Posted on 02/13/2012 8:36:50 AM PST by Smokin' Joe
A couple of nights ago, my wife hollered to me that the dryer was smoking, even as she shut it down. I grabbed the machine, dragged it out of its slot, and disconnected it from power and the dryer vent, ready to drag its hot and still smoking carcass into the yard rather than have it burn the house down.
The smoke was some of the most acrid I have encountered, and that includes my time as a firefighter in structural, woods, marsh/brush, boat, and vehicle fires.
Before I made it to the threshhold, though, the fire burned out.
With the immediate threat removed (that of a house fire of my own), I set about investigating the event while the house was airing out, windows and doors open (ambient temp 14 degrees).
The wiring on the back of the dryer was normal, pliable, and showed no signs of overheating (in fact, the breaker had not tripped), so I suspected the problem wasn't a simple short.
There was no sign of scorching in the dryer vent, so it wasn't the ignition of lint in the vent pipe.
At that point, (after feeling the sides to make sure they had cooled) I opened the back of the dryer to discover a coating of scorched and burnt lint throughout the lower half of the inside of the dryer. This is not in the drum, where the clothes go, but rather, the 'engineering spaces' within the unit.
The surviving lint coating inside the dryer was an inch or more thick in the bottom of the dryer, and thinned up the sides to about a half-inch. But the lint, even where it had not caught fire was pervasive inside the dryer, even having accumulated under the cover over the circuit board near the top of the machine to a depth of roughly a quarter inch.
The scorched lint was removed, along with the uninvolved fuzz accumulation, and the wiring inspected for damage.
Three wires had been heated enough to distort the insulation, but none had had the insulation breached. There were no signs of arcing or wires having shorted out against one another.
There was some scorching on the metal in the vicinity of the element, but that was apparently from the ignition of the lint inside the dryer case.
Conclusion: the lint accumulating inside the dryer had caused the fire, ignited by the heating element (electric dryer), and had burned so long as there was air provided while the dryer was in operation. When the dryer was shut off, the fire choked itself with its own smoke.
Continued operation might well have led to a less satisfactory result.
Where did the lint come from?
The connection between the pipe coming out of the back of the dryer and the vent to the great outdoors was not the culprit. It was secure, and did not leak; the lines were clear. This led me to check further, and the pipe which connects to the vent, the pipe coming from the filter chamber in the front of the dryer and heading out underneath the dryer seemed inordinately loose. In fact, the pipe was 1/8 inch larger in diameter than the flange it connected to, and was secured by the manufacturer with a single sheet metal screw. Any back-pressure in the line, and there was an open gateway for the sort of fine lint that would elude capture by the filter screen--the same sort of material which had accumulated inside the dryer and fueled the fire.
The dryer was cleaned, any scorched wiring inspected and taped well with a good grade of electrical tape, and the loose pipe sealed with a single wrap of 'Gorilla Tape', something which either should have been done at the manufacturer or which should have been rendered unnecessary by better fitting components. (Any air coming through that part of the dryer should be cool enough that this should not present a hazard, otherwise, the clothing and lint screen it passed through would be at risk as well.) The idea is to prevent future accumulations of lint and stop the blow by which also fanned the flames. (No fuel, no air, no fire)
Keep in mind that this is one of those 'high end' front loaders, which paired with the 'energy saving' front-loading washer ran for about $1800.00 a set retail when new.
What to look for:
I had noticed lint in the laundry area, something most anyone might expect. However, there really shouldn't be, if the vent is venting, if the connection is good, there should be no lint in the area except what falls out of the clothes, or you scrape off the screen. Fine, wispy lint fuzz accumulations might mean there is another source, and that could mean your dryer is accumulating lint inside, too, just waiting to ruin your day.
Check behind your dryer, check the louvers in the sheet metal in the back, and see if there is any accumulation. If there is, you might have a developing problem. If you can, peek inside and check for a mat of lint--and if there is one, either clean it out or have a qualified technician do so. Either way, make sure the dryer is unplugged from its power source first. I can't give advice about gas dryers, because I have never had one, but I'd think such an accumulation would present a similar hazard with either type.
Hopefully, this can save someone some grief.
Thank you so much for posting this info, Smokin’ Joe. A neighbor’s house burned down when the dryer was left unattended (she ran to the drug store to pick up a prescription). May I offer one more bit of helpful advice? Every month, take the screen (the thinga-ma-jig that catches the lint) out and wash it with dish soap and hot water. Why? The fabric softener sheets will coat the screen and create almost an airtight/water proof seal. Since I wash three loads of laundry per day... this thread is very interesting and informative to me.
I don’t know how to do this! :-)
Maybe now we call you Smokin’ Dryer!...............
The booster fan is an interesting idea. You might want to change or rephrase your savings estimate though. Our electricity bill averages about $70 per month. I'd love to save $150. :)
I do the same with our dishwasher.
We had one about 15 years ago that caught fire from water getting into the timer controls!............
When your dryer cannot vent outside the pressure leaks inside the dryer and causes
excessive lint buildup which can catch fire. Also, if the dryer vent is longer then
ten feet you will have the same result. ALSO, any turns or 90s can also limit the exhaust causing buildup.
You "at the very least" have a venting problem.
Yup, It’s been a couple years since I pulled the back off of the dryer and did some vaccuming. Tonight sounds good.
Thanks for the reminder.
ps: dryer lint makes good camp fire starter material.
When it comes to fire prevention in the home you can’t be too careful. I worked for quite a few home builders. You wouldn’t believe how dumb some people can be. We had one woman used to leave her dryer going all day while she went to work. A neighbor noticed smoke coming out of this woman’s laundry room one day. Wind up was she had a lint fire. Firemen had to break her front door down(this was a $700,000, 5,000 sq. ft. home, etched-glass front door at $1,500) to put it out and when the woman came home she was p!ssed they did!
Similar happened to us two months ago, but for a different reason.
Normally when the drum stops, the heating element goes off, obviously.
In this case one cold night in December, after we had gone to bed, the element failed to shut off when the cycle ended.
Accumulated lint in places it shouldn’t be (same as yours), ignited as a smouldering fire with gray smoke.
I hit the circuit breaker and opened the door as quickly as I could.
This was a failure in the rotary switch.
And yes, we always clean the lint filter but enough gets by over the years to pack it in pretty well.
But the principal failure was the failure of the element to shut off.
Sounds like the dryer needs to go to Anger Management class.
When I remove the screen, I use a cardboard tube from Christmas wrapping paper and attach one end to my vacuum.
The open end can be made to fit down into the opening where the screen sits. This way, you can clean out the front-side of the dryer and get all that lint you see below the screen.
What’s the model and brand?
Why would it go all day? No automatic shutoff?
“... cardboard tube... clean out the front side of the dryer”.
You are brilliant, Erik. I’m trying that neat trick this afternoon. Thanks!
“Why would it go all day? No automatic shutoff?”
Perhaps she had the cat in there all day to keep her dog entertained.
I miss my 20 year-old Speed Queen, pity the porcelain in the drum was going...20 years of service, one element replacement.
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