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.
I save it and use it to wipe the dipstick when I check engine oil.
Just throw it away rather than soiling a good rag.
Suggest you also vacuum out the line from the dryer to the outside vent.
After reading through the thread - expect one huge sucking sound tonight as FReepers go on a lint seeking rampage;)
...it’s toast.
I was just going to suggest that gizmo.
Saw it for the first time this last weekend. Of course I had taken the dryer apart last week to clean it out. :)
Gonna get one, wait! get the second one free, just pay separate shipping and handling.
A few tips/ideas.
If your wife uses fabric softener towelettes, the wax in the softener coats the vents, causing lint to stick. And some lint always get through the screen.
Lint collects in the vent tube/pipe no matter how religious you are about cleaning the lint screen in the dryer.
Clean occasionally.
If you are using flexible, accordion type vent tubing lint collecting is exacerbated. Try to install solid tubing instead.
If the vent tubing runs through an uninsulated space, ie. , crawl space, in the winter the moist air in the tubing will likely condense, causing another point of restriction.
I’ve had electric dryers for nigh on 45 years and have repaired every one myself. On most SEARS dryers, the lint trap removes from the top of the machine. They are prone to letting lint accumulate at the bottom of the impeller cavity which draws air to the exhaust tube. They will let more and more lint pass by the screen and accumulate at the bottom when the lint buildup gets thicker.....if you pull it out and it looks like something has been ‘rolled off’ partically, you have a bunch of lint at the bottom of the impeller cavity.
The primary culprit for potential fires in these machines is lack of cleaning the filter each time the dryer is used for one-three loads of clothes. Almost every time! My wife is particularly bad about not checking it. I have to pull it out most times I walk by the dryer to check it.
They make a thin rectangular vacuum attachment tube you can put on your vacuum to suck out the lint trapped at the bottom....do this once every couple of weeks or so and your fire problem is reduced greatly...
Just went through this. Did not want to pay big price for duct cleaning since it is a second story laundry room and vents to the roof. Got the contraption called Lint Eater at Lowes and hooked it to the shop vac and got it all cleaned out in no time. Highly recommend the Lint Eater. Vids on You Tube show how easy it is.
Mis-spoke. Actually yes but she would load the thing up and use a slow-drying cycle day after day without bothering to check the lint screen(we found this later). People don’t understand sometimes that you just can’t shove heavy loads of wet clothes into a dryer and expect it to not have problems. People are aware that too much in the washer will put it off balance but seem to think a dryer is some kind of magic appliance that isn’t affected by how much you put in it.
As an Assistant Scout Master (ASM) for our local boy scout troop, we routinely teach a fire starting class. One of the first things we teach the boys is that dryer lint is a great fire starter.
Here in Florida the big two power co’s charge by the killowat hour. If you go over 1,000 hwh you pay a higher rate and also a higher fuel cost. By lowering my bill to 950 kwh I’m at $122 instead of $250 with my dryer. Not using the central air conditioner in the hotter months save around $250 per month. It’s not as cold inside but you get used to it. We have individual ductless room a/c’s from Sanyo that cool us. Very efficient.
Re: pic in # 37
If your dryer is similar to that one. You can get to the innards from the front.
Two clips hold the lower panel on. Remove the panel and you have access to the blower, element, motor. Two 1/4 hex screws and a clip hold the blower housing on. Remove the screws, leave the clip in place and clean the inside of the housing.
No need to pull away from the wall, except the UNPLUG FIRST.
But it’s a good idea to pull away from the wall to check the vent itself.
Hanging clothes outside is horrible for allergy sufferers. Just attracks lots of pollen.
I was going to buy an attachment made for this until I searched reviews and they all said the tube is too small and clogs easily.
One review suggested using the wrapping paper cardboard tube and I tried it.......works perfectly and its free!!!
That's what the appliance stores want you to believe.
The relabeled GE I bought at Home Depot actually has a lower failure rate than the fancier models by the same manufacturer sold at appliance stores (the exact model is not available elsewhere). The big box stores don't want their appliances failing due to substandard parts either.
Understand. My “empty nester” home now averages less than 500 kWh per month. Agree on AC usage... in our case it sometimes it get so hot here it runs continually so I adjust the thermostat to give the unit an occasional rest. You get used to it, and the weather will always change in a few days.
Thank you.
The big box stores don’t have to eat the failures.
Have someone comeout and work on it and find that out.
Tthe parts don’t match-up with the manufacterures parts list and that’s how I found all this out from a person that works at one of the parts warehouses.
That's amazing. I will break even. My entire electric heating bill in Washington State in December was $150. Maybe put two blowers in series and they will have to pay me money /sarc.
I do work on them and I did get parts (for the older one) at the appliance store parts desk (pulley; switch). No problem.
You will always hear the argument about brand-name superiority vs. generic in any industry. Very rarely is it true, except in the case where the generics i.e. drugs are sourced from a second-tier manufacturer.
All appliances, all brands, all parts have been cheapened. The era of 25-year appliance lifetimes is long past.
We have done that also. Thanks for the suggestion! The length of the line is the primary source of backpressure.
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