If the inside of your dryer vent looks like this…

… then you have what we professional appliantologists call Venterialsclorosis. This disease is caused by lint accumulating on the inside walls of the dryer vent. As it progresses, it reduces the effective area of the dryer vent resulting in longer drying times. The end result is that the inside of your dryer will look like this…

That nice mat of dryer lint is very efficient at wicking the oil out of the motor bearings, resulting in premature motor failure. It’s also an excellent fire starter.

Yeah, I hate it when I wake up and find myself burnt to a vaguely human-shaped lump of black, flakey charcoal. Very difficult to quaff a mug of my flavorite fermented beverage in that condition.

So, to avoid all that unpleasantness, I periodically disassemble my dryer and vacuum it out thoroughly, especially around the drum rollers, motor, and heating element/burner. Then I’ll disassemble my dryer vent and use my supah-bad LintEater Rotary Dryer Vent Cleaning Kit to clean it out.

Contrary to the urban myths, Venterialsclorosis is an effect of poor dryer venting, not a primary cause. This means that the dryer vent was poorly designed and/or installed and was a cruddy venting system when it was brand new. As you used the dryer, the restricted air flow through the vent, coupled with possible condensation problems inside the vent, caused the lint in the dryer exhaust to settle out of the exhaust stream and begin accumulating inside the vent.

BTW, if your dryer vent is made out of spiral wound foil or, worse yet, white vinyl, then you’re really achin’ fer a bakin’, Budrow. These are very inefficient materials that create backpressure in the vent and long drying times which means wasted energy and money. And, in the case of the white vinyl, the vent itself poses a fire hazard. Oh, I know, you’re thinking, “Heck, Bubba and them all vent their dryers using this cheap garbage so that must be the way to go. Why’s this Samurai guy tellin’ me it ain’t?” I explain why ratcheer.

MESSAGE SENT THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE

Name: Patty

IP Address: 24.118.140.136

I just had a Roper gas dryer delivered. There is a hole in the front panel below the door that wasn’t on the electric dryer at the store. The delivery guys didn’t know what it was for, nor did the salesman at Menards. Do you know what it is for? It is 3/4 of an inch with a round top and a straight bottom located in the lower left corner of the front panel of the dryer. Thanks for any help you can give me!

That hole in the front panel is what we professional appliantologists call the Gas Burner Peep Hole. It’s a nifty little troubleshooting aid for gas dryer burners.

Using that peep hole, I can look in while the burner is trying to fire and see whether or not the ignitor is glowing. If it is, but still no flame, then I know I’m getting voltage clear up to the burner. So that means that the cycling thermostat, timer, thermal fuse, and high limit thermostat are all good in the dryer and that the problem is either 1) the gas is turned off, 2) the valve coils are bad, or 3) the radiant sensor is bad.

On the other hand, if I do not see the ignitor glow, then either the burner assembly is not getting voltage or the ignitor itself is bad. Further troubleshooting required.

By the way, the burner peep hole should have had a decorative plastic cap. It probably got sheared off while transporting the dryer. You can buy a replacement cap here.

If you’re still confoosed, need more help figuring out what’s wrong with your dryer, or to order parts for your dryer, come hither. Or you can get interactive help from professional Master Appliantologists in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum.