One of the ways that dryers can start household fires is by igniting the excess lint that accumulates around the motor, burner shroud (for gas dryers) and cabinet interior. Lint is composed of very small, dry clothing particles which includes cotton and polyesters–both very good fires starters. Polyesters are particularly pernicious fires starters and are very difficult to extinguish once they ignite. Polyesters, vinyl in particular, pose another fire hazard when used as vent hoses, which we’ll talk more about later in this article.

There are three things you can do to prevent the threat of fire from accumulated lint inside your dryer. First, clean your lint filter before every load. This will minimize the lint blow-by around the filter and save energy by helping the dryer run more efficiently.

Second, inspect your lint filter each time you pull it out. If you see any rips or distortions in the screen, replace the filter immediately.

Finally, have your dryer professionally disassembled and cleaned annually. A thorough professional cleaning removes accumulated lint and dirt from the dryer cabinet interior, motor, and burner or heating elements. If you’d like to do this cleaning yourself, this page will help you disassemble your dryer. In addition to substantially reducing the risk of dryer fires, this type of regular cleaning will help the drum bearings and rollers last longer, preventing or minimizing future service calls. Many dryer installations use the common, cheap white vinyl vent hose for the dryer exhaust. These hoses were never UL-approved for dryer installations and are increasingly being recognized by local building codes as fire hazards.

The American Household Appliance Manufacturers Association (AHAM) recommends the use of rigid aluminum ducts, such as shown here. For any dryer, but especially gas dryers, white vinyl vent hose should never be used and if yours has this installed on it, replace it ASAP with approved materials.

There’s alot more to dryer venting that just running a collapsible hose. In addition to the type of allowable materials for the vent, there are all kinds of specifications for length and the number of allowable elbows and bends. All this is to ensure that air can move through the vent with sufficient velocity to prevent lint accumulation and dry the clothes in the shortest amount of time possible. Read more about dryer venting on this page.

One of the biggest causes of vent hose fires is the ignition of accumulated lint inside the vent hose. Lint gets caught in the folds and creases and sticks there because of the humidity. Over time, the lint builds up to such a degree that the dryer cannot exhaust properly. This results in increased drying times initially and, ultimately, in a fire. Once a fire starts in a vinyl vent hose, the hose itself ignites and burns vigorously creating a fire that is very difficult to extinguish. The defense here is to clean your dryer vent out twice a year using a dryer vent lint brush.

For more information on your dryer or to order parts, click here.

Here are some fundamental guidelines that you shall obey when installing a gas dryer:

The flex gas line diameter shall be 3/8″ and the length shall not less then 6 feet. The 6 ft. length is so the dryer can be slid forward to clean and work behind it without having to remove the gas line flex.

The gas supply pipe extending out of the wall should be 1/2″. This means you’ll need a 1/2 by 3/8 shut-off valve for that pipe. The shut-off’s female end attaches to the pipe while the flex line attaches to the male end of the shut-off valve.

This diagram from the People’s Republik of Vermont Extension Service might help, too.

Happy Piping!

To learn more about your dryer, or to order parts, click here.

When your dryer drum isn’t turning anymore, it’s usually a broken belt. Tearing the dryer apart is usually straight-forward enough but stringing the new belt on the motor and idler pulley can be tricky. The Complete Encyclopedia of Dryer Belt Configurations shows the belt configurations for almost every dryer brand you can think of. Ok, go fix your dryer.

So, your dryer starts up when you press the start button but stops when you release it. Whether a Whirlpool/Kenmore or GE/Hotpoint, this tip o’ the day awwta hepya.

If you dryer is a Whirlpool/Kenmore, the culprit is this little boogar, the Even Heat Control Board. It’s located in your dryer’s control console, you’ll have to open it up to get to it. This parts breakdown of the control console will help you–it’s item 13.

GE/Hotpoint dryers have a belt break switch that stops the dryer if the belt is broken. The drum will turn while the start button is pressed but the motor will not stay on. In this case, the cure is pretty painless: replace the belt. If your belt isn’t broken, then check the continuity of the belt break switch, located beside the motor. If the belt and the belt break switch are both good, then the motor is bad and you’ll need to replace it–come git you a new one. Whether replacing the motor or the belt, it’s worth spending a few shekels for a GE/Hotpoint dryer repair manual. Or, better yet, ask the Samurai in live help.

Awwite, go fix your dryer.

To learn more about your dryer, or to order parts, click here.

If you’re having problems with a gas dryer that only heats a short time then shuts off the flame, the first thing to do is to completely disconnect the vent from the dryer and run it again to see if the symptom changes. If it does, you know the problem is the vent, read this page for more info.

If the problem doesn’t change with the vent off or the burner never fires up at all, then the problem is inside the dryer. This page will help you troubleshoot the key components inside the dryer.

A common problem is the glow ignitor gets hot and turns orange, you hear a click, but no flame and then the ignitor goes out. This is almost always the gas valve coils, an inexpensive part that’s easy to change. Don’t mess around with just changing one of them, save yourself a headache and change out the set. You won’t be out a lot of shekels. Buy the set here.

If the dryer runs for a while, shuts off and then won’t even let you restart it for a while, this is usually a bad motor–the motor is overheating and its internal thermal overload is kicking it off. You should confirm this by measuring for 120v at the motor’s run start winding terminals.

If you need help making electrical measurements and using a multimeter (or if you don’t know what that is), read this page. You won’t fix much in the appliance world without a multimeter. You can buy a good quality, inexpensive meter here.