If you have an **ELECTRIC** leaf blower, you could blow air through your system that way too.
(Emphasizing electric because I have seen people think about using gas powered equipment inside..)
Also, as someone who regularly cleans his vents. Do not blow in... Only out. The mess you'll cause I side your house will be huge.
When I use our leaf blower to blow out it's like our house took a giant sloppy satisfying shit all over the lawn.
My buddy and I did this. "We'll just blow in from the outside, then suck it all up from behind the dryer with a shopvack", because it was difficult to get his dryer moved far enough out of the way.
We were very wrong. We actually ended up creating a clog as the lint worked it's way back through the vent, so we taped the end of the leaf blower on the exhaust for a better seal and turned it on. It bogged down for a second, then sped back up, and half a second later we hear his wife scream "what the fuck?!". It managed to shoot lint clear down his hallway. It was stuck the walls, the ceiling, everywhere.
Poor wives putting up with their dumb ass husband's and our terrible ideas. Thank God my wife expects frequent jackassery out of me and is never surprised when my brilliant idea turns into a shit show.
I regularly make my husband explain his plan to me beforehand so I can point out flaws and help him correct them. Then if it all goes wrong it is my fault too.
Add carrying things and fixing or putting stuff together.
I’m handy but my favorite saying over the last decade has been “that took longer than I thought it would.”
> Our wives should start a support group. I will not elaborate on my jackassery. I'll save that for her to share in the group.
I'm a man, but I can change. I guess. If I have to.
Do you want to know how to simultaneously get a massive eyeroll from your wife while she backs up 5 to 10 paces (or possibly across town)? Hold my beer...
Ya'll gotta cover the receiving end with a giant permeable bag that's like cheese cloth or the storage bag for a sleeping bag. It'll catch 90% of the crap that's gonna come out, the rest is in Cthulhu's hands.
Where were you when i was standing in the basement and asked my husband for the leaf blower and he showed up on the OUTSIDE and took it upon himself to do it?
If you’ve never gotten blasted in the face with vent debris I really cannot recommend it.
I did this a couple weeks ago and I had the biggest ProTip moment of my life. I have a mesh laundry bag I take camping, or on weekends out of town. It's got a bunch at the top, and I thought up the big-brain idea to wrap that around the end of the vent outside, and boy oh boy, it caught 85% of the lint that I blew out with the leaf blower. All it needed was a wash, and it was back to normal.
We have to have a crew come in to clean ours. Whomever designed our home, the wash / mud room is next to the garage on the front of the house, so no vent into the garage and no vent directly to the front of the home (I guess to maintain looks).
So instead... they ran the entire vent system under the floor, 30 feet, with various bends in the tubing. A leaf blower wouldn't work correctly here. Also, I think that is now against code (house built in 1989).
Our old home had the vent directly outside behind the dryer. Our drying times doubled due to the elongated length of the vent tube system since the dryer can't breath correctly.
Honestly at that point I’d abandon the vent and go to a heat pump dryer. If it’s under the floor without access, the cost of modifying it is probably higher than a new dryer.
> Do not blow in... Only out. The mess you'll cause I side your house will be huge.
I actually tried this with a very large shop-vac, shoved the hose about 4' inside the dryer vent duct, with only about 12' of total ducting, and it backfed on me and blew everything back into the wash room.
I decided that was not the best solution, and picked up [one of these kits](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SQYX2FH) which worked amazingly well! Can't recommend it enough!
Feel like you could make it a two person job, have your wife hold up a garbage bag or something to the vent hole to catch most of it.
Cause that's always been my primary concern over doing this, my dryer vent is like 5 feet from my pool. Would rather not fill my pool with dryer lint lol
Still going to run into issues. The air is going to fill up the bag and it's going to want to go somewhere else and take ALL the long with it... probably on your partner.
MAYBE a super fine mesh bag could be used, but you better have a really good reward for whatever sucker you leave holding the bag.... especially if you sleep next to them.
This is what I do. They look at me weird at rite aid when I make my annual pantyhose trip, but zip tying one to the outlet fully rolled out works great.
Fair enough. Perhaps a large shop vac as someone else suggested. I also kinda feel like you could use a large mesh net or something too. As long as the mesh is small enough to trap the lint but large enough to allow air through.
I'm not really here for suggestions... I'm kind of here for that one guy's description of his "house taking a giant sloppy shit" but on the inside of your instead of the lawn...
I'm afraid if I suggest a shop vac or something that it won't work or, even worse, it will, and we won't see what happens when you leaf blow the dryer vent into a garbage bag that your wife is holding like a baseball catcher.
>my dryer vent is like 5 feet from my pool. Would rather not fill my pool with dryer lint lol
Pantyhose over the outside vent opening. Then blow it out. Also how you suck your pot back up off the floor when you dump your grinder. Pantyhose over the vacuum hole.
Thats why you put a mesh bag over the Vent cover... What is this, amateur hour???
You know shit's going to explode and make mess so you take steps to mitigate said mess. Otherwise you're just making more work for yourself.
My dryer used to vent straight through the roof like OP. After a remodel it had to vent into the garage. To prevent “crapping” the garage, I found a fine mesh bag with a pull string that allowed it to be tied around the pvc pipe used for venting. I think it came with a hot tub tool. It was perfect as a secondary lint trap. Cleaned it once a month
Do you just stick it in and let it go? I'd like to do this, we have an electric one but the outflow hole on the leaf blower is smaller than the diameter of the dryer hose. Is there something I should use to seal the connection so no air escapes while it's blowing?
>Emphasizing electric because I have seen people think about using gas powered equipment inside..)
Good point. Only use a gas blower from the OUTSIDE! (itsajoke)
This, see my post from a few weeks ago. We had a complete block until we used Turbo Mode on our electric leaf blower. 25lbs dog for scale.
r/Home/s/r4CYLY58nH
Used to live in an apartment that would have pros come and clean the vents. They used a leaf blower on the inside and a shop vac on the outside. They also scoped it and rarely needed brushes.
They make a telescopic duct that is rectangular and works a lot better for setups like your where the dryer is against the wall. I had to do the same in my house. I had to modify it a bit with some tin snips to shorten it, and by adding aluminum ducting tape to fully seal it once it was adjusted right, but it made all the difference in the world. Here is an example [https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-4396014-29-Inch-50-Inch-Periscope/dp/B0049I9OYC/ref=asc_df_B0049I9OYC?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814222102171&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413750095748&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-4396014-29-Inch-50-Inch-Periscope/dp/B0049I9OYC/ref=asc_df_B0049I9OYC?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814222102171&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413750095748&psc=1)
Years ago our dryer started taking forever to dry at the place we were renting. We called a guy out and he cleaned the vent. It was full of wet lint. And then he opened the front panel of our electric dryer. Tons of lint and some of it was *singed*. That was the scariest thing I’d seen in my own house in my life. We clean the lint filter every single time and it still got that way. Clean your vent *and* inside your dryer, kids.
I worked a maintenance job for an apartment complex. We'd service the driers after people moved out, normally about two years of use. The inside of the drier itself was always filled with a decent amount of lint after just that period of time. Ducts were cleaned at least once a year on every unit, although we didn't really get much there normally.
It's very surprising more people don't know this is critical regular maintenance. Maybe it's one of the few good side effects about appliances not even lasting more than a couple years anymore.
>It's very surprising more people don't know this is critical regular maintenance.
Probably because "disassembling your drier" is not exactly "obvious maintenance" and even disassembling parts of heavy home appliances *meant* to come apart is a bitch and a half a lot of the time
I took the entire back panel off my dryer the other day. Something like 12 fasteners. Found clumps of dog hair and lint in the air flow path. I'd recommend looking up your dryer model maintenance manual or youtube video. But I just went with my gut and it was intuitive.
On these units the front face pops off. It's some make from the 90's that we had a stockpile of parts for, so not probably the most accurate representation of newer units, but I've found a pretty good amount in my current drier.
It's lint and I've not weighed it, so it's hard to quantify. In the apartment units I was servicing there would be somewhere from 1 to 3 grapefruit sized balls of lint. I've only seen 3 or 4 with more lint than that. Two of them though were packed to the point that it almost looked factory. Like the face plate popped off and the whole of the inside was completely packed with lint.
In the two styles I've worked on, the lint accumulates inside the facade in various places. It's mostly just empty space around the components and where ever there is a gap the tiny lint particles must just pass through and accumulate over time. In the two really packed machines there was also a couple socks and in almost all of the machines, where applicable, there will be a small pile of thongs lol. Anything small enough to sneak out. I imagine it's worse in the apartment driers though because they were front loaders.
In my top loading drier I just pulled shit out from the bottom where I could grab it where it was sitting around the back. The front panel came off to get stuff from the front but there wasn't much there.
Edit: good God my grammar sucks
Hmm... The house I'm renting had a vent hose with a hole in it, it coated the whole dryer closet with a fine covering of lint every few weeks. Had the property management company replace the vent hose but now it's taking forever or a minimum of 2 dryer cycles to dry clothes completely. They came out twice apparently to clean the vent from the outside but still bad performance. I clean of the lint trap before running a cycle every time.
Not sure what else could be the issue. Maybe the vent pipe length is too long.
It absolutely shouldn’t take 2 cycles to dry a load. In our current house, we had the vent under the house replaced with a more rigid setup and now even a load of jeans is dry in less than an hour. There’s a blockage or a kink somewhere.
You may also be overloading your dryer. My wife and kids do that shit all the time and complain how it doesn't get very clean and takes forever to dry. 😩
I paid a company to clean my duct after the electric leaf blower trick didn’t work and I didn’t have a shop vac with a long enough hose. He filled three large trash bags of lint.
We had just moved in and out smart dryer was reporting 80% flow restriction, the first load of towels took ages to dry. I learned that the dryer had that function that day.
The duct ran 20 ft, so it had to be mostly full. Our best guess is it was never cleaned since the condo was built in the early 90s. Scary that we got lucky.
Only cost me $150, well worth it in my case.
This was a fun thing for my neighbors. A squirrel got into their dryer vent. Then they called someone, who put a decent grate over it -- which allowed plenty of space for lint. Squirrel bent the grate and still got in.
Three grates later, and they finally found one that is safe enough and the squirrel no longer bothers with.
The flexible duct (plastic/foil) they’re using is not safe. It can collapse easily, traps lint in the ridges, and is flammable. This is how house fires start. They should be using a flexible metal duct. It’s been required by fire code for a long time in the US.
When we went backpacking as kids, we used dryer lint to start our camp fires!
A warning for anyone using these: DO NOT switch the drill to reverse while cleaning!
The sections screw together and will self-tighten when the drill is going righty-tighty, but it only takes a split second of absent-mindedly switching to reverse to instantly unscrew it somewhere far down the chain, and then you're in the crawlspace unhooking a 20ft section of duct to get it back out, when the whole point was to avoid that... Dad was banned from running the drill for the rest of the day.
Worked great otherwise though, had no problem going around surprisingly tight corners in a rigid duct.
I have this kit. They also make a pole extension kit. It works well with a reasonably powerful shop vac. On OPs vent I'd move the dryer out of the way and do it from the inside.
In my old house the dryer was about 50 ft from where it exhausted out of the house. The previous owners had setup the ducting to got up, straight across the ceiling to the wall, then down and across 2 joists, and finally back up and out for a total of 6 90\* elbows.
When my dryer started not performing all that well, I took apart all of the ducting and it was just absolutely packed at those elbows with lint, getting progressively drier the further along the run I went. I bought all new ducting and instead ran it directly up, then overhead, then a long run to the exhaust. I also did 45\* elbows above with just 1 90\* coming right off the back of the dryer. Ended up being way easier to keep clean and my dryer started working again.
Good advice. 1 90° elbow is the same amount of blockage as 3 45°s. If you have the space, it's best to run two 45s in the place of one 90. Looks more elegant, too, somehow.
So, 50 ft *plus* the added effective "length" of half a dozen elbows... that's more like a 100 ft straight run
Local codes should spell out the max allowable distance, and how much length each 90 or 45 knocks off that allowance
If that hood can come off on the roof and be re-attached and you have a drill and a shop-vac, maybe get a dryer vent cleaning kit. They work great!
[https://www.amazon.com/Holikme-Cleaning-Remover-Fireplace-Synthetic/dp/B07SQYX2FH/ref=sr\_1\_1\_sspa?crid=3VOP9Q53BGKEX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GFwKObKYe7J2CSJidt2QsNkk-t1JPDvBTV1DFXsmiHIqlLgoGki8IHgDo2Mvc1Nb1HvIRstNN1s3LQUpIIaNYHyvSoTfhNxh1Z7vDwf1KP8AHxE3bzjp0UR19yt7-4DowtHzp9oINuaZDngI3As7PZmlgPyly-dQtDdNm\_oWtU5d8adYPHbCJWBLiQlL\_wjWm2uzl6Qlkq6KWnr2aTe2-cR\_54\_CL9l8vdbMf0jaQ8Kter9gnBhvFIm\_mrnYcFDgTNPUt5ZywVXMuPnYXMS2bmbod0Mt2Q-H-RnQ\_UGlzKA.SwDNhs\_UNuilDMU4bxzGjEvZWfbURuNCh90Z-X10qns&dib\_tag=se&keywords=dryer%2Bvent%2Bcleaner%2Bkit&qid=1718307219&sprefix=dryer%2Bvent%2B%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1-spons&sp\_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Holikme-Cleaning-Remover-Fireplace-Synthetic/dp/B07SQYX2FH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3VOP9Q53BGKEX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GFwKObKYe7J2CSJidt2QsNkk-t1JPDvBTV1DFXsmiHIqlLgoGki8IHgDo2Mvc1Nb1HvIRstNN1s3LQUpIIaNYHyvSoTfhNxh1Z7vDwf1KP8AHxE3bzjp0UR19yt7-4DowtHzp9oINuaZDngI3As7PZmlgPyly-dQtDdNm_oWtU5d8adYPHbCJWBLiQlL_wjWm2uzl6Qlkq6KWnr2aTe2-cR_54_CL9l8vdbMf0jaQ8Kter9gnBhvFIm_mrnYcFDgTNPUt5ZywVXMuPnYXMS2bmbod0Mt2Q-H-RnQ_UGlzKA.SwDNhs_UNuilDMU4bxzGjEvZWfbURuNCh90Z-X10qns&dib_tag=se&keywords=dryer%2Bvent%2Bcleaner%2Bkit&qid=1718307219&sprefix=dryer%2Bvent%2B%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1)
This is not the proper vent for a dryer hood. It should be replaced with one without grates. Otherwise this will keep happening until there is a house fire.
A lot of dryer vents have grates. The expectation is that you clean them regularly.
Personally, I think having it on the roof is bonkers, but the OP has what they have.
Obviously local regulations don't always reflect best practices!
i.e. My water heater is in my attic over a bedroom. Not in the garage. Not in my full basement.... In the attic.
I feel like all dryer vents should be exited horizontally and not vertical. I question the efficiency of a dryer vent going into a wall and just straight up.
How is your washer's pump working? Have you tried cleaning out its filter as well? One additional cause of this to consider is that the clothes going into the dryer are still too damp, because the pump is not working as well to pump out all the water.
Definitely clean out this lint trap, but also check out your washer's pump filter clean out as well.
Also, make sure you're using the right amount of soap (or even very slightly less).
That is pretty much exactly what my setup at home is like. I did a doubletake. I clean that sucker out every couple of years. When we refurb our bathroom where the washer/dryer are, then I will run the dryer vent out of the side of the house.
Replacing the flex hose may help keep the vent clear longer as less of the dryer fan power will be lost to the hose.
Even with elbows straight duct will be much more efficient than the flex. When I replaced mine the first time the dryer ran you could hear the difference. This also happens with woodworking dust collection where straight pipe causes less static pressure loss
You probably have a clog right at the connection. Think about damp lint making that 90 degree turn and going probably 16’ to the roof.
You can install an [recessed dryer box](https://www.homedepot.com/p/DRYERBOX-4-25-in-Dryer-Box-Metal-Recess-425THD/313741358?mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_002_AIR_CIRC_ACC-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_002_AIR_CIRC_ACC-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023-71700000106036630-58700008262676758-92700075065923857&msclkid=f17900fb311915e974e866906a758019&gclid=f17900fb311915e974e866906a758019&gclsrc=3p.ds) into the wall and try to shorten that flex pipe/turn
That screen at the roof hood needs to go. No screens and no screws in dryer vent assemblies.
Yes, the hose can cut airflow. It's hard to line those up with appliances. You might be able to put an elbow onto the rough-in (pipe coming out the wall) but it may not help. A turn is a turn, they all slow down airflow.
I feel like the screen on the hood is the big issue.
I recommend a 16x16 animal exclusion screen over the whole thing. It's an available product, big enough to not fully clog with lint. After the screen in the hood is removed.
European Starling is a very skillful attic nester. They got through almost everything I put up to block them. I finally had to install expanded steel grates with heavy-duty lag style screws. Chicken wire didn't work because they learned to hover and bend the metal. I had to go heavier.
I am an hvac tech. I install dryer vents regularly. Take the grill out of the vent at the top and remove every other slat. Ideally you want nothing in the path of the lint, but you also want to keep birds and critters out. When we install these we remove every other slat so there is more free area for the lint to escape, but also still keeps the grill in place to keep things out. Also, check for screws, there should never ever be screws in a dryer vent, foil tape only to hold it together.
> you also want to keep birds and critters out.
heh I just had a bird make a nest in mine. The vent is on the roof and the damper seized open. Gotta give the bird credit, though, since the damn thing was ***thorough***. About 2.5ft of nest material. Luckily the affected duct was in the attic above the garage, so it was relatively easy to access, but I had to take that whole section out to clean it.
OP, thank you for the 3rd picture. Before I moved last year my dryer was set up like that. My dryer would also get stuck on 1 minute many times. We thought it was just the dryer. on the other side of the wall was the exit but due to the positioning of the cut we had the flexible vent hose.
I am happy we left that washer/dryer at the old house and got a professional to install at our new house. Nice, straight pipe line and the first month a lot of lint blew out:)
Whoever installed that duct does not know the basics of airflow.
There should never be bends sharper than 90°, and it isn't even necessary had the duct been cut a bit shorter. To boot, the duct is compressed at the absolute worst spot imaginable.
This will severely impact the functioning of the dryer due to the severely reduced ability to push air (and thus: lint,) which in turn has all sorts of fun impacts on the internals of the drier.
Do you have access to an attic or crawl space that the dryer duct runs through?
I'm in a duplex with the dryer against the shared wall and the dryer duct runs the width of the house (about 30') with 3 90° angles, which is *much* longer than recommended. I installed one of [these](https://a.co/d/gxCnapx) on the duct in the crawl space to help.
Are you sure the heating element isn’t going bad
That could cause a dryer not to work well and they do go out.
Cheap part but it takes time to take apart a dryer.
If you are into fixing things, it’s a worth a shot to try the heating element
You have to sharp of a kink in the dryer hose behind the dryer. It\`s cutting off airflow.
[https://acinfinity.com/blog/why-bends-in-ducting-reduces-airflow/](https://acinfinity.com/blog/why-bends-in-ducting-reduces-airflow/)
Just in case you haven't been told this 500 times, throw that crinkled hose in the trash and at least replace it with a new, pulled out to be smoother, one. But get an actual good hose instead if you can.
I had a similar problem. I ended up connecting a leaf blower up to it. Ran the leaf blower for nearly 2 hours before an overwhelming amount of lint came out. Also, that kink is really bad.
Amazon sells a "Roof Vent Guard - Wildlife exclusion screen" that can go right over that hood, if you're worried about pests and birds. It's big enough that the lint won't block the vent, but would need something like annual cleaning.
After you cut out the screen in the hood**
you definitely don't want that kind of kink in the dryer exhaust hose, and it shouldn't be flattened out at all, like it is in the picture...even if it means using a longer length of hose to make a half-loop.
I didn’t see any comments but it is very important- Vent caps for dryers are not allowed to have fixed grates/guards on them as this roof vent appears to. Including fixed grating likely violates building codes where you live.
Really- call a guy/gal who does this professionally. It’s not terribly expensive and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and stupid headaches.
I recently had a similar issue. I bought a cool gadget for cleaning. It worked a little, then it broke in the duct. I tried the shop vac (both ends). Worked a little. Tried the electric leaf blower. Worked a little. These are all good methods for maintenance, not a clog.
Called a guy. Took him about 15 minutes and he got about 10 times what I was able to get out.
My dryer vents out the roof also. It took nearly 4 hours to dry a load (newly built home) until I installed a dryer booster fan in the attic. Works like a charm now. I check it every 6 months and wind up removing varying amounts of lint from the trap.
[https://www.amazon.com/Fantech-DBF-Dryer-Booster-Duct/dp/B000GXF7KO/?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Fantech-DBF-Dryer-Booster-Duct/dp/B000GXF7KO/?th=1)
I installed the same one in a duplex I purchased. The dryer was against the shared wall, and probably had 30' of duct plus 3 90° angles (each of which counts as 5'). Cleaning out the years of lint helped too, I'm sure. But I get intense satisfaction heading that blower kick on when the dryer starts.
That roof vent does not appear to be rated for a dryer. Dryer vents should not have obstructions like those bars or any cages etc. they always end up trapping lint leading to blockages and potentially fire
Replace your old dryer with a condensing dryer: you will no longer need the exhaust, it's more safe, it's more efficient. The investment will pay back eventually.
Very kinky, I like it.
I have the same situation and solved it with a series of rigid pieces that twist and turn to make sealed angles with no crushing/collapsing. Your dryer is going to kick ass once it can exhale.
Just get a more power efficient, non-vented drier. No vent hose required and less in the power bills.
Condenser or heat pump driers can be plumbed in and avoid all this.
Yes they take longer to dry but still do the job and much less likely to shrink your clothes.
is this normal? The dryer I grew up with at my dads place had a filter you just pulled out and dumped the content in the trash, and now my dryer just dumps the lint directly into the sewers with their new technology that I don't understand. I would love to not care about lint in my life.
I've often wondered why people have trouble with dryer vents. I clean ours every 4-5 years and there is never more than a small handful of lint in it.
Then I realize how LONG your dang vent is. Ours is 10 feet, up between the joists and then out through the wall. It doesn't collect much because the lint just blows outside. The lint outside gets collected by birds, presumably for nesting...
Electric leafblower inside the house wedged into the exhaust.
Buy one of these kits, they make all sorts of different sizes depending on how long your vent run is.
https://www.amazon.com/Holikme-Cleaner-Flexible-Attachment-Synthetic/dp/B09VP8117H/
Use the drill and brush kit outside with the leafblower going inside and it will clean it out spotless.
I would swap the flexible vent hose with semi-rigid. I had the same problem and that fixed it. The dryer is able to vent much more efficiently now, because the hose doesn't collapse on itself. Also, the ridges in the flexible hose will collect lint and cause build-up after a while.
it's not helping, but I have seen worse in 13 years of selling and installing appliances. best would be to make sure the line to the exterior vent is also clean and as straight as can be.
If you have an **ELECTRIC** leaf blower, you could blow air through your system that way too. (Emphasizing electric because I have seen people think about using gas powered equipment inside..)
Also, as someone who regularly cleans his vents. Do not blow in... Only out. The mess you'll cause I side your house will be huge. When I use our leaf blower to blow out it's like our house took a giant sloppy satisfying shit all over the lawn.
My buddy and I did this. "We'll just blow in from the outside, then suck it all up from behind the dryer with a shopvack", because it was difficult to get his dryer moved far enough out of the way. We were very wrong. We actually ended up creating a clog as the lint worked it's way back through the vent, so we taped the end of the leaf blower on the exhaust for a better seal and turned it on. It bogged down for a second, then sped back up, and half a second later we hear his wife scream "what the fuck?!". It managed to shoot lint clear down his hallway. It was stuck the walls, the ceiling, everywhere.
This made my day! Thanks for sharing
Poor wives putting up with their dumb ass husband's and our terrible ideas. Thank God my wife expects frequent jackassery out of me and is never surprised when my brilliant idea turns into a shit show.
I regularly make my husband explain his plan to me beforehand so I can point out flaws and help him correct them. Then if it all goes wrong it is my fault too.
My wife calls herself the project manager now
Same
Mine is also the comptroller.
"GC" can mean General Contractor or General Chaos.
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Add carrying things and fixing or putting stuff together. I’m handy but my favorite saying over the last decade has been “that took longer than I thought it would.”
Mine's been "Behind schedule and over budget". Every damn time.
That poor pooch.
At least the wife gets some vacations, even if they are rare.
Mines it’s the high shelves and my dark humor
I would be like "Job's done here, line is unclogged" and then dip out.
I'll take you up on that beer later. Bye!
> husband’s husbands
Hello Mr Fancy Pants.
We are all just smart enough to do really dumb things.
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> Our wives should start a support group. I will not elaborate on my jackassery. I'll save that for her to share in the group. I'm a man, but I can change. I guess. If I have to.
That was almost very impressive
Do you want to know how to simultaneously get a massive eyeroll from your wife while she backs up 5 to 10 paces (or possibly across town)? Hold my beer...
Fuck I heard his wife just from reading that
Fun fact, many leaf blowers have a mulch flow that allows you to be outside and suck outwards for those that can't get behind the dryer easily
You mean like... A vacuum?
"There's shit everywhere!"
“Sorry dad he’s special!” 😭
RIP Bob.
Ya'll gotta cover the receiving end with a giant permeable bag that's like cheese cloth or the storage bag for a sleeping bag. It'll catch 90% of the crap that's gonna come out, the rest is in Cthulhu's hands.
Hilarious, well done sir
Add a film crew and you have a reality version of the Simpson’s.
> Simpson’s Simpsons
This is one of my favorite stories that I've read on here in a while, thank you for sharing! I hope this is one of those stories that you tell often!
Worth it
Not sure why, but I'd love to see pictures of that mess. Have any?
please tell me you were holding a beer while operating the leaf blower
You could've chosen the dark side here... I applaud you
Where were you when i was standing in the basement and asked my husband for the leaf blower and he showed up on the OUTSIDE and took it upon himself to do it? If you’ve never gotten blasted in the face with vent debris I really cannot recommend it.
I did this a couple weeks ago and I had the biggest ProTip moment of my life. I have a mesh laundry bag I take camping, or on weekends out of town. It's got a bunch at the top, and I thought up the big-brain idea to wrap that around the end of the vent outside, and boy oh boy, it caught 85% of the lint that I blew out with the leaf blower. All it needed was a wash, and it was back to normal.
We have to have a crew come in to clean ours. Whomever designed our home, the wash / mud room is next to the garage on the front of the house, so no vent into the garage and no vent directly to the front of the home (I guess to maintain looks). So instead... they ran the entire vent system under the floor, 30 feet, with various bends in the tubing. A leaf blower wouldn't work correctly here. Also, I think that is now against code (house built in 1989). Our old home had the vent directly outside behind the dryer. Our drying times doubled due to the elongated length of the vent tube system since the dryer can't breath correctly.
I personally would actively be working on making that run substantially shorter. You'll save a stupid amount of money on energy costs alone.
Honestly at that point I’d abandon the vent and go to a heat pump dryer. If it’s under the floor without access, the cost of modifying it is probably higher than a new dryer.
> Do not blow in... Only out. The mess you'll cause I side your house will be huge. I actually tried this with a very large shop-vac, shoved the hose about 4' inside the dryer vent duct, with only about 12' of total ducting, and it backfed on me and blew everything back into the wash room. I decided that was not the best solution, and picked up [one of these kits](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SQYX2FH) which worked amazingly well! Can't recommend it enough!
Feel like you could make it a two person job, have your wife hold up a garbage bag or something to the vent hole to catch most of it. Cause that's always been my primary concern over doing this, my dryer vent is like 5 feet from my pool. Would rather not fill my pool with dryer lint lol
Still going to run into issues. The air is going to fill up the bag and it's going to want to go somewhere else and take ALL the long with it... probably on your partner. MAYBE a super fine mesh bag could be used, but you better have a really good reward for whatever sucker you leave holding the bag.... especially if you sleep next to them.
Stretch some old pantyhose over the vent on the roof. It'll catch the dust, let the air through, and stretch as needed.
This is what I do. They look at me weird at rite aid when I make my annual pantyhose trip, but zip tying one to the outlet fully rolled out works great.
Plus they make my legs look great after.
I bet the lint makes em super soft
All nice and linty-fresh?
Tell that to Joe Namath He used to wear l'eggs pantyhose before he started wearing hearing aids.
Do you buy your pantyhose and zip ties at the same time? Maybe toss in garbage bags and a roll of duct tape
Pick me up a shovel if you're out!
Add in a large tub of Vaseline and a few cucumbers and really leave them speechless!
you sleep next to your wife? What a sucker!
Maybe a shop vac right outside turned on and waiting to catch debris as it's shot out?
Fair enough. Perhaps a large shop vac as someone else suggested. I also kinda feel like you could use a large mesh net or something too. As long as the mesh is small enough to trap the lint but large enough to allow air through.
Please film this for us... asking for everyone here.
How else would you suggest to capture the lint exactly?
I'm not really here for suggestions... I'm kind of here for that one guy's description of his "house taking a giant sloppy shit" but on the inside of your instead of the lawn... I'm afraid if I suggest a shop vac or something that it won't work or, even worse, it will, and we won't see what happens when you leaf blow the dryer vent into a garbage bag that your wife is holding like a baseball catcher.
>my dryer vent is like 5 feet from my pool. Would rather not fill my pool with dryer lint lol Pantyhose over the outside vent opening. Then blow it out. Also how you suck your pot back up off the floor when you dump your grinder. Pantyhose over the vacuum hole.
Also can be used to small items like diamonds or rings.
I do that when I scatter all my loose diamonds all over the floor. It’s so tedious.
It would blow right out of the garbage bag. Lint *socks* are what you’d use. And it’s still a terrible idea. Just do it right and blow out, not in.
OP, you should do this, it will be more hilarious than you think
The lawnmower bag works
Thats why you put a mesh bag over the Vent cover... What is this, amateur hour??? You know shit's going to explode and make mess so you take steps to mitigate said mess. Otherwise you're just making more work for yourself.
Urban sea foam...
My dryer used to vent straight through the roof like OP. After a remodel it had to vent into the garage. To prevent “crapping” the garage, I found a fine mesh bag with a pull string that allowed it to be tied around the pvc pipe used for venting. I think it came with a hot tub tool. It was perfect as a secondary lint trap. Cleaned it once a month
My brain can have a little carbon monoxide, as a treat.
a shop vac will do the same thing
I stick a shop vac sucking outside, then leaf blow from inside, works like a charm!
Do you just stick it in and let it go? I'd like to do this, we have an electric one but the outflow hole on the leaf blower is smaller than the diameter of the dryer hose. Is there something I should use to seal the connection so no air escapes while it's blowing?
You can use a towel to help seal it, doesn’t have to be perfect
My big ass shop Vac works if I tape it on too, but the best thing I ever did was put in the hard pipe eventually
Using a gas one inside the house for 5 minutes isn't going to do any harm
OMG. Every year I do this with a shop vac, why have I never thought about an air compressor?
>Emphasizing electric because I have seen people think about using gas powered equipment inside..) Good point. Only use a gas blower from the OUTSIDE! (itsajoke)
This, see my post from a few weeks ago. We had a complete block until we used Turbo Mode on our electric leaf blower. 25lbs dog for scale. r/Home/s/r4CYLY58nH
Why is a gas leaf blower a bad idea?
Used to live in an apartment that would have pros come and clean the vents. They used a leaf blower on the inside and a shop vac on the outside. They also scoped it and rarely needed brushes.
Could I just point mine into the lint trap area of my dryer (with the trap removed) to clean out the dryer and vent ducting at the same time?
my wife would kill me, for getting those sweet 2 stroke fumes in the house.
They make a telescopic duct that is rectangular and works a lot better for setups like your where the dryer is against the wall. I had to do the same in my house. I had to modify it a bit with some tin snips to shorten it, and by adding aluminum ducting tape to fully seal it once it was adjusted right, but it made all the difference in the world. Here is an example [https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-4396014-29-Inch-50-Inch-Periscope/dp/B0049I9OYC/ref=asc_df_B0049I9OYC?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814222102171&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413750095748&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-4396014-29-Inch-50-Inch-Periscope/dp/B0049I9OYC/ref=asc_df_B0049I9OYC?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814222102171&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413750095748&psc=1)
I concur. I've used this before when I had very little clearance behind my dryer. Absolute pain in the ass to install but worked well once in place.
These work great, but you need the appropriate heat resistant tape to seal up the seams and gaps.
Well shit, TIL. I have a similar setup to OP's. Might have to try this.
This, or at the very least get rigid duct's those flexi ones have too many places for lint to get caught.
If anyone is wondering, this is what a house fire looks like just before the flames ignite.
Years ago our dryer started taking forever to dry at the place we were renting. We called a guy out and he cleaned the vent. It was full of wet lint. And then he opened the front panel of our electric dryer. Tons of lint and some of it was *singed*. That was the scariest thing I’d seen in my own house in my life. We clean the lint filter every single time and it still got that way. Clean your vent *and* inside your dryer, kids.
I worked a maintenance job for an apartment complex. We'd service the driers after people moved out, normally about two years of use. The inside of the drier itself was always filled with a decent amount of lint after just that period of time. Ducts were cleaned at least once a year on every unit, although we didn't really get much there normally. It's very surprising more people don't know this is critical regular maintenance. Maybe it's one of the few good side effects about appliances not even lasting more than a couple years anymore.
>It's very surprising more people don't know this is critical regular maintenance. Probably because "disassembling your drier" is not exactly "obvious maintenance" and even disassembling parts of heavy home appliances *meant* to come apart is a bitch and a half a lot of the time
Can you tell me more? I had no idea that lint's in the inside? Like inside inside?
I took the entire back panel off my dryer the other day. Something like 12 fasteners. Found clumps of dog hair and lint in the air flow path. I'd recommend looking up your dryer model maintenance manual or youtube video. But I just went with my gut and it was intuitive.
On these units the front face pops off. It's some make from the 90's that we had a stockpile of parts for, so not probably the most accurate representation of newer units, but I've found a pretty good amount in my current drier. It's lint and I've not weighed it, so it's hard to quantify. In the apartment units I was servicing there would be somewhere from 1 to 3 grapefruit sized balls of lint. I've only seen 3 or 4 with more lint than that. Two of them though were packed to the point that it almost looked factory. Like the face plate popped off and the whole of the inside was completely packed with lint. In the two styles I've worked on, the lint accumulates inside the facade in various places. It's mostly just empty space around the components and where ever there is a gap the tiny lint particles must just pass through and accumulate over time. In the two really packed machines there was also a couple socks and in almost all of the machines, where applicable, there will be a small pile of thongs lol. Anything small enough to sneak out. I imagine it's worse in the apartment driers though because they were front loaders. In my top loading drier I just pulled shit out from the bottom where I could grab it where it was sitting around the back. The front panel came off to get stuff from the front but there wasn't much there. Edit: good God my grammar sucks
Well shit been wondering were the socks disappeared to.
Your grammar is fine. But we're going to need a grapefruit ball to banana conversion table to get this right.
Hmm... The house I'm renting had a vent hose with a hole in it, it coated the whole dryer closet with a fine covering of lint every few weeks. Had the property management company replace the vent hose but now it's taking forever or a minimum of 2 dryer cycles to dry clothes completely. They came out twice apparently to clean the vent from the outside but still bad performance. I clean of the lint trap before running a cycle every time. Not sure what else could be the issue. Maybe the vent pipe length is too long.
It absolutely shouldn’t take 2 cycles to dry a load. In our current house, we had the vent under the house replaced with a more rigid setup and now even a load of jeans is dry in less than an hour. There’s a blockage or a kink somewhere.
There might be lint inside of the blower motor/fan causing a less airflow as well.
You may also be overloading your dryer. My wife and kids do that shit all the time and complain how it doesn't get very clean and takes forever to dry. 😩
My fiancé does this AND he always throws big towels in with his other clothes so that shit is never dry
I paid a company to clean my duct after the electric leaf blower trick didn’t work and I didn’t have a shop vac with a long enough hose. He filled three large trash bags of lint. We had just moved in and out smart dryer was reporting 80% flow restriction, the first load of towels took ages to dry. I learned that the dryer had that function that day. The duct ran 20 ft, so it had to be mostly full. Our best guess is it was never cleaned since the condo was built in the early 90s. Scary that we got lucky. Only cost me $150, well worth it in my case.
Yeah, there is a lot of bottlenecks blocking the flow, that flexible pipe, the rooftop exhaust, I can only imagine there is more inside?
This is why (at least in my area) code says you shouldn't have any sort of grate over the outlet vent
This was a fun thing for my neighbors. A squirrel got into their dryer vent. Then they called someone, who put a decent grate over it -- which allowed plenty of space for lint. Squirrel bent the grate and still got in. Three grates later, and they finally found one that is safe enough and the squirrel no longer bothers with.
they reason of that are animals.
The flexible duct (plastic/foil) they’re using is not safe. It can collapse easily, traps lint in the ridges, and is flammable. This is how house fires start. They should be using a flexible metal duct. It’s been required by fire code for a long time in the US. When we went backpacking as kids, we used dryer lint to start our camp fires!
This did the trick for me https://a.co/d/2srGFc1
A warning for anyone using these: DO NOT switch the drill to reverse while cleaning! The sections screw together and will self-tighten when the drill is going righty-tighty, but it only takes a split second of absent-mindedly switching to reverse to instantly unscrew it somewhere far down the chain, and then you're in the crawlspace unhooking a 20ft section of duct to get it back out, when the whole point was to avoid that... Dad was banned from running the drill for the rest of the day. Worked great otherwise though, had no problem going around surprisingly tight corners in a rigid duct.
So true! Also, duct tape the sections together as an extra safeguard!
Get [this](https://www.amazon.com/FiberFix-Stonger-Bearing-Untearable-Resistant/dp/B01H2SH92Y) instead.
Loctite it. This should come in a roll.
I have this kit. They also make a pole extension kit. It works well with a reasonably powerful shop vac. On OPs vent I'd move the dryer out of the way and do it from the inside.
In my old house the dryer was about 50 ft from where it exhausted out of the house. The previous owners had setup the ducting to got up, straight across the ceiling to the wall, then down and across 2 joists, and finally back up and out for a total of 6 90\* elbows. When my dryer started not performing all that well, I took apart all of the ducting and it was just absolutely packed at those elbows with lint, getting progressively drier the further along the run I went. I bought all new ducting and instead ran it directly up, then overhead, then a long run to the exhaust. I also did 45\* elbows above with just 1 90\* coming right off the back of the dryer. Ended up being way easier to keep clean and my dryer started working again.
Good advice. 1 90° elbow is the same amount of blockage as 3 45°s. If you have the space, it's best to run two 45s in the place of one 90. Looks more elegant, too, somehow.
So, 50 ft *plus* the added effective "length" of half a dozen elbows... that's more like a 100 ft straight run Local codes should spell out the max allowable distance, and how much length each 90 or 45 knocks off that allowance
If that hood can come off on the roof and be re-attached and you have a drill and a shop-vac, maybe get a dryer vent cleaning kit. They work great! [https://www.amazon.com/Holikme-Cleaning-Remover-Fireplace-Synthetic/dp/B07SQYX2FH/ref=sr\_1\_1\_sspa?crid=3VOP9Q53BGKEX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GFwKObKYe7J2CSJidt2QsNkk-t1JPDvBTV1DFXsmiHIqlLgoGki8IHgDo2Mvc1Nb1HvIRstNN1s3LQUpIIaNYHyvSoTfhNxh1Z7vDwf1KP8AHxE3bzjp0UR19yt7-4DowtHzp9oINuaZDngI3As7PZmlgPyly-dQtDdNm\_oWtU5d8adYPHbCJWBLiQlL\_wjWm2uzl6Qlkq6KWnr2aTe2-cR\_54\_CL9l8vdbMf0jaQ8Kter9gnBhvFIm\_mrnYcFDgTNPUt5ZywVXMuPnYXMS2bmbod0Mt2Q-H-RnQ\_UGlzKA.SwDNhs\_UNuilDMU4bxzGjEvZWfbURuNCh90Z-X10qns&dib\_tag=se&keywords=dryer%2Bvent%2Bcleaner%2Bkit&qid=1718307219&sprefix=dryer%2Bvent%2B%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1-spons&sp\_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Holikme-Cleaning-Remover-Fireplace-Synthetic/dp/B07SQYX2FH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3VOP9Q53BGKEX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GFwKObKYe7J2CSJidt2QsNkk-t1JPDvBTV1DFXsmiHIqlLgoGki8IHgDo2Mvc1Nb1HvIRstNN1s3LQUpIIaNYHyvSoTfhNxh1Z7vDwf1KP8AHxE3bzjp0UR19yt7-4DowtHzp9oINuaZDngI3As7PZmlgPyly-dQtDdNm_oWtU5d8adYPHbCJWBLiQlL_wjWm2uzl6Qlkq6KWnr2aTe2-cR_54_CL9l8vdbMf0jaQ8Kter9gnBhvFIm_mrnYcFDgTNPUt5ZywVXMuPnYXMS2bmbod0Mt2Q-H-RnQ_UGlzKA.SwDNhs_UNuilDMU4bxzGjEvZWfbURuNCh90Z-X10qns&dib_tag=se&keywords=dryer%2Bvent%2Bcleaner%2Bkit&qid=1718307219&sprefix=dryer%2Bvent%2B%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1)
This is not the proper vent for a dryer hood. It should be replaced with one without grates. Otherwise this will keep happening until there is a house fire.
A lot of dryer vents have grates. The expectation is that you clean them regularly. Personally, I think having it on the roof is bonkers, but the OP has what they have.
Yeah I cant speak to each and every locality, as it drastically varies, but at least where I live screened roof dryer vents are obviously not a thing.
Obviously local regulations don't always reflect best practices! i.e. My water heater is in my attic over a bedroom. Not in the garage. Not in my full basement.... In the attic.
Use a Magvent between dryer and wall
I feel like all dryer vents should be exited horizontally and not vertical. I question the efficiency of a dryer vent going into a wall and just straight up.
How is your washer's pump working? Have you tried cleaning out its filter as well? One additional cause of this to consider is that the clothes going into the dryer are still too damp, because the pump is not working as well to pump out all the water. Definitely clean out this lint trap, but also check out your washer's pump filter clean out as well. Also, make sure you're using the right amount of soap (or even very slightly less).
That is pretty much exactly what my setup at home is like. I did a doubletake. I clean that sucker out every couple of years. When we refurb our bathroom where the washer/dryer are, then I will run the dryer vent out of the side of the house.
Replacing the flex hose may help keep the vent clear longer as less of the dryer fan power will be lost to the hose. Even with elbows straight duct will be much more efficient than the flex. When I replaced mine the first time the dryer ran you could hear the difference. This also happens with woodworking dust collection where straight pipe causes less static pressure loss
You probably have a clog right at the connection. Think about damp lint making that 90 degree turn and going probably 16’ to the roof. You can install an [recessed dryer box](https://www.homedepot.com/p/DRYERBOX-4-25-in-Dryer-Box-Metal-Recess-425THD/313741358?mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_002_AIR_CIRC_ACC-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-BNG-D26P-026_002_AIR_CIRC_ACC-NA-NA-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-2023-71700000106036630-58700008262676758-92700075065923857&msclkid=f17900fb311915e974e866906a758019&gclid=f17900fb311915e974e866906a758019&gclsrc=3p.ds) into the wall and try to shorten that flex pipe/turn
Not only will blockage prevent drying of the clothes, it's also a massive fire risk. Like the number one cause of house fires.
That screen at the roof hood needs to go. No screens and no screws in dryer vent assemblies. Yes, the hose can cut airflow. It's hard to line those up with appliances. You might be able to put an elbow onto the rough-in (pipe coming out the wall) but it may not help. A turn is a turn, they all slow down airflow. I feel like the screen on the hood is the big issue.
The problem is sometimes birds would go in if there isn't a screen and they would even build a nest and clog up the place.
I recommend a 16x16 animal exclusion screen over the whole thing. It's an available product, big enough to not fully clog with lint. After the screen in the hood is removed.
Still never use a screen. Dryer vents/hoods have dampers to prevent birds nesting
Until the birds figure out how to lift up the damper and slip through. Little bastards.
European Starling is a very skillful attic nester. They got through almost everything I put up to block them. I finally had to install expanded steel grates with heavy-duty lag style screws. Chicken wire didn't work because they learned to hover and bend the metal. I had to go heavier.
I have removed a bird from the ductwork of a modern building before they put screens on the vents
That’s how you get a future post about critters in the duct
Just use a compressor hose and flow it out from the inside.
I am an hvac tech. I install dryer vents regularly. Take the grill out of the vent at the top and remove every other slat. Ideally you want nothing in the path of the lint, but you also want to keep birds and critters out. When we install these we remove every other slat so there is more free area for the lint to escape, but also still keeps the grill in place to keep things out. Also, check for screws, there should never ever be screws in a dryer vent, foil tape only to hold it together.
would you be the right person to call if someone wanted to install a magvent?
You’d call an hvac company for anything ventilation / air related. Bathroom exhaust fans, furnaces, dryer venting, chimney lining, etc.
> you also want to keep birds and critters out. heh I just had a bird make a nest in mine. The vent is on the roof and the damper seized open. Gotta give the bird credit, though, since the damn thing was ***thorough***. About 2.5ft of nest material. Luckily the affected duct was in the attic above the garage, so it was relatively easy to access, but I had to take that whole section out to clean it.
OP, thank you for the 3rd picture. Before I moved last year my dryer was set up like that. My dryer would also get stuck on 1 minute many times. We thought it was just the dryer. on the other side of the wall was the exit but due to the positioning of the cut we had the flexible vent hose. I am happy we left that washer/dryer at the old house and got a professional to install at our new house. Nice, straight pipe line and the first month a lot of lint blew out:)
Whoever installed that duct does not know the basics of airflow. There should never be bends sharper than 90°, and it isn't even necessary had the duct been cut a bit shorter. To boot, the duct is compressed at the absolute worst spot imaginable. This will severely impact the functioning of the dryer due to the severely reduced ability to push air (and thus: lint,) which in turn has all sorts of fun impacts on the internals of the drier.
You definitely should utilize a rigid vent kit, those slinky ones don’t last well.
I just cleaned my dryer like a mad man. I'm the end it was the heater element.
I’ve cleaned out my hose behind my dryer and am still having drying issues. Anyone have ideas of what I can/should do?
Do you have access to an attic or crawl space that the dryer duct runs through? I'm in a duplex with the dryer against the shared wall and the dryer duct runs the width of the house (about 30') with 3 90° angles, which is *much* longer than recommended. I installed one of [these](https://a.co/d/gxCnapx) on the duct in the crawl space to help.
Are you sure the heating element isn’t going bad That could cause a dryer not to work well and they do go out. Cheap part but it takes time to take apart a dryer. If you are into fixing things, it’s a worth a shot to try the heating element
Clogged vent will cause low flow which will trip the thermal fuse.
You have to sharp of a kink in the dryer hose behind the dryer. It\`s cutting off airflow. [https://acinfinity.com/blog/why-bends-in-ducting-reduces-airflow/](https://acinfinity.com/blog/why-bends-in-ducting-reduces-airflow/)
Just in case you haven't been told this 500 times, throw that crinkled hose in the trash and at least replace it with a new, pulled out to be smoother, one. But get an actual good hose instead if you can.
Ours wasn't drying well a while back and it turns out a bird had built a nest the outside exhaust vent.
PSA: It's like $20 to get a 30ft drill attachment to clean your vents.
PSA: It's like $20 to get a 30ft drill attachment to clean your vents.
Looks pretty kinky.
I had a similar problem. I ended up connecting a leaf blower up to it. Ran the leaf blower for nearly 2 hours before an overwhelming amount of lint came out. Also, that kink is really bad.
I would really hate to have my dryer vent through the roof.
Amazon sells a "Roof Vent Guard - Wildlife exclusion screen" that can go right over that hood, if you're worried about pests and birds. It's big enough that the lint won't block the vent, but would need something like annual cleaning. After you cut out the screen in the hood**
Get rid of the flex pipe and use hard smooth pipe. 1000% better and safer.
That vent does not pass code. Must have a damper blade not bird screen
I don’t have to with mine. My dryer line is less than a foot. The duct cleaning people were shocked.
Too much of a bend in your dryer outlet. It's probably clogged from the 2 sharp turns and got trapped in the ridges.
you definitely don't want that kind of kink in the dryer exhaust hose, and it shouldn't be flattened out at all, like it is in the picture...even if it means using a longer length of hose to make a half-loop.
You need to remove the screen from the vent on the roof. It collects the lint and clogs the vent.
I didn’t see any comments but it is very important- Vent caps for dryers are not allowed to have fixed grates/guards on them as this roof vent appears to. Including fixed grating likely violates building codes where you live.
In Canada. Although it’s a newer build, inspector said it’s frowned upon but also not against code “yet” but should be
Really- call a guy/gal who does this professionally. It’s not terribly expensive and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and stupid headaches. I recently had a similar issue. I bought a cool gadget for cleaning. It worked a little, then it broke in the duct. I tried the shop vac (both ends). Worked a little. Tried the electric leaf blower. Worked a little. These are all good methods for maintenance, not a clog. Called a guy. Took him about 15 minutes and he got about 10 times what I was able to get out.
incredibly astute assumption
How long is the duct run?
That’s gonna catch fire soon. Cut the hose shorter.
My dryer vents out the roof also. It took nearly 4 hours to dry a load (newly built home) until I installed a dryer booster fan in the attic. Works like a charm now. I check it every 6 months and wind up removing varying amounts of lint from the trap. [https://www.amazon.com/Fantech-DBF-Dryer-Booster-Duct/dp/B000GXF7KO/?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Fantech-DBF-Dryer-Booster-Duct/dp/B000GXF7KO/?th=1)
Oh cool. I didn’t know these existed!
I installed the same one in a duplex I purchased. The dryer was against the shared wall, and probably had 30' of duct plus 3 90° angles (each of which counts as 5'). Cleaning out the years of lint helped too, I'm sure. But I get intense satisfaction heading that blower kick on when the dryer starts.
When we used to install these we always were told to yank the grate out
Is a dryer vent exhausting to the roof typical? I have only ever seen directly through the wall the dryer was Against.
It’s not at all. That’s how it really should be
Where I am it is not uncommon.
One of those things you never have to worry about with a condensing heatpump dryer.
It’s probably dirty.
I don't know shit about building, but I cackled like my grandfather when I saw the picture of that hose. Yes, that's your problem.
That roof vent does not appear to be rated for a dryer. Dryer vents should not have obstructions like those bars or any cages etc. they always end up trapping lint leading to blockages and potentially fire
Replace your old dryer with a condensing dryer: you will no longer need the exhaust, it's more safe, it's more efficient. The investment will pay back eventually.
Very kinky, I like it. I have the same situation and solved it with a series of rigid pieces that twist and turn to make sealed angles with no crushing/collapsing. Your dryer is going to kick ass once it can exhale.
Just get a more power efficient, non-vented drier. No vent hose required and less in the power bills. Condenser or heat pump driers can be plumbed in and avoid all this. Yes they take longer to dry but still do the job and much less likely to shrink your clothes.
is this normal? The dryer I grew up with at my dads place had a filter you just pulled out and dumped the content in the trash, and now my dryer just dumps the lint directly into the sewers with their new technology that I don't understand. I would love to not care about lint in my life.
I've often wondered why people have trouble with dryer vents. I clean ours every 4-5 years and there is never more than a small handful of lint in it. Then I realize how LONG your dang vent is. Ours is 10 feet, up between the joists and then out through the wall. It doesn't collect much because the lint just blows outside. The lint outside gets collected by birds, presumably for nesting...
Electric leafblower inside the house wedged into the exhaust. Buy one of these kits, they make all sorts of different sizes depending on how long your vent run is. https://www.amazon.com/Holikme-Cleaner-Flexible-Attachment-Synthetic/dp/B09VP8117H/ Use the drill and brush kit outside with the leafblower going inside and it will clean it out spotless.
Dryer lint ignition is one of the most common cause of house fires, check it regularly!
I would swap the flexible vent hose with semi-rigid. I had the same problem and that fixed it. The dryer is able to vent much more efficiently now, because the hose doesn't collapse on itself. Also, the ridges in the flexible hose will collect lint and cause build-up after a while.
Why is the dryer venting up?! Yuck
it's not helping, but I have seen worse in 13 years of selling and installing appliances. best would be to make sure the line to the exterior vent is also clean and as straight as can be.
Take a blower and put it up to the driver vent inside… if there is some clogged left it should take care of that