Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Dryer Repair 101

Since getting my own place I've gained a lot of experience learning how to trouble shoot and fix problems which has been challenging and fun...at least for the most part. :) Recently I had trouble with my dryer. I had noticed it was taking longer to dry and then I had started to notice a burnt smell so I shut it down and went searching online for a solution. The internet is so handy with DIY info! From what I read, it sure sounded like lint build up so I gathered my Shop Vac and a few tools and tackled this problem.


After pulling the dryer out and unplugging it, I started by vacuuming the vents on the back panel.


Then I went outside, removed the vent cap and vacuumed inside the duct/pipe as far as the vacuum hose would reach. After that was done I went back into the house and vacuumed it from the inside. Later I switched the Shop Vac hose to the blow setting to blow any remaining lint to the outside and then went back out and vacuumed once more.

I started the dryer up again but it still had the burnt smell so I decided to take the back panel off and see if there was more lint build up.

I also removed the whole lint tray and gave it a thorough cleaning.

I put it back together and now I have a dryer working again! There is satisfaction in being able to detect and figure out solutions for your problems. So, yeah, I'm happy. :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

That's great Lindsey... You're good with your hand tools. :-) I hope you had a bit of fun fixing your dryer.
Hannah

Anonymous said...

Good job Lindsey!
We had a simliar problem recently, but we figured out that the knob seems to be tempermental, more dry does not always make it hot, but if you move the knob around, you can usually get it to go hotter. Not too fun to do, but it works. :D And since we are coming up on spring/summer (HOPEFULLY!) we are not going to get another one right now, just keep our eyes out for a good used one.

Lindsey said...

Hannah, yeah, I actually did find it fun to work on, especially since my attempt was successful. :)

Jac, I'm hoping to put up a clothesline this year but still have to find where I want to put it first. I love the smell of line dried clothes.

Naomi T. said...

I'm so happy for you! It always feels good when we're successful..

Hope the chickens are doing well!