Blowing out my gas clothes dryer vent.

Using my leaf blower. It has a regular clean out plug that I suck out with a shop vac ,but a buddy told me to blast the whole thing out so what the hell.
It has a flapper that opens when it vents on the side of the house so I climbed up to make sure that whole area was clean. Mrs. JG complaining that it doesnt dry as fast as it should and we need a new one. 11 years old maybe we do ,but I'm gonna try all this other stuff before I buy a new one. I know this is a real exciting topic,but if you dont clean this things out you run the risk of setting your house on fire,and it is supposed to make your dreyer run more efficiently.

 

also clean out the burner area

Jerseyguy you should also clean out the burner area and make sure you flame is good. Blue flame good, yellow flame bad.

 

We have the brush attachment you use with a power drill - we do ours twice a year and actually cleaned it this weekend (there's a vacuum attachment that came with ours but we've not used it - the drill works great)

 

lived in my house 6 years...never cleaned it out...never even thought about it...huh...thanks

 

Just FYI - I know the OP mentions his dryer is gas but it doesn't matter - all dryer vents should be cleaned regularly (ours is electric). There might be *other* maintenance issues specific to the gas version, but vent cleaning is not

This is what we bought at Lowes a few years ago - it works great! My husband and his cordless drill stand on the ladder and I hand him the extension poles as the brush goes in, take them back as the brush comes back out. Probably takes 15 minutes start to finish?

http://www.lowes.com/pd_37653-59625-RLE202-L_0__?productId=3465404&Ntt=dryer+vent+cleaner&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Ddryer%2Bvent%2Bcleaner&facetInfo=

 

Gotta clean out the lint trap each cycle and vacuum it out a few times a year. I made an attachment with sections of clear tubing from Home Depot and hook it up to my vacuum.

While you are at it, make sure the water supply lines to the washer are the braided type and not the regular rubber hoses that you get with a new washer. These rubber hoses can break from the water pressure.

 

Thats a thought also,thanks

Problem is I have no clue how to get at that. Obviously you have to take the back off,I guess,but I dont know if I want to move the dryer out again. Maybe the next time I clean the vent.

 

I've lived in my house for 17 years now and have never cleaned it. Guess what I'll be doing on my next day off.

 

I clean that trap always after each use.

Thats a good reminder about the washer hoses also ,I should get the better ones.

 

I live in a condo and it gets done every 9 months. They show up with a high pressure air line and blast the vent from my laundry room to the vent on the patio. I could see all sorts of blue fluff come out (The GF loves big fluffy towels and for xmas I got her some super nice blue ones, but every time they go into the dryer some fluff comes off) and it almost looked like blue snow!