How To Clean Lint From Kenmore 90 Series Dryer

Clothes Dryer Maintenance
How to clean the lint out of your dryer

Did y'all know that every year over xv,000 house fires in the United States are acquired by improperly vented clothes dryers?

When we bought our house, the onetime possessor complained that the clothes dryer wasn't working very well and might need to be replaced. It turned out that the dryer did have bug of its own, but the biggest problem was a clogged dryer vent. It looked like they hadn't cleaned it out in the seventeen years they lived in the house! I am non exaggerating when I say that the effective diameter of the vent was the thickness (or thinness) of a garden hose! No wonder the poor dryer wasn't working well -- this was the mechanical equivalent of a heart set on caused by clogged arteries!

To make matters worse, rather than utilise the recommended four inch round rigid aluminum ductwork to vent the dryer, they had used one of those flexible plastic hoses, and compounded the problem by not even trimming it to the proper length. They only left the extra hose coiled up behind the dryer!

So needless to say, one of the outset projects I did in the house was to supercede the dryer vent.

Installing the dryer vent

Click on whatsoever of the images for a larger view.

The original owner of our firm finished the basement, including the laundry room. The good news is the dryer backs up to the front end wall of the house so information technology is a short stitch and out. The bad news is I had to break holes in the wall to install the ductwork. I decided to put admission doors in and so that I can get dorsum backside the wall in the future without making more holes in the sheetrock. This is the upper door, nearly six feet above the floor, with the 4" round rigid aluminum dryer vent ductwork visible behind a copper water pipe.
This is the lower door, about two feet off the floor. Unfortunately I had to use a short piece of aluminum flex hose to connect to the dryer, and behind it a rather tight elbow, because there is a large diameter cast atomic number 26 sewer pipage at flooring lever immediately behind the wall, exactly where I would ideally like my dryer vent to get. The sewer line trumps my dryer vent, so I had to do the best I could with a less than ideal state of affairs for venting my dryer.
Here are ii views of the ductwork behind the wall. The perspective is a petty disorienting, because I stuck the photographic camera through the access doors to take the pictures. The first moving-picture show is looking down. The foundation is at the top of the moving picture and the finished wall, with dryer behind it, is at bottom.
This is the view looking up. The bottom of the film is the foundation wall at the front of the house, and the top of the picture is the finished wall separating the laundry room from the foundation. The duct makes a xc degree bend at the center of the picture towards the exterior, which is towards the bottom of the picture, where it is continued to the external dryer vent. It is important that aught stick through the dryer vent. Do not screw the ductwork together. Screws sticking into the lint stream volition trap lint, and make information technology hard for you to clean your dryer vent. Apply external straps and clamps instead.
I plant this peachy outside dryer vent in a local home comeback shop. I haven't seen 1 similar information technology before or since. It is far superior to those feeble flapper vents. Information technology has a elementary but elegant design; it closes deeply, lets lint and frazzle gas out, but doesn't let common cold air, insects, or critters in. Some people might notice it a little obtrusive, but it is subconscious backside a bush and not visible unless you lot are looking for it.
With the outer cap removed, you can see an inner cup which drops downwardly when the dryer is not on, simply it is light enough to float up on the air stream when the dryer is on.	Hither is a meliorate view of the inner cup. This vent is large and easy to clean. The outer cap protects the vent from rain, snow, and ice.

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Let's epitomize some basic dryer vent installation recommendations, and so I will get into cleaning the dryer vent in item.

• Employ 4" diameter rigid aluminum ductwork
• Practice not utilize flexible duct fifty-fifty if it�s metal (unless there is a sewer pipage in your style)
• Certainly no plastic "dryer vent hose"
• Vent outdoors, not to a crawlspace, soffit, or attic, and certainly not to an indoor living space
• Apply the shortest run available, under 10 feet if possible
• Keep bends to a minimum. Maximum of two (like mine, which is probably about mutual) but none is ameliorate.
• Did I say no plastic? And no flex hose?
• Nothing sticking within the vent (like screws or connectors) to catch lint
• Regularly clean the dryer vent outside and inside the dryer.
• Last but not to the lowest degree, clean the lint screen every load.
  

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Cleaning the dryer vent

The first footstep is to unplug the dryer, especially if it is an electric dryer, but even if it�s a gas dryer do yourself a favor and unplug information technology for safety�southward sake. Otherwise you might be surprised, similar I was, when, while reaching around inside with a vacuum cleaner hose, you accidentally affect a "hot" electric connection and get a little jolt. I wasn't hurt, simply information technology was a wakeup call and a friendly reminder for safety first and to always unplug whatever electrical appliance before working on it, no matter how simple the repair is and no matter how experienced you are.
This is my Sears Kenmore Series ninety dryer. We bought it new along with a matching Kenmore washing automobile, partially visible to the right of the dryer, from Sears in 1998. The model number of the dryer is 110.76902692 and the stock number is 76902. It uses natural gas and is rated at 22,000 BTU. Besides routine lint cleanouts, I take taken this dryer apart several times in the past. I replaced the thermal fuse twice, and as well replaced the motor when it was just out of warranty. This would accept been prohibitively expensive if I had to call a technician and would likely have cost almost as much as a new dryer. Instead I bought a new motor and replaced it myself (and the belt as well, as long as I had it all autonomously) and countless loads of laundry afterward it is still working fine.
This is a moving-picture show I took of the inside of the dryer while I was replacing the motor. The cabinet has been taken off, and the pulsate and belt have been removed. Unfortunately I did not think to take pictures of the entire disassembly process. Next time. You tin can clearly see the burner assembly on the right, and the motor, fan, and ductwork on the left. If you click the moving picture, I have highlighted the thermal fuse. In many cases, if your dryer will not ignite, a burned out thermal fuse is your problem. The skillful news is the thermal fuse is very easy to troubleshoot and to supervene upon by yourself.
As usual with appliance maintenance and repair, half the boxing is figuring out how to open the apparatus to admission its components without damaging information technology.
Dorsum to the task at hand: at that place are two bound clips which agree the lower half of the forepart console of the dryer on. This lower panel must exist removed to clean lint out of the inside of the dryer. If yous bend down and look closely y'all can meet the jump clips. Yous tin can practise this with 1 screwdriver, merely it is MUCH easier with two. Really any sparse piece of metal should piece of work, such every bit a bread knife or putty pocketknife, but I used screwdrivers. Slide the screwdriver into the slot and push the leap clip downwardly and so it disengages with the upper panel. This is the tricky part. In lodge to remove the lower console you lot take to disengage both clips at the same fourth dimension, and then pull the lower panel downward towards you. Three hands would be best, merely it can exist done easily plenty with two.
Hither is a shut upward of one of the spring clips. The upper part of the clip inserts into a slot in the upper part of the cabinet, and then the trick is to become the screwdriver in between the prune and the upper part of the cabinet, and so push downwards on the clip while pulling the pinnacle of the lower panel out towards y'all.
The left bound clip has been disengaged and the left side pulled forrad slightly.
Here you tin see the lower panel is opened. Information technology is continued on the bottom by two sparse strips of metal which fit into slots on the lower panel. Lift the panel off and put it aside where you won't step on information technology. Await at all that lint!
This is a closer view of one of the ii metal tabs. You lot can see how it fits into a slot on the lesser of the panel.
Side by side the fan encompass ducting needs to exist removed. It is secured by several screws. Do yourself a favor and buy a ane/iv" nut driver if y'all don't already own i. A socket wrench with extension will work too. This multi tool kit that my kids bought me for Christmas is neat for those unusual tools that you might not utilise on a daily basis.
First you have to remove the lint screen. You should clean the lint screen before (or afterwards) every load. You would not believe how much lint tin can come off of some fabrics, especially when they are new. Click here to encounter what I scraped off the lint screen from one load of new towels. It'due south plenty to choke a horse!
The fan cover is secured past two screws. Click the picture to see the location of these screws. Remove the screws and put them someplace where you will non vacuum them upwardly later. Don't express joy, I've washed this, simply I am more conscientious now.
Remove the fan embrace. Expect at all that lint! Vacuum it out, and then put the fan cover bated. That is as much disassembly every bit you demand to do. Advisedly vacuum out the lint from everywhere y'all are able to reach within the dryer. Don't forget electrical connections, around the motor, and in the dorsum corners.
Y'all will be surprised how much lint is inside your dryer. This is what I scraped out of the fan cover. I commonly detect a few coins as well.
Pull the dryer away from the wall. Vacuum out the frazzle vent as far as you can reach. This is the back of the dryer showing the exhaust vent earlier I cleaned out the lint.
This is later cleaning the lint out of the dryer exhaust vent. Quite a deviation!
I simply treated myself to this dryer vent brush. Information technology is a 4" round brush securely attached to a wire that has the feel of an electrician's serpent. This is helpful when threading the dryer vent brush into the principal dryer vent equally nosotros shall run across later.
Run the dryer vent castor into the exhaust vent at the dorsum of the dryer, and then pull it out. I was surprised how well it worked. Await at the earlier and subsequently pictures and guess for yourself.
Adjacent comes the most important office of the job, cleaning out the vent pipe. I actually pushed the wire finish up the dryer vent. The only problem I had was getting the castor itself around the bend at the bottom of the vent. This is not the platonic vent configuration, only information technology�south the best I can do because the laundry room is finished and I don't have room to motion the dryer, and there is a sewer pipe correct in the fashion of the ideal place to run the dryer vent, and I am certainly not going to relocate a sewer line.
I went exterior and pulled the castor upwardly through the vent pipe. Wow, wait at all that lint that came out! I used to employ rags attached to a wire only this dryer vent brush is specifically designed for this chore, and every bit usual when using specialty tools, makes the task a lot easier.
The job is consummate. All that remains is to reassemble the exterior dryer vent, push the dryer back to the wall and reconnect it to the vent, and vacuum upwardly any devious lint in the basement.

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