House Fire Preventation Reminder

 
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lowfog01
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Post by lowfog01 » Fri. Jul. 29, 2011 9:45 am

Hi Gang,

A quick note to pass along a house fire prevention reminder. As many of you know I am visiting with my elderly parents this month and doing odd jobs around their house. I discovered that the dryer vent wasn't hooked up to the dryer at all; it was just laying against the dryer. Some exhaust was getting through but mostly not, there was a large build up of lint behind the machine. While I was fixing that, I decided to "blow" the rest of the length of vent pipe; my parents hadn't had it done in the 12 years they've been here and I doubt the previous owner had either. I discovered that the pipe had come apart in the crawl space so what exhaust was getting through was dumping there. The pipe after the break was completely blocked. Mom told me she noticed 3 or 4 years ago that nothing was coming out that vent. A quick trip to the HD and a bribe to my niece and nephew (a trip to DQ) to do the work under the house and the venting was all replaced.

I urge everyone to take a minute and think about the last time you checked the venting on your dryer. If it's been a while check it out and use the leaf blower to 'blow" it out. It won't take a minute but it may prevent a house fire. Have a great day, Lisa


 
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Post by CoalHeat » Fri. Jul. 29, 2011 10:03 am

Moved this to the Coffee House for better visibility.
A good reminder, thanks, Lisa. Here my dryer is against an outside wall, I have 2 elbows and a short piece of rigid metal vent pipe, that's it. However at my mom's there is a long run of flex from the dryer to the outside vent, I'm going to check it.

 
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Post by steamup » Fri. Jul. 29, 2011 10:48 am

Good point Lisa,

On a annual basis, dryer fires exceed chimney fires in some years. Failure to clean is the leading cause of dryer fires.

Here are some facts for consideration:
DryerFactSheet.pdf
.PDF | 42.3KB | DryerFactSheet.pdf

 
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Post by sterling40man » Fri. Jul. 29, 2011 1:04 pm

Thanks for the heads up Lisa! I usually check mine every other year. I may have to do it anually fom now on. Better to be safe than sorry.

 
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Jul. 29, 2011 3:53 pm

Thanx Lisa, safety info is always appreciated :) My dryer has a 3' run of plastic/vinyl flex to the outside wall & I am constantly feeling it for build-up--I figure I made it through the Nam, I'll be damned if I'm going to let the dryer 86 me. ;)

 
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Post by NWBuilder » Sat. Jul. 30, 2011 12:03 pm

Thanks for the reminder Lisa, one more thing on this summers to do list

 
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Post by SMITTY » Mon. Aug. 01, 2011 11:42 am

Great tip - ESPECIALLY if you have a gas dryer. Those SOB's will burn your house down if not cleaned regularly. I've seen glowing embers coming out the back of one before! :shock:

Recently I completely dismantled & cleaned my now 8 year old Maytag dryer which was starting to get squeaky. Fixed some gaskets that had shifted out of place & were hanging inside the drum. Cleaned ALOT of stuck lint out of this thing. Also cleaned off all the safety switches in there - the overtemp ones in particular. Don't want those insulated with lint. :idea:


 
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Post by AA130FIREMAN » Mon. Aug. 01, 2011 12:03 pm

SMITTY wrote:Recently I completely dismantled & cleaned my now 8 year old Maytag dryer which was starting to get squeaky.
Now I know why the Maytag repairman is so lonely, you are taking all the work away from him. :lol:

 
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Post by nortcan » Mon. Aug. 01, 2011 1:27 pm

Thanks Lisa. Very good and important point to check.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Mon. Aug. 01, 2011 11:00 pm

nortcan wrote: Now I know why the Maytag repairman is so lonely, you are taking all the work away from him. :lol:
:mrgreen: You bet!

A little grease on those rollers & it ended up more quiet than when it was new. I can't believe it ran 8 years without a drop of grease in there. That was the source of the squeak ...squeak ... squeak with every revolution of the drum.

 
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Post by samhill » Tue. Aug. 02, 2011 8:14 am

Hope you used some high temp grease, the inside of those dryers gets rather warm.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Tue. Aug. 02, 2011 8:31 am

Not as warm as your brakes can get. I'll be ok. No singed clothes yet. :D

 
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Post by Freddy » Sat. Aug. 06, 2011 4:58 am

Oh, great.... another thing to do this weekend. ;)

Good tip Lisa. I have a long run, about 20 feet of dryer pipe on a gas dryer. It is solid pipe but I will open it up & give 'er a check. Thanks!

Smitty... I did a maintenance on my dryer a couple of years ago. It needed nothing, but I figured after 18 years it might enjoy new rollers & a new belt. I'm hoping it's good to go for another 18. (It's a Whirlpool)

 
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Post by SMITTY » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 10:34 am

Only way to repair a Whirlpool appliance: :D


 
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Post by Poconoeagle » Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 11:19 am

the "pre-vented" whirlpool!!!! :D


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