Double whammy! Washer and Dryer

[Steve]

Oddly enough, I had to fix both my washer and dryer tonight!

Washer Repair
The washer was overfilled with heavy towels, etc. So it jumped off of the Suspension rod on one side. I had to take the front off and get access and lift the tub up while putting it back on the the strut. Not the easiest thing to do, but it didn't take all that long.

Dryer Repair
Then, the wife told me that the dryer wasn't cleaning clothes very fast. I unplugged the vent and put a meat thermometer in the back. It cycled between 120 and 140 or so (in the acceptable range according to the appliance repair websites).

So, I found a site that told me how to take the top and the front panel off my GE dryer. It was 4 screws and took about 5 minutes. I found a blockage of old lint at at the bottom of the air return unit. I cleaned everything and lubed up the rollers. Put it back together and it feels like I gained about double the thrust of the air coming out of the vent. It's not any hotter, I think it's just pushing more air through. Hope that was my problem.

I don't think I'll get to my Cavalier cruise control problem as long as I have little things like this popping up!

[Bruce_B]

When it rains it pours. I feel like I've had to become an appliance repair man in the past few years around here.

[unplugged]

Don't forget to check the path of the vent from the dryer to the outside. (If yours does that) I had an inlaw who bought a new dryer because she thought the old one wore out. The new dryer didn't work any better so I observed the gas burner in operation and discovered that it was cycling too fast. She had an exhaust tube that ran twenty feet through the concrete foundation to the exterior of the house. It had clogged with lint over the years and the restricted air flow caused the dryer's burner to shut down prematurely. I rented a plumbers snake and cleared the vent and then the dryer worked just fine.

[Steve]

Yeah, my dryer is on an outside wall, it's about 10" or so, pretty straight shot.

Looks like everything's back to normal, it was an internal blockage. Glad it didn't catch fire.

[Steve]

The washer came off the strut again, I'll have to see if I can tighten it all up again. I hate having to fix something twice.