Rant: The old guy at the parts counter in Tacoma told me something I still use

I was picking up a thermal fuse for a dryer, and the guy behind the counter, maybe in his 70s, saw my part. He said, 'Kid, before you install that, check the vent line with a leaf blower from the inside out.' I was in a hurry but tried it anyway. The lint plug I blew out of that 15-foot aluminum duct was the size of a football. That dryer had been tripping the fuse for months. Anyone else have a weird test for blocked vents?

3 comments

3 Comments

ericp671mo ago

Grab a cheap borescope camera that plugs into your phone, the kind with a light on a flexible cable. I snake that up the vent from the back of the dryer and you can actually see the problem. Found a dead bird in mine once, no joke. What kind of blower did you end up using?

ericschmidt1mo ago

Found a dead bird" is wild, but honestly it checks out. I used a cheap shop vac with a duct taped hose extension first, which was a total mess. Ended up renting a proper vent blower from the hardware store and it was way better.

cameron6841mo ago

The borescope camera tip is genius man, being able to actually see what you're dealing with would save so much guesswork. For the blower I ended up with one of those big metal drum fans with a hose attachment, the kind they use for drying out water damage. That thing pushed air through like crazy, cleared out a solid handful of lint and what looked like dryer sheet pieces that had been baking in there for years. The cheap shop vac route was honestly dangerous, the hose kept popping off and I nearly sucked a whole nest of stuff into the vac motor. Next time I'm definitely grabbing one of those phone cameras first though, that's the smart move.