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?

2 comments

2 Comments

ericp6722h 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?

ericschmidt22h 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.