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Ok, so my recent setback with our dryer has spawned the most annoying of blowups.  In trying to figure out why our dryer wasn't working I quickly found that the 6-8 feet of metal venting had swagged and collected water.  In here ensues the argument that never was.

During my discovery, one of my family members had one theory and I had another.  I never dismissed their theory but felt stronger that my theory was right.  After a week I come to find that my street cred has been slaughtered to all family members and others by having said person slander my theory.  Today I set them straight with one search on my T-Mobile G1 while shopping. Here's the setup and the two theories, you decide for yourself...

Premise:  Old dryer started sounding like a NASA rocket and clothes where taking longer to dry.  There's about 6-8 of metal venting that I installed last summer so that the electrically run dryer wouldn't vent into the garage during the hot summer.  The water collecting in the venting was substantial but didn't necessarily impact the dryer deathly drying time.  The dryer came with our house and looks dated so I came to the conclusion that it had seen better days.  The external vent is shaded by a guttered one foot overhang towards the back of the house.

Now for the two theory, I won't tell you what mine was till later down the line..:
#1 - Rain runoff was coming down the vent and was coming in from the uncaulked vent.

#2 - Humid dryer vented air or condensation began to collect and created the swag over time.

I never put any thought to it till I was yet again unwittingly taunted and unseemingly humiliated in public.  So one quick search and here's one example I found to justify my theory...

"Water collecting in a dryer vent hose is normal and significant amounts of water can accumulate over time.  In one house, I found nearly a gallon of water accumulating in a vent hose which ran through and attic.  The hose had settled into the spaces between the floor joists giving the water a great spot to collect!  This problem is greatest when lengths of hose pass through an unheated area.  The water is produced, of course, by the condensation of the warm, moist dryer exhaust air within the hose when it enters the cooler attic."  Source

So since our dryer vent passes through our freezing unheated garage before going out, I came to the immediate conclusion that yes I was right and never said that the other person was wrong.  I tried explaining evaporation and condensation to the person but they apparently have no faith in my mad crazy science skills, so they decided to try to trash talk me throughout town and the family but I finally to put the final nail in this coffin.

I have two things up on him, 1) I was right and 2) I have a blog that I'll be sharing everywhere, so who's trash talking now, bea***.

« Last Edit: March 21, 2009, 09:12:11 PM by mrtech »

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March 21, 2009, 03:07:14 PM