Dryer Lint Filter Screens - Different Designs More Effective Than Others?

[mark_wpduet]

I noticed that some of the dryers have much different looking lint screens than others. I saw on on an LG that folded and it looked much better than what's on my 2005 Duet Dryer, which is just a single screen with felt on the bottom...

I can say that my screen does not capture no where NEAR all of the lint, that's for sure! I would say 30% of it goes past the screen into the vent run (or at least it did before I modified my setup.

My question is, are these type of filter screens better for keeping any lint escaping the lint screen and ending up in the vent run or building up on the outside exhaust housing?

Thanks

 

[johnb300m]

Mark I've noticed over the years that GE and WP (now MT) seem to use larger mesh, harsh, metal screens that are not as effective at filtering lint. And they're rougher for removing it too.
The best ones I've ever used were from the old Maytags of yesteryear before the bankruptcy.
They used finer, nylon mesh screens.
They catch lots of stuff, and were easy to scrape clean too.

The metal mesh screen on my Whirltag Maxima dryer is "ok." Seems to be better than GE's screens and is somewhere between the old Maytags and older WP top-mount screens.

 

[glomain]

just another reason

I hated my duets,had to clean out the bottom of the dryer & the vent pipe because of lint build up about every 2 months.a real fire hazard.and yes it has been in the paper about them starting fires!Duets dryers that is.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Yep,

as much as I love my duet washer, I feel the same way about lint escaping the dryer. The reason I brought this up was a youtube vid I was watching on a review of LG washer/dryer and the lint screen folded and looked much more heavy duty than mine. It made me wonder if there are in fact some dryer lint screens that catch ALL the lint (and not just some of it)..wouldn't that be awesome? A lint screen that keeps your vent run clean! Next time I look at appliances, I'm going to check the lint screens it's something I never usually do.

 

[gusherb]

The best I've ever seen were the top lint filter whirlpool design. Taken a few apart and found nothing inside the cabinet and really nowhere else. The Maytag Performa in one of my dads rental units has that finer screening like mentioned. Lint still makes it past the screen and clogs up the boot and fan quite frequently, and a buildup starts happening in the cabinet.
The Samsungtag here also has a pretty awful lint filter, maybe the worst I've seen. The boot starts building up and won't let the filter slide back in all the way so I gotta stick a crevice tool and tongs down there once a year. The rigid metal duct is all full of lint. Gotta take it all apart and clean that out too. Never taken that dryer apart, hoping it gets replaced before it catches fire.

 

[glomain]

FYI

a buddy of mine said his duet dryer was taking for ever to dry,told him to check vent pipe & under the drum,the vent was almost clogged shut & he got a plastic bag full of lint out of the bottom!told him yer dang lucky it didn't burn yer house down!PS I told the guy I sold my (duets)to make sure to check & clean the dryer,he said his mother in law has one & he cleans it every couple months because it starts smelling HOT!

 

[retro-man]

Never have taken the front of my duet off. I know it catches a lot of lint in the filter but I see what goes outside also. Not quite as bad as the GE downstairs which has too small of a lint filter. So does the front lower panel just pop off on the duet for inspection or are there screws holding it in place? Its a gas dryer going on 4 years now.

Jon

 

[mark_wpduet]

It's just 3 screws at the bottom of the front panel

and prepare yourself when you open it. When I first checked mine after about 4 years, it was like 2 inches of perfectly level lint, almost like it snowed 2 inches, but it was lint. I vacuumed it out the best I could - but I remember thinking how FREAKING RIDICULOUS how much lint escapes the screens....but my duet dryer has never had a repair and it is 11 years old next month...

This is the FIRST house I've lived in that I own. All other houses or apartments I have rented, so I never really even gave this a thought or worried about it until moving in here...

 

[retro-man]

Thanks Mark

Will open her up when I have some free time. Finished 4 loads yesterday and don't plan on doing anymore for a few days.

Jon

 

[glomain]

dont know

if gas is as bad as electric,but marks right 3 little screws along the bottom,the center 1 is a pain in the a##.good luck

 

[combo52]

Lint filter designs

The metal lint filters that whirlpool uses are far more durable than the mesh ones that's why they're used. While the fabric filters are easier on your fingers and may catch a little bit more lint they are not durable they tend to get torn and used that way and then you have real problems.

This metal lint screens that whirlpool uses and the metal lint filter housings are also very effective at stopping a fire from spreading it's a much better design than a fabric filter and plastic exhaust and blower housing's.

The thick layer of lint that you see in the bottom of 27 inch whirlpool built dryers and bottom of Maytag dryers and other brands comes from leaks around the drum seals it is not from air that has gone through the lint filter. If you were seeing a heavy buildup of lint within five or even 10 years in these dryers it's because you have a lousy vent system and insufficient air is being sucked through the dryers. When there is insufficient airflow through the dryer air leaks out around the seals rather than air being sucked in around the seals.

The other major reason for Lint inside dryer cabinets is just leaky connections at the exhaust system, when there is an air leak in the exhaust system air in the immediate for vacindy of the dryer it gets drawn back into the dryer and some of the lint settles on to the dryer floor.

 

[glomain]

sorry

don't agree I have a 89 whirlpool dryer that has had to have the vent pipe cleaned one time in 26 yrs & no build up on the bottom of the dryer & vent was pretty dang clean

 

[combo52]

Sorry I Don't Agree

Hi Greg, What don't you agree with, you said in reply #2 that you had to clean out your WP Duet dryer every two months, in my comments I was not talking about 29" WP dryers, although I have worked on a few hundred of those with at least a few inches of lint in the bottom as well.

 

John L.