Favorite Dryer

[Chetlaham]

Fascinating design choice for the drum, I like it. All the US dryers I've seen have a solid drums, and the GE drum is only perforated in the back, so this stands out for me in a good way.

I think that you can switch off one of the two heaters in your dryer is a nice feature. The DDE5300BAL lets does the same thing the low/knits setting- decreasing heat input. The DDE5300BAL regular dry cycle offers up to 130 minutes of dry time, and when coupled with a 5000+ watt heater you could dry literally anything and any size load conceivable.

 

[DADoES]

All the US dryers I've seen have a solid drums

I think that you can switch off one of the two heaters in your dryer is a nice feature. The DDE5300BAL lets does the same thing the low/knits setting- decreasing heat input.

There are/were dryers on the US market with perforated drums. Early Hamilton, Frigidaire Filtrator. And of course all combination units from early to current.

F&P SmartLoad has two elements. One operates alone for low and medium temps, both for high.

 

[Chetlaham]

There are/were dryers on the US market with perforated drums. Early Hamilton, Frigidaire Filtrator. And of course all combination units from early to current.

F&P SmartLoad has two elements. One operates alone for low and medium temps, both for high.

How did those compare, what were the advantages in having a perforated drum?


I am envious of you again DADoES! Personally, I think the best dryer is one where you can regulate the output of the heating elements in addition to what temp the exhaust stat opens at. Add to that temperature modulation or swing reduction and you've got true clothing care IMO.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Fascinating design choice for the drum, I like it. All the US dryers I've seen have a solid drums, and the GE drum is only perforated in the back, so this stands out for me in a good way.

I think that you can switch off one of the two heaters in your dryer is a nice feature. The DDE5300BAL lets does the same thing the low/knits setting- decreasing heat input. The DDE5300BAL regular dry cycle offers up to 130 minutes of dry time, and when coupled with a 5000+ watt heater you could dry literally anything and any size load conceivable.


View attachment 316611

I know for a fact that the dryer does have technically three settings, hot, warm, and no heat, the first two are used on the normal Dry settings, the last one is its own timer section

 

[me]

It uses a commercial laundromat style drum which was actually the reason why I wanted to get this specific dryer so instead of the clothes tumbling through the the airflow horizontally, the airflow goes from the heating elements at the top of the drum at an 11 o’clock position down to the 5 o’clock position on the other side where there is a lint clean out before the fan and the lint trap after the fan

That looks a neat design, I haven't seen a dryer with a perforated drum before. Mind, I haven't been in a launderette for a very long time.

I did wonder why they don't make heat pump dryer with a drum with the holes in the side like that, with the heat pump evaporator below the drum, so the water can drip into a tray at the bottom, and the condenser at the top, which should allow much more room to have heat exchangers with a much larger cross sectional area even in the smaller appliance cases we have in the UK, which coupled with a bigger compressor should speed the drying time up and also make it take longer to clog up with lint, but I'd assumed it would be difficult to get a satisfactory enough seal to the rotating drum, to prevent too much air bypassing around the outside.

 

[statomatic]

That looks a neat design, I haven't seen a dryer with a perforated drum before. Mind, I haven't been in a launderette for a very long time.

I did wonder why they don't make heat pump dryer with a drum with the holes in the side like that, with the heat pump evaporator below the drum, so the water can drip into a tray at the bottom, and the condenser at the top, which should allow much more room to have heat exchangers with a much larger cross sectional area even in the smaller appliance cases we have in the UK, which coupled with a bigger compressor should speed the drying time up and also make it take longer to clog up with lint, but I'd assumed it would be difficult to get a satisfactory enough seal to the rotating drum, to prevent too much air bypassing around the outside.

Because this will be a reliable heat pump dryer and no manufacturers wants to do that nowadays...
Since I work in HVAC I see that most of the dryers are really badly designed in terms of air circulation (too much restrictions and bypass).
And for the heat pump ones it's really terrible too, most of them uses capillary tube for metering, combined to a bad air design and the impossibility to clean the evaporator, that usually ends in a dead compressor after getting liquid refrigerant (if the copper/aluminum joints weren't leaking)...

 

[Chetlaham]

I know for a fact that the dryer does have technically three settings, hot, warm, and no heat, the first two are used on the normal Dry settings, the last one is its own timer section

Not bad, that is respectable. Many use dryers today offer both timed dry and auto dry as well as two or more heat settings.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Not bad, that is respectable. Many use dryers today offer both timed dry and auto dry as well as two or more heat settings.

Yeah, as I know my West is literally a timer a hitting element and a motor that’s it and contact us that way the Motor contacts or timer Contacts are not switching heater current directly and the only cool down period My Westie has is five minutes from the end of the timer although surprisingly it can go from almost something wet to bone Dry if I let it run the entire essentially 360° of the timer

 

[Chetlaham]

Yeah, as I know my West is literally a timer a hitting element and a motor that’s it and contact us that way the Motor contacts or timer Contacts are not switching heater current directly and the only cool down period My Westie has is five minutes from the end of the timer although surprisingly it can go from almost something wet to bone Dry if I let it run the entire essentially 360° of the timer

Now that is a dryer! Lucky you. I think all dryers should be like this today.

 

[pierreandreply4]

@Chetlaham would you happen to know what was the matching washer to this inglis liberator dryer when i took the pic my grandmother had a direct drive whirpool washer but she had this dryer paired with a 3 cycle push to start inglis liberator washer with just the 5 wash rinse temp knob no water level then with a 1988 kenmore belt drive and till 2009 with the direct drive whirlpool washer in the pic

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Now that is a dryer! Lucky you. I think all dryers should be like this today.

Yeah, but I’ve seen the Simpson Malleys dryers with two lights and a push button, the push button would start the dryer and then the dryer would run until the clothes are dry I’d love to have that like a feature on my Westinghouse but that’s all electronics.

 

[Chetlaham]

Yeah, but I’ve seen the Simpson Malleys dryers with two lights and a push button, the push button would start the dryer and then the dryer would run until the clothes are dry I’d love to have that like a feature on my Westinghouse but that’s all electronics.

Well, that feature has limitations- for me at least. Things like comforters can appear dry on the outside and not the inside. Mixed loads. Shoes. Dryer racks, ect.

Timed is the most promising, it gives the user maximum control. It is also the most reliable. Easiest to diagnose and replace. There are only two contacts which are opened end cycle by a rotating drum.


The Mallory style two contact timer below has to be the most reliable thing ever created in the appliance industry. Absolutely love it, I wish it was the norm.

 

[Chetlaham]

@Chetlaham would you happen to know what was the matching washer to this inglis liberator dryer when i took the pic my grandmother had a direct drive whirpool washer but she had this dryer paired with a 3 cycle push to start inglis liberator washer with just the 5 wash rinse temp knob no water level then with a 1988 kenmore belt drive and till 2009 with the direct drive whirlpool washer in the pic

Sorry, I have no idea to be honest. I have no experience with Inglis. However the closest thing Whirlpool/Kenmore wise would be a two cycle washer with Heavy/Normal and Permanent press with a water level selector:





Do you know what cycles and temps were offered on the dry?

 

[maytag85]

Timed drying may be simpler, unfortunately you can at times set the timer for not enough time, or set it for too long which can lead to over drying in some cases.

Never had a problem with the auto dry on my Maytag DE806, would shut off at the dryness selected.

Still have to use my Whirlpool Imperial Mark 18 dryer some more to get a feel and sense of how the auto dry will work. Today was the first successful load that dried to completion. Ended up having to use an adjustable cycling thermostat (technically it’s L175-40) for the quote “moisture sensor”, since it’s set at 135F and doesn’t open until 95F and the low heat cycling thermostat opens up at 135F and closes at 125F, it’ll only open up once it reaches the cool down. The thermostat that’s being used for the “moisture sensor” more so or less is a damp dry thermostat, doesn’t advance the timer until it opens up.

 

[Chetlaham]

If you don't know how to gauge the load well. I can see how timed dry could and has been misused. Regardless I don't believe that should be a reason to restrict timed dry or push auto dry cycles.

If you are going to offer auto dry and skimp on the timed dry, at least offer an "ultra dry" or "ultra heavy" setting that offers a substantial amount of time between the start and off point for things like the dry rack.

 

[me]

Auto dry is one of the features I really like on my tumble dryer, it's the sort that uses an extra thermistor to try to determine moisture content, I rarely use it on timed dry, only when there's not enough time to fully dry the wash before the end of the cheap rate economy 7 electricity period, when the electric rates switch back to full price.

It's not perfectly accurate, some of the items will often need to go back on when I use "cupboard dry" (the driest setting), like clothing with thick cuffs, but that usually doesn't take much more than an extra 10 - 20 minutes or so. On "delicates" it turns the element on and off to reduce the temperature, and it can sometimes end up extending the drying time by as much as an extra hour, but when I tested it with a power monitor, because it runs with the element off so much, it appears to use a fair bit less electricity than full heat with a similar load.

The dryer is about 18-19 years old and the electronics have been fine. Electronics can be made reliable if the manufacturer wants, and doesn't overly cheap out on the design or components. The mechanical timer on the previous dryer I used burnt up about that age, although that was purely an assembly issue, they'd managed to miss one of the spade terminals when connecting up the wires, and wedge a female spade connector tightly down the side of the terminal, and it took over 20 years to work loose. And I was able to easily repair it, by cutting all the melted plastic away, including the burnt carbonised plastic corner off the timer, and melting some plastic around the timer terminal that had melted out of position, to remount it and the internal contact where it belonged.

 

[maytag85]

Auto dry is one of the features I really like on my tumble dryer, it's the sort that uses an extra thermistor to try to determine moisture content, I rarely use it on timed dry, only when there's not enough time to fully dry the wash before the end of the cheap rate economy 7 electricity period, when the electric rates switch back to full price.

It's not perfectly accurate, some of the items will often need to go back on when I use "cupboard dry" (the driest setting), like clothing with thick cuffs, but that usually doesn't take much more than an extra 10 - 20 minutes or so. On "delicates" it turns the element on and off to reduce the temperature, and it can sometimes end up extending the drying time by as much as an extra hour, but when I tested it with a power monitor, because it runs with the element off so much, it appears to use a fair bit less electricity than full heat with a similar load.

The dryer is about 18-19 years old and the electronics have been fine. Electronics can be made reliable if the manufacturer wants, and doesn't overly cheap out on the design or components. The mechanical timer on the previous dryer I used burnt up about that age, although that was purely an assembly issue, they'd managed to miss one of the spade terminals when connecting up the wires, and wedge a female spade connector tightly down the side of the terminal, and it took over 20 years to work loose. And I was able to easily repair it, by cutting all the melted plastic away, including the burnt carbonised plastic corner off the timer, and melting some plastic around the timer terminal that had melted out of position, to remount it and the internal contact where it belonged.

Here’s one thing to note, on some of the Kenmore High Speed and Soft Heat dryers from the early to mid 1960’s, timed drying was more than enough since it would begin to taper the heat down once it reached a certain temperature. If you were drying a small load in a Kenmore Soft Heat gas dryer and selected 40 minutes of dry time, it would start out with the full 37,000 btu heat output and once the air in the exhaust outlet reached a certain temperature, it would begin to gradually taper the burner down to a much lower heat output. By that point, the burner would be off right before the cool down. Essentially timed drying on a Kenmore soft heat dryer was sort of an auto dry feature.

 

[DADoES]

My SmartLoads are accurate and consistent at normal Dry level across a range of load-types. Jeans, blankets, shirts, towels/socks, sheets, mixed cargo shorts/briefs/some towels.

One of them (presumably either of them) moved to my mother's house, she must set it at Extra Dry to get her loads fully dry but they are and also consistently. There is one difference between here and there that is the only factor I can figure to account for the operational change. Anyone have a guess what is it?

 

[me]

My SmartLoads are accurate and consistent at normal Dry level across a range of load-types. Jeans, blankets, shirts, towels/socks, sheets, mixed cargo shorts/briefs/some towels.

One of them (presumably either of them) moved to my mother's house, she must set it at Extra Dry to get her loads fully dry but they are and also consistently. There is one difference between here and there that is the only factor I can figure to account for the operational change. Anyone have a guess what is it?

Length of the vent hose / duct?

 

[DADoES]

Length of the vent hose / duct?

My exhaust is straight through an exterior wall. I can reach through the hood and touch the blower wheel. However, the wall port is a few inches too close to a corner so I must set the dryer at an angle to avoid some airflow obstruction (see photos). My washer is set at an angle to match. There's room to allow for it.

Mom's dryer is also at a corner but the wall port is in the side wall ... so a 90° turn (elbow) from the dryer with the duct length being half the width of the dryer plus some inches for space at the side wall for room to hang a broom and mop beside the dryer. The exhaust arrangement isn't the difference I'm considering.