GE 7 cu ft electric dryer

[combo52]

NEW GE DRYER

During periods A & B one heater should not be cutting on and off at such a low outlet temperature, you likely have too long an exhaust system or other problem with the exhaust system. If you want to get the best life and performance out of this dryer make sure your exhaust installation meets GEs recommendations in every way, A bad exhaust system likely contributed to the problem with rusting rear seals on the old KM dryer.

 

[toploader55]

New Kenmore Dryer.

Well, I've had it for a couple of weeks now, and after 7 loads of Laundry of all types, It Ranks with me as one of the Best Dryers I've ever owned. 40-50 minutes tops per load. Heavy Bath mats... 50 minutes. Cotton anything, 40 minutes.

Just love it, and still can't see spending 900+ for a Dryer. Just Old Fasion here. (And getting Older).

 

[coldspot66]

Like I've always said, W/P Kenmore 29" dryers are the best at any $$$. Eddie, that model has a moisture sensor, do you use the moisture sensing cycle? There is a small circuit board in the console for moisture sensing.

 

[syndets2000]

moisture sensor...

...setting is what I use on the WP (I found behind a store some years ago), during the winter- I line dry during the summer, its only for two people-

 

[the7]

combo52
Thanks for the advice. Will check the venting against the requirement.

 

[the7]

For GE electric dryer, there are
a)one Safety Thermostat at the inlet which will cut off "both" heating elements when overheat
b)one Control Inlet Thermostat at the inlet which will switch ON/OFF "only one" heating element to maintain the inlet set-temperature and
c)one Drum Outlet Thermostat at the outlet which will switch ON/OFF "both" heating elements to maintain the outlet set-temperature.

There are two heating elements (say about 2700 watts each at 240V) in the GE dryer.

 

[aquarius1984]

US dryers are by far and away the best in the world.

Combo52 thats quite a statement - you must of used hundreds of dryers in your vacations out of America!

When did you visit the UK and how did your find your trip here?

If it was recent you should have spoken up and you could of come to play with our collection.
More than welcome anytime to though if you plan a return journey.

Just curious as to how you found the British made machines that you have used and where you felt their downfall was?

 

[toploader55]

Moisture Sensor.

Yes John, I use the sensor cycle. I was keeping my eye on the clock to see how long the avaerage cycle tales. It also has the Wrinkle Guard feature as well.

If I wash a "Normal" load in the 806 then put it in the dryer by the time the second load is washed the clothes are just about dry.

 

[combo52]

US VS EUROPEAN DRYERS

Hi Robert I would love to visit sometime and we hope you get a chance to come here also. I am basing my claims of superiority of US built dryers from my experience of repairing and selling laundry appliances for over 35 years here in the Washington D C area. This being an international city I have had quite a few opportunities to get my hands on European and other imported dryers over the years and in almost ever case I have ended up selling them for almost nothing , giving them away or usually just scraping them.

 

Whats different in a nutshell

1 they are only about 1/2 half the size in drum capacity [ not a enough room for loads of 10 pair of mens jeans or king size comforters].

2 They are seldom more than 3000 watts [ slow ]

3 Gas dryers are almost unheard of [ too large a carbon foot print from thier use ]

4 They are very difficult to work on [ not designed for longevity ]

5 They are often noisey

5 The blowers are not powerful enough to exhaust air through 15-30 feet of exhaust pipe without clogging quickly.

 

Almost all US dryers are also used in commercial applications, I would love to see how many of the European 24" machines are sold with a coin box on them.

 

[hoover1100]

I would love to see how many of the European 24" machine

Asko and Miele are, off the top of my head...

 

My dryer can dry 8 pairs of jeans in an hour on LOW heat (high heat is far too hot on a 3kw dryer let alone a 5kw dryer! These are always 100% crease free and perfectly dried.

 

You can barely hear the dryer running unless you are basically next to it, the "noisy" dryers you are referring to must be the older (80s/90s) condenser models, modern condensers are no noisier than a vented model (provided you buy a half decent one).

 

As for them not being designed for longevity, well, I guess all the 50+ year old European models collectors on this forum have, as well as the many more still in daily use without repair must be a figment of our imaginations!

 

Perhaps in your opinion some Whirlpool designed dryers are 'the best', but that does not mean that 'U.S. dryers are superior to European dryers'.

 

Matt

 

 

[ozzie908]

US VS EUROPEAN DRYERS

Having used the majority of dryers available in the UK including commercial gas ones I have for my personal use a Whirlpool dryer made in the USA its 240 13amp 3kw and is the best dryer ever it beats all uk ones including 7kg condenser its quick and due to its size is excellant at drying anything including king size duvets its only down side is its dimensions make it hard to fit in most kitchens luckily I have an unused airing cupboard that it fits in its exhausted through the roof. I hope I can always find space for it as I would hate to lose it now... and the best bit it was only £5.00 as it had a blown internal fuse.

 

[the7]

Exhaust hood for GE dryer.

I checked the exhaust system of my GE dryer. It seems the weaker part is the original exhaust hood which was similar to the 2.5" as shown on the right-hand side of the table.

Now I have changed it to the 4" version as shown in the left-hand side.
The difference of exhaust length could be 5 to 10 ft in the over length.

It was in the border line case with the old hood. Now it is within the recommendation when using the new hood.

I notice that there is more air flow in the outlet of the new hood.

 

[the7]

For this GE model.
a) The set-temperature of the Control Inlet Thermostat could be lower when its 9 Kohm is connected to the 120V.
b) The set-temperature of the Drum Outlet Thermostat could be also lower when its 9 Kohm is connected to the 120V.

A) When the Temperature Selector is NORMAL, both Control Inlet and Drum Outlet are HIGH.
B) When the Temperature Selector is PPress, Control Inlet is LOW and Drum Outlet is HIGH.
C)When the Temperature Selector is Delicate, both Control Inlet and Drum Outlet are LOW.

 

[the7]

US VS EUROPEAN DRYERS

I would say that US dryers are optimally designed for NA market in terms of simplicity and easy of maintenance and low cost and relatively large capacity.

 

[the7]

New 4" hood on the left.
Old 2.5" hood on the right.

New hood was installed to replace the old hood yesterday.
There is less restriction of air-flow using the new hood.

I will try to find out if there is any improvement in drying time.

 

[the7]

Today a similar cotton/mixed load was used to test the dryer with the new hood.

A) From 0 to 10 min, the temp was increasing slowly from 66F to 117F (51F increase)

B) From 10 to 20 min, the temp was increasing very slowly from 117F to 122 (only 5F increase).

C) From 20 to 30 min, the temp was increasing slowly from 122F to 151F (29F increase).
During the periods of A, B and C, the inlet thermostat was switched ON/OFF one of the heating element to maintain the set-temperature of the inlet.

D) From 30 min to 45 min, the outlet thermostat took over to the set-temperature of the outlet. The outlet temp as measured varied from 133F to 154F. When the temp exceeded 154F, both heating elements were switched OFF. When the temp fell below 133F, both heating elements were switched ON.

E)From 45 min to 51 min (cooling down period) the outlet temp fell slowly to 102F and at 51 min the buzzer sounded to end the drying cycle

Note:
1) There is about 10% reduction in the drying cycle with the new hood.
2) But I think that there could be about 2 to 5% reduction in heating cost because the inlet temperature is maintained by the Control Inlet Thermostat.
3) The temperature variation at the outlet is about 3 deg F with the Control Inlet Thermostat in active mode.
4)The temperature variation at the outlet is about 20F (say 133F to 154F) with the Control Inlet Thermostat in active mode.

 

[the7]

XXX 4)The temperature variation at the outlet is about 20F (say 133F to 154F) with the Control Inlet Thermostat in active mode. XXX

should read

4)The temperature variation at the outlet is about 20F (say 133F to 154F) with the Drum Outlet Thermostat in active mode.

 

[combo52]

NEW GE ELECTRIC DRYER

How long is your vent system and how many elbows are in it? The cycling of one heater so early in the drying cycle does not seem correct. This is one of the major reasons that I have never liked dryers that have the heater elements right behind or right in front of the dryers drum. GE is cycling one heater with the inlet thermostat to keep the rear drum temperature lower to prevent scorching clothing and dryer fires. It would be interesting to try drying a load with the vent disconnected and see if the one heater cycles so early in the drying cycle.

 

Only GE and Frigidare still put the heaters so close to the clothes load and as a result they have to use very sensitive thromostats to prevent the above mentioned problems with clothing damage and fires. Too make matters worse both GE and Frigidare dryers have small lint filters and if you are drying a very linty load it can get quite restricted during one load.

 

MT discontinued this poor placement of the heater element in 1976 when they finely discontinued the HOH dryer and Frigidare got rid of this problem when they introduced the 1-18 dryers in 1970. Even European dryers separate the heater element from the clothes by placing it in a metal box away from the drum. The heater element in an electric dryer easily hits 1600 degrees or more hotter than the flame in a gas dryer.

 

On a full sized WP built electric dryer the heater will not cycle even once until the exhaust or blower housing thermostat is satisfied. This is one of the many problems with Consumer Reports as they rate these GE dryers highly but they are tested under perfect conditions, they even rated the worst dryer on the market in north America the Frigidare as a best buy a few years ago. Thier engineers should come on service calls with me for one week and see all the burned up heaters and rear drum bearings in GE and Frigidare dryers that we see.

 

[the7]

How long is your vent system and how many elbows are in it?

The length of the flexible aluminum is about 3ft.
I estimated the length of the rigid metal is about 8 ft.
The effective no of elbows could be 4.

This seems to be within the recommendation for the GE dryer.

 

[the7]

combo52 says:
"Only GE and Frigidare still put the heaters so close to the clothes load and as a result they have to use very sensitive thromostats to prevent the above mentioned problems with clothing damage and fires.

Even European dryers separate the heater element from the clothes by placing it in a metal box away from the drum."

I would think your observations are right.
1) GE should put the electrical heating elements inside a metal box similar to the heating chamber of its gas version.
2)It is also preferable to have a control inlet thermostat in addition to the safety over-temperature thermostat at the inlet such the inlet air temperature could be maintained at an optimal temperature even before the outlet temperature reaches the outlet set-temperature.
3) I think that the newer version of the 29" WP has such control inlet thermostat for the model with Normal/PP/Delicate selection.