Kenmore Drying so so

[joefuss1984]

I know this doesnt belong on the vintage post per say....However I know that a lot of the guys who read and post on this page have infinite knowledge. I have also posted on the delux page as well. Anyway here goes...

My parents Kenmore Elite Dryer is about 10 years old. (Model - 110.72954100/Serial - MM0304885). The dryer is gas powered. The dryer has the moisture sensor with the Automatic Dry Cycle. For the last few years you have to set it to the most dry option and sometimes then it may not be dry all the way. I don't know if the moisture sensor bars are not working quite right but it seems every WP Dryer I have had eventually starts acting like this. When it was new setting the dryer on the recommended dry used to be sufficient.

This dryer has never been cleaned on the inside. If someone could help me address the first issue mentioned above and how to properly open up and clean out the interior that would be great! Thanks!

 

[westie2]

If your parents use lots of liquid softner or dryer sheets the moisture bqrs are more than likly coated in the heavy wax stufr.  Clen then good and the cryer should dry better.  Also take the lint filter to the sink and run some water o it you will see tht the water beads aousing dish detergent and a soft brush clean the screen well then rinse ans dry.  This will help air flow,  As far as cleaning others can tell you better than I cqn on cleaning the Kenmore dryer as all I have worked on has been Maytag, GE or Frigidaire newer ones.

 

[goatfarmer]

Make sure the vent is clean.

 

[joefuss1984]

So I kinda winged it with what I was doing haha. I took the bottom cover off. The bottom of the cabinet was lined with about 3/4" of lint. I took the vacuum to all of that and anything else I could get to with lint buildup. It vents at the front, so I looked down the slot the filter goes into. It was full of lint!! So I then removed the cover for the blower wheel which is also the slot the lint filter goes down into. Lawdy have mercy!! The hole in the blower wheel cover where the blower wheel attaches to the lint filter shaft was half full! So I cleaned all of that out. Took alcohol to the moisture sensors. Ran the filter through the dishwasher (this works great for cleaning the grime off). The last thing I did was replace the exhaust vent from a foil type to the good metal one. The exhaust shaft in the dryer was relatively clean.

I noticed that the belts were starting to fray a little and the rollers could probably stand to be replaced but that will have to wait a bit. The only other maintenance this dryer has had was the circuit board had to be replaced once about a year ago.

This dryer has seen a lot of heavy use as it was put in the house while my sister and I still lived at home and mom and dad are not the most careful with the laundry appliances lol.

It is now drying a load of undies so we will see how good it does!

 

[joefuss1984]

One more thing....how did all that lint bypass the filter. Mom and dad are always good about cleaning the filter after each load. Or is this normal for this kind of dryer after 10 years?

 

[kenmorebd]

SAME

With my folks and we had a Kenmore dryer with same issue, did the alcohol work?

 

[akronman]

dryer lint

Almost any dryer of any brand attracts lots of lint to settle inside the cabinet and all over various internal parts, and a decent amount throughout the exhaust vent. Clean out and delint every 2-5 years, from the innards of the cabinet to all ducts inside the machine and all vent pipes going outdoors, you should be ok.  It's a standard part of dryer maintenance that gets neglected until there's a problem.

 

[joefuss1984]

first load after cleanup

So the first load of undies took an hour to dry on medium-high heat setting the time on the most dry option. They were still slightly damp and resetting the timer on most dry, tho it did not take as long as the first time, by the time it shut off it was dry.

Towels always dry good on high heat and button down shirts always dry well on the extra low heat setting for the most part.

But I still wonder why the clothes are not dry at the end of the cycle when it is set on the most dry option. They used to be completely dry using the normal dry setting.

I wiped the sensors with alcohol but my cloth was still white so either they werent dirty or nothing came off.

 

[Unimatic1140]

I'm going to move this to Deluxe now if this dryer is only 10 years old.

 

[alr2903]

I still think its the sensor bars,  if fabric softner is the culprit, you may have to use your alcohol or liquid dish detergent and Gently clean the bars with a scotch brite pad. This softner buildup will look quite clear, like 50 years worth of Pledge on a coffee table.  I have a Kenmore 90 series and dry everything on normal/perm press.  Never High and towels are dry in 45 minutes. Our screen does pull out of the top right corner though.   alr

 

[whirlcool]

In the users guide for our Whirlpool dryer it states that every three years or so the cover needs to come off and the insides vacuumed out for best drying.

You may have had a combination of dirty sensors along with a linty dryer.

 

[joefuss1984]

Thanks alr

I will try cleaning the sensors with the scotch brite pad.  I was afraid of damaging them so I just used a white rag.  My mom uses liquid softener in the laundry as well as dryer sheets lol.  

 

[matthewza]

Softener no no!

O good gracious! liquid softerner AND dryer sheets?! now thats DEFINATELY part of the prob. cut out all fabric softener and dryer sheets completely! If you tumble dry everything or even if you dont, you dont need softener. we cut out all our softener after hearing its made with animal fat and then after reading up all the damage it does.

I've noticed that since we cut out softener, the washing spins out better thus drying quicker and we line dry most of our thngs and nothing goes hard. and we have dryer balls in the dryer. i have 3 in our 2008/2009 whirlpool heavy duty and i swear by them! so invest in a set of dryer balls! the towels do go a bit hard on the line but then when they dry i put them in the dryer on air dry for 10 mins and they go fluffy.

Good Luck and happy laundering!