Lets talk drying controls!

[partscounterman]

Since the government thinks we are stupid and has mandated that all dryers have some sort of automatic drying control, I just wonder what clubmembers like better. I see that the new Speed Queens only offer a thermostatic auto-dry. The three year old Kenmore that is at my house has sensor dry, but is not as accurate as the electronic control that my old maytags had. This newer machine seems to sense when the clothes are damp and then simply times down from there. I always thought that sensor drying was superior to auto dry, but with this Kenmore you could really barbeque everything just as bad as an incorrectly set auto-dry machine.
The Maytag dryer I had when I lived in St. Paul had auto-dry and since it was gas, you could hear when it was heating and when it was cooling and the control was advancing.
I spent some time on Epinions to see if the general public prefered one type of control over the other, but people only seem to notice if clothes are underdried. No one complains about overdrying....

 

[DADoES]

OK, here's a complaint about overdrying with thermostatic controls. Our 1976 Whirlpool LDE-7800 with thermostatic autodry was in an unheated garage. In winter, it would severely overdry set on the "normal dry" position, especially with full ~18 lb. loads of cottons/towels. I'm guessing that the unheated space caused it to take much longer to reach the target temp.

My 1991 KitchenAid KEYE-760 with electronic sensor / mechanical control was not consistent on the dryness range for different load types. Normal dry was fine for casuals, but jeans and towels had to be set just on the cusp of the Very Dry position to get acceptably dry, or on Normal Dry run twice. There was no Very Dry unless the load was re-run twice on Very Dry.

My 1999 F&P DE04 with electronic sensor / mechanical control was much more consistent in performance over different load types, but it was oriented more toward getting the load dry than leaving it perceptibly damp at the Less Dry position. Less Dry meant DRY, just Less Dry than the More Dry setting. I generally set sheets and casuals just on the cusp of Less Dry and they came out fine.

My 2004 F&P DEGX1 with electronic sensor and electronic controls is still a bit too new to make a blanket statement on its performance. But thus far it has been very very good to excellent.

 

[partscounterman]

what

Yes, my Kenmore is acting much like your Kitchenaid. I guess I expected that setting the control in the same place would give me the same results with every load. Since I was brainwashed into the Maytag religion as a child, I was led to believe that clothes should be dried down to @3 or 4% moisture with maybe just a hint of dampness in the seams. I was surprise when I had the auto-dry Maytag because less dry meant pretty darn dry and more dry would cook everything but jeans. The control panel had a suggested dot to set the control at. I freaked out when it overcooked my towels at that setting. Of course, the instructions are vague and do not tell you that you can set the control lower for a large load and you need to go higher for a smaller one. I only learned to acheive perfect results with auto-dry only after exhaustive testing and study.
The Kenmore I use now is a little easier to figure out than the auto-dry machine was-just not as predictable as moisture sensor machines I used in the past.(yes I am tired and I know I'm rambling...)

 

[kenmore1978]

dryer sensors

I quickly found out how to set my '78 LK dryer with sensor control. First, learned not to mix light cottons with heavy cottons, i.e. sheets with jeans or towels or synthetic fabrics with cotton fabrics. Depending on which fabric weight or type predominated, it would either overdry the light stuff or underdry the heavy stuff. If seperated properly the "recommended" setting would dry 90% of loads just right. The exceptions I found were:

Things with heavy seams like jeans, overalls, and such had to be set one notch(button) higher than the recommended setting.

Synthetics like nylon, polyester, and such had to be set for maximum dry, and even then sometimes it would shut off before articles made of those materials would dry.

If those rules are followed, I've found sensor drying works virtually flawlessly.

 

[powerfin64]

Sensor drying

I have always been a firm believer in using the Auto cycle for drying clothes. so here's my experiance.

I have found in my '95 Kitchenaid dryer,with Sensor(KEYE677B)when drying medium cottons/casuals, (using the Regular/Heavy auto cycle,on Meduim temp)I have to set the Timer at the Very Dry mark, and the load comes out fine majority of the time.

For Towels and Jeans,using Auto Regular/Heavy (Temp set to High) timer set as far PAST Very dry without being in the Off zone, and the load comes out fine. I have never had to run the same load 2xs to get them very dry.

For Permanent Press and Knits, I use the Auto PP,with Temp on Low, timer set to Normal Dry, and generally, every thing comes out dry.

As for my '72 Lady K with Sensor, Im still figuring out where the dryness settings for different loads are, but Im getting it narrowed down. There isn't More dry/Less dry settings on my Lady K, Just numbers(2-6)6=Less Dry, 2=More Dry. But I have noticed, loads take longer to dry in my Lady K, than my Kitchenaid.
Keep in mind, my Kitchenaid Dryer is mated with a '95 Maytag Dependable care Washer(LAT9704)so loads have less moisture in them when it comes to drying.

Note- I bought both my Kitchenaid dryer and Maytag washer at the same time, reason being, I only wanted certain cycles/control options for each machine.