Our little semi-scientific towel test... part deux!

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I think the dehumidifier does not condens instantaneously all the steam, but part of the moisty air goes back in the drum. So in the beginning of the cycle when the laundy is still very wet more steam is produced than condensed. That's why the laundry is steaming.
Than gradually less and less moist comes out of the laundry and more easily is for the dehumidifier to condens it into water.
 
Here is shown how a European condenser dryer works

... but it can be that the Frigidaire Filtrator works a bit differenty

gorenje++7-3-2013-09-29-45.jpg.png
 
thanks for the clarity.....interesting concept

I always thought a condenser dryer recirculated its own air over and over....

but wouldn't this make any given room really warm from the exhaust?
 
Ingemar,

Your illustration shows how the newer 27" (1961-67) Frigidaire Filtrator dryers work. The pre-1961 30" models like the 1955 Kevin used in his test are similar in concept but they have perforated drums, no fan-forced airflow through the clothes and no lint filter (lint collects at the top of the condenser).

Martin,

Early Filtrator dryers have tiny vent holes at the top of their insulated cabinets as shown in the 1958 illustration in Robert's post.

Newer ones recirculate air with a fan through the condenser.
 
@ Yogitunes

"I always thought a condenser dryer recirculated its own air over and over.... "

If you have in mind a European condenser dryer than the response is "yes".

But as I had the chance to see it now, that's not the case for the Filtrator, where the air is not always the same over and over again.

Thanks Unimatic for the picture.
 
I see now.

I couldn't understand how there's not a compressor involved. I live in a damp area (naples), and have a dehumidifier that I use sometimes (in addition to the a/c)to get the moisture out of the air. Was thinking why couldn't someone, unplug the 220v heater element of a dryer, maybe have a 110 motor fan spinning it and have it hooked up to a sealed recirculating dehumidifier. It seems like it would use a lot less electricity. I just know it would work. Doesn't anybody agree with that logic. curious les. (thanks to everyone for the displays and explanations. )[this post was last edited: 7/3/2013-10:20]
 
@ PhilR

Now I see. Thank you Phil for the explanation.

This version of the Filtrator is indeed a very interesting machine :)
 
Here's an illustration showing the newer (1961) model.

OMG!
It says these dryers used an Asbestos seal! I hope I won't get Cancer from constantly using my '65 dryer!

:-)

philr++7-3-2013-09-57-30.jpg
 
Les,

Some newer European dryers do use a refrigeration system to condensate moisture. Air-cooled condenser dryers work better in a cool basement or in an air-conditioned environment than in a hot environment!
 
Wow, has five months already passed since the initial towel test? I love tests like these; thanks for taking the time to do them.

I'm a believer: The steamy conditions in a condenser dryer help produce fluffier towels.
 
When I got my '65 Filtrator dryer from John, I was curious about the germicidal ozone lamp that worked with the drum light off and that didn't work with the drum light on.

Ozone lamps usually need to have the drum light to be on at the same time as the drum light acts as a ballast for the germ lamp. In the newer Filtrator dryers, there's a door heater and they used this heater as a ballast instead of the drum light. So the ozone light doesn't come on when you open the door and the drum light doesn't stay on when the dryer is operating.
 
In vintage condensing dryers its all about heat, and lots of it. The high wattage heater raises the temperature of the recirculating air inside the machine. This provides the energy to vaporize the water that is in the clothing. The moist recirculating air is then routed through an air-to-air heat exchanger. Since the room temperature is well below the dew point of the hot moist air in the closed system, the water vapor condenses for collection in the heat exchanger. The waste heat is rejected into the room air, much of which is recovered from the latent heat of evaporation of the condensed water. For efficiency sake its probably best not to run a condenser dryer in an air conditioned space in the Summer!

A refrigeration system could be used to lower the temperature of the condensing heat exchanger. This would allow the process to take place at a reduced temperature, although there still needs to be some heating to get the water to evaporate in the first place. I believe that the European heat-pump dryers use the waste heat from the refrigeration system to aid the evaporation. A cooler condensing surface will lower the dew point temperature of the closed system air aiding evaporation at the lower tempertures.

Of course of interest in this thread is that the theory of the steamy hot environment of a condenser dryer aids in fluffing the towels. A reduced temperature refrigerated condenser dryer may not have this effect, efficiency be dammed!
 
The steamy atmosphere definitely helps the fluffing. Old Hamilton Dryers use a steamy atmosphere in the drying chamber and they produce fluffy drying results also. The condensation in the Filtrator is far slower than the evaporation which is why the drying takes longer and the air inside the dryer is so steamy. I think one reason that napped items like towels are fluffier when dried in the Filtrator or any condenser dryer is that the ends of the pile or nap of the fabric do not dry first like in a vented dryer. They stay moist until the body of the towel is dry and therefore they don't get hard and compacted while the backing of the towel gives up its moisture. Because fabrics dry at roughly the same rate in the Filtrator and the steamy atmosphere keeps the pile of towels moist, the pile does not get hard and compacted like it does when surrounded by the comparatively drier heated air in a vented dryer.

About the water you collected; remember that the Filtrator only traps half the moisture. The rest goes into the room.
 
condenser dryers!

This was a really great test. I wish they made these dryers today. I have read in Europe they are using some heat pump dryers which I guess are a similar concept!
 
When I get back home

I'll post the Bendix method. Its more similar to Ingemar's machine but has no filter for lint. The Bendix is a sealed system that recirculates the same heated air over and over. It also has the heated air make direct contact with the cool water stream to cause condensation. All the moist air and lint is then pumped down the drain.

 

 
 
A question about Filtrator dryers: Do you notice less wrinkling of shirts/pants with the Filtrator as compared to a standard vented dryer without steam-assist? I'd think the steam in the Filtrator's drum would mimic the environment created by new dryers that have steam-assist.

Have those of you who use both condenser and standard vented dryers in your laundry set-ups noticed a difference in wrinkling?
 
@ frigi

My Bosch dryer (which runs at 167F until the load reaches Damp Dry - then it shuts one heater off) will wrinkle clothes just fine. Even with partial loads. Here's a de-wrinkle video I made. This is with office shirts that were still damp when removed. Even if they were dry, the wrinkes wouldn't have fully disappeared - they'd just be a little "softer". I think CR comes to the same conclusion that steam dryers remove odors but not so much wrinkles.

 
<a name="start_47306.687193">I have read in Europe they are using some heat pump dryers which I guess are a similar concept! </a>

 

Yes, they just run at lower temps - round about 113F.


 

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