Last week as we were trying to get ready to go camping, the dryer started to smell like it was burning.  It was very noticeable every time I opened the door.

After seeing several stories in the news about house fires caused by the dryer, I didn’t want to risk it.

I finished the last few loads of laundry at the laundromat, and called a dryer repair guy.

Steve from Cascade Appliance Service came to figure out what was going on.

Lint and dust everywhere!

Once he took the front cover off, it was evident why there was a burning smell.  Dust and lint was all over the place, even on the heating element. Oi!

The air couldn’t circulate properly because of a build up of lint on the fan.

He cleaned up all of the dust that was inside the dryer.

Air flow is key!

After he put it all back together, we went outside to where it vents outside. The air flow wasn’t very strong.  He recommended replacing the dryer hose and outside vent cover.  He would have done it, but due to the [ridiculous] location of our dryer [due to the previous owners of the house], he didn’t have anything long enough with him.

Off to Home Depot!

I headed off to Home Depot to pick up a new hose and a new vent cover.

Out with the old dryer vent…

…back to Home Depot…

Not fun.

Look at all the lint!!

After taking that apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together, I’ve come to the conclusion that that has to be fixed properly.  We definitely don’t need all of those bends.  There used to be an air conditioner there, but it was relocated to the other side of the house.

More lint inside!

…in with the new!

3 hours + 2 trips to Home Depot = Success!

Once I got the new hose hooked up, I tested the dryer.

No more burning smell!!

And when I went outside, the air was flowing out the vent so much faster!

Don’t wait!

The biggest mistake we made was not cleaning this sooner.  The manual for the dryer says it should be done every 2 years.  I think that since we have a dog, that maybe a bit sooner than that might be a good thing.  Our dryer is 8 years old and we had never cleaned it.  We’re pretty lucky that we didn’t have a fire.

After watching the dryer guy go through the cleaning process, I’m pretty confident that I can do the cleaning part myself next time.  Oh, and he reminded me that that I need to unplug it first!