Nowadays, winter is at its peak and looking for the cheap dryers is fairly common in this season. When finding the tumble dryer, hardly few of us can truly realize the hazard of getting clothes dryer machine catching fire. Not necessarily but some dryers can catch fire while few can create an injury by releasing carbon monoxide poisoning through inappropriate dryer outlet setups. Here, our experts will guide you how fire takes place, how the problem grows inside and outside the dryer and how to prevent the dryer from catching fire or other problems:
How Clothes Dryer Machine Fire Takes Place
Usually, a decrease in airflow and building up of fluff in vent pipe of a clothes dryer machine are the primary reasons that lead to a fire. Very few would know the fact that lint is a highly inflammable material and is generally the common ingredient to get the fire started at home or workplace.
How this Problem is Growing
In countries like Pakistan, mostly tumble dryers are placed in laundry or space outside the bedroom wall. These locations sometimes provide longer distances to the hosepipe while outlets are installed having bends so to fit in the structure of your house. But in turn, dryer outlets are harder to reach at times while creating spaces which can let lint easily gather inside them.
The perfect installation technique is to have a straight and somewhat shorter dryer pipe vent. You can increase dryer vent where you feel that it needs a longer pipe because it has more bends but it is not an ideal approach. Keep in mind that the time to dry out the loads will increase than the required time in case if the vent has more bends or too long.
Innermost of the Tumble Dryer
In tumble dryer, fluff is the biggest problem that is usually observed. We know that a dryer generates a huge quantity of fluff. Most of us believe that its pipe or lint trap catches all the fluff which needs to be cleaned on a regular basis, probably after every load. Sometimes, lint doesn’t catch up by the lint trap but instead, it accumulates inside the dryer, on the heating element. You can check this out by pulling out its lint trap and look beneath it. You can find a huge amount of lint accumulated there which needs proper cleaning.
In actual, lint can easily be accumulated on the heating element and in other areas of the dryer. This results in overheating and probably catching fire. Fire generally starts with a spark in the machine. Hence, inappropriate dryer venting techniques which are on the outer side of the dryer can play a significant role in this entire process.
Outer Side of the Tumble Dryer
On the outer side of the dryer, there are certain reasons that let the dryer catches fire. For instance, inappropriate dryer venting techniques constrain airflow while fluff continues to accumulate. Such issues can be prevented by:
- Keeping dryer vents straighter and shorter. This is so because too long vents with many bends can result in building up of a fluff
- Using only metal flues. Avoid using plastic, combustible or foil duct extenders. Metal vents have the tendency to resist crushing more than foil or plastic. This helps in letting the fluff and air to be easily carried out of the hosepipe or system. Keep in mind that decreased airflow which arises due to an accumulation of the lint can lead to overheating, resulting in faster wear and tear of an appliance. Nowadays, manufacturers and state municipalities are instructing to incorporate metal dryer venting system
- Placing a tumble dryer at a certain distance from the wall. Most of us position the dryer at a place where there is little to no space between the wall and a dryer. Thus, it affects the whole venting process. The reduced airflow and accumulation of lint avert the dryer from drying out the clothes at a normal rate. What actually happens is that there is a safety switch for a high temperature limit which cycles on and off while controlling the heater. Due to continuous on and off cycle, most safety switches fail over a limited period of time
- Keeping the dryer duct clean.
How to Know Your Dryer is Failing
If you find that your clothes are taking a considerable time to dry out, comes out warmer than normal or if its hood flapper isn’t opening, then it’s a sign that the dryer isn’t working properly and needs proper maintenance.
How to Prevent Clothes Dryer Machine from Catching Fire?
- The dryer duct must be made of solid metallic material. Never use foil or vinyl as they are flammable while spiral wound ducts can catch fluff at a much faster rate
- Make sure that the dryer duct should exhaust to the exterior and in no way it should be fitted inside or just beside the wall
- Avoid installing the dryer in tight spaces and never twist the dryer duct during installation. This is so because it limits the airflow
- Keeping in view the number of bends, model number and specifications, you should reduce the length of the vent duct
- Use maximum diameter vent pipes and exhaust hoods so to avoid the reduction in airflow
Maintain Dryer Duct in Good Condition
You need to clean and check dryer duct regularly or you can contact us to get the repair and maintenance services. We ensure that once you’ll buy tumble dryer online, you will get full information about how to limit fire catching danger and increasing dryer’s efficiency along with its lifespan.
How to Keep Your Tumble Dryer Dust-Free
Keeping your tumble dryer clean and dust free will not only help in reducing the chances of a fire hazard but would also aid in saving you money while improving its efficiency and lifespan. In order to keep your tumble dryer to work smoothly and be cleaned, you need to:
- Use a vacuum attachment or a cleaning brush so to eradicate buildup of lint from beneath the lint trap and other easily reachable places on a regular basis
- Depending on your use of a dryer, clean your tumble dryer thoroughly once every one to two years by a professional.
Other Possible Solutions
You can use a condenser dryer. This is so because these dryers do need exterior clothes dryer venting system. It also helps in limiting the dryer fire catching risk.
A spin dryer is also a great option. It contains fastest spin speed which extracts water from the clothes. Spin dryer extracts a significant amount of water from the washed clothes instead of a spin cycle that is included in a washing machine.
Tumble dryer provides you only ready to iron clothes while a spin dryer allows extracting water from the clothes but yet to be dried out completely in the sunlight.
Precautionary Measures to Take
- Read the instruction manual completely and carefully
- Prevent running your clothes dryer when you are asleep or out of the house.
For further details about cheap dryers and how to use and/or prevent damages, you can contact us at 0340-1111-444.
