While what went wrong with my dryer is still not known, here's what I've learned and maybe it will save your babies.

Dryer lint goes places, lots of places. It goes and get stuck to the outside of the drum inside the dryer box/outside frame. It sticks to the inside of the vent tube; basically it sticks everywhere and to everything inside the dryer. So Susie housewife is carefully cleaning her lint catch and making sure she never leaves the house while the dryer runs, she still may have a dry explosion waiting to happen. Every year or two years, a service person is suppose to come to your house, remove your dryer box/casing/frame and vacuum out every little nooks and crannies of the thing. Also it is a good idea to clean or replace the vent tube as it too is slowly filling with lint. Did they teach this in school because I missed it.

One possible cause of the fire and why they think it:
Link can smolder for a long time. the fact that I had done lots of laundry the night before and the fire occur nearly 12 hours later surprised non of the experts. That's what link does. The wetter, the long to smolder. Wiring can go bad, rub up against each other and spark. If lint is built up everywhere inside the dryer then bad things can happen. If your dryer is gas, even worse things can happen.

In the loving memory of 28 animals, please pick up the phone now and call the sears repair or other certified professional appliance maintenance person and demand they come to your house at their earliest connivance with a shop vac. Pay any price they demand and make sure you watch so you can learn how to do it. Demand to inspect their work.

Do it today.

Also ask them to vacuum around you refrigerator's compressor.

TODAY!

Lori posts:
Marie, when all this happened to you, my husband didn't believe theat we could have any problem because we have and electric dryer. He never did go clean it for me, I just did what I could bymyself. My dryer wasn't drying that great and I told him I needed a new one. He decided that he could finally get to cleaning it out to see if it would help it work better and lo and behold, it was STUFFED with lint, even though I was careful to always clean the lint screen. He even made the comment that he's supprised we didn't have a fire! Well, duh, I told him!

Anyway, I wanted to post this so that for anyone that hasn't yet taken thier dryer apart yet and cleaned it out, let this be another reminder to do it. Doesn't matter if you are gas or electric!

RB2Mom posts:
Another problem that I found when my drier was not working that well was that it had been pushed back when cleaning the floor and the exhaust vent apparatas had been tangled and folded upon itself so that lint and air was not properly venting. So be careful about moving your drier around and make sure the hose and vent apparatus do not get kinked or folded.

Umbimom posts:
Just an FYI on this subject. If you use dryer sheets in your dryer, you need to take the lint screen out and clean it at least once a month. The perfumes and oil from the dryer sheets build up on the screen and do not let air through which can cause a fire. I had never done this and they told me to try and run water through the screen. The water laid on top of the screen! I now take mine out about 2 times a month and use a rough sponge on it to clean it. Hope this info can help someone else. Sharon

Relle posts:
Thank you Maria...you are a wonderful person to be thinking of others at a time like this. I wanted to add about dryers - I got a new one last year and actually read the instruction manual and it said to never leave wet clothes in a dryer as there is a high risk for spontaneous combustion. (I used to do this a lot - finish a load at night and have it all ready in the dryer to turn on in the morning - the dryer is right beside my bedroom and I didn't like having it on at night.) The other warning in the book was to be careful what cleaners you use on the outside as certain types can combust - plain vinegar and water is best.

ggerdes posts:
Oh, Maria! This is SO tragic because the dryer cleaning process is relatively easy! I'm adding a note here for anybody who can use a Phillips (e.g., has the star shaped tip) screwdriver and is not afraid to do a little DIY:

1. Usually, you can easily remove the back of the dryer cabinet with a Phillips screwdriver (4 to 6 screws). MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG THE DRYER FROM THE WALL BEFORE DOING ANY WORK ON IT!

2. Prior to removing the back panel, disconnet the vent hoses...some use clamps that you squeeze to open, some just slip on with a compression fitting, others have a clamp that is tightened by one screw. Once removed, you can look up into the vent hose for blockages and check in the vent exhaust of the dryer for blockages. Use the extension tool on your vaccuum cleaner to vaccuum out the vents.

Here is a very short article on other areas of the venting to clean:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/skill-builder/0,,463819,00.html

2. Remove the screws from the back cabinet panel. Once the screws are removed, the back cabinet panel should come off fairly easily and give you access to the drum area of the dryer.

3. With the panel removed, vaccuum the lint off of the electrical connections, off of the heat coils, and off of any surface that you can easily reach.

4. Replace the back panel.

ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO VACCUUM AND/OR SWEEP UNDERNEATH THE DRYER ONCE YOU HAVE PULLED IT OUT FROM THE WALL! There is always a lot of lint that builds up there as well.

Following is a link to an image of the typical dryer components. Note the long, element cannister. IF you can easily remove this, vaccuum any lint off of the elements. This is most likely where a fire would originate as the lint is in direct contact with the heat elements that heat up the dryer.

Following are some additonal links to excellent sources I have used in the past when repairing my own dryer:

http://repair2000.com/dryer.html
http://repair2000.com/vent.html

Hopefully this will help you all. If you EVER have any questions or get involved in doing this yourself and need help, PM me and I can work with you by phone to walk you through the process.


Copperlyne posts:
It's kind of funny (and not the ha-ha type) that this is brought up.
I had just cleaned the inside of the dryer on Monday and the fridge on Tuesday.
With dogs upstairs, and the cat downstairs, this is done every 6 months. Attitionally the stove, and water heater ignition switches, air-condtiioners and furnace are cleaned professionally once a year, and exaust vents are checked and cleaned if necessary.

ggerdes posts:
AND...with the weather changing and nights getting colder (e.g., unless you live in a WARM area), everybody is starting to turn on their furnaces and, as you pointed out, it is critical to have your furnaces cleaned once a year to make sure they are working correctly!

Ayres posts:
Your story has touched so many people, and gotten many appliances cleaned already- my bosses girlfriend had a guy come in over the weekend to do theirs, and she said it was loaded. She sends her thanks and hugs and prayers to you, as well- and she's spreading the word. Tony cleaned ours out instantly, and my sister did hers.

KaisSecondMomma posts:
I'm so glad things are going better now! I also wanted to let you know that I'm posting the dryer thing on my website and everyone else that I know is putting it on their websites. I know your recommendation to clean behind the fridge may have saved our house... it was a mess back there! We're cleaning the dryer vent in the spring (too cold right now). After I told my dad about your birds dying of inhaled smoke, he showed me the plans for my birthday present when we build our next house in 2 years... it is a room with those special cement walls and a special ventilation system that kicks in when the smoke alarms go off so that if there's a fire, it can't burn the room and the smoke can't get in the room to kill the birds. It's not a big room, but any bird room is better than what I was expecting (I thought they would live in my room).

maryam posts:
yah basically instead of the normal sheetrocks and wooden panels for walls they'd pad it up alot more and with aluminum layers that will last a long time infront of the fire before the wall is burnt down...i learned that in building codes hehe you could probably get the permit for that hourly wall b/c u've had a fire b4 and u could note i don't want the same thing happen again. if they persist and say no we're not allowed to use hrly walls for residential just tell them u're planning to run a business in that room and u want it commercially approved for the public to have access to it. that should make them go by all the fire rated rules around that whole area.


These are really people with real dryers. I know you have one, so why not clean it tonight? Your family will thank you!