My dryer has become increasingly problematic in the last few weeks.  It started by lengthening the drying cycles, until it would go for hours at a time even when set to the shortest setting.  At least the clothes were dry when we would finally realize the dryer hadn’t shut itself off, though.  It was annoying to have it running so long since it’s a huge electricity hog, and I try to keep my electric use in check by minimizing the use of things like this.  But my kids do the laundry, so I’m not usually aware of what setting they put things on, and they won’t mention something like the cycles taking longer than usual until it becomes very noticeable.  This is something that got worse and worse but didn’t seem like it was worth mentioning.

Then about a week and a half ago, even after hours in the dryer, the clothes weren’t coming out dry!   I suggested to my son on laundry duty for this month that he hang the clothes outside, a suggestion that met with a less than enthusiastic reception.  He didn’t feel there was much appeal standing outside in the cold, hanging laundry, not to mention that it’s a lot quicker to throw a load into the dryer.  So the laundry was backing up, and several family members were wondering why they had no shirts to wear, despite having sent them to the basement for washing long before (laundry is supposed to be done every 2 or 3 days, and as long as the clothes are brought down, they usually are washed in a timely way).  His frustration level mounted when he finally took me up on my suggestion to wash several loads at night before he went to sleep, and then hang them all at once in the morning. 

That sounds like a reasonable idea, doesn’t it?  The night he did all the laundry, he called the weather hotline to check if rain was expected.  It was, during the night, but it didn’t rain then.  So the next morning, before I was even up, thinking he was clear as far as rain went, he spent 45 minutes hanging up every piece of laundry, even the tiniest items.  And as he was finishing hanging everything, the skies opened up.  No, frustrated isn’t a strong enough term to express his feelings at that moment! 

Fortunately, my dear husband came to the rescue, and decided to learn some dryer repair. 🙂  He did some reading, and then opened up the dryer and took it apart.  (Doesn’t that sound impressive?  His friends thought so!)  He found a lot of lint accumulation, so he cleaned it out and put it all back together, hoping that would resolve the issue.  Unfortunately, it didn’t solve the problem, though it’s good to get the excess lint out of the way as it can become a fire hazard.  So he did some more reading, then took it apart again, and discovered that the heating element was burnt out. 

That necessitated buying another heating element, but when he did the initial pricing and discovered it would be $75 to buy it, he suggested it would be cheaper if I got a used dryer on Craig’s List.  I suggested that he first call a couple of appliance repairmen and find out if they had ideas for where to buy the piece.  He made a couple of calls, found a place to buy the element for $25 (and one of the repairmen offered him a job!), and went out to buy it.  Back at home, he was getting ready to put it in when he inadvertently stepped on the heating element that he had placed on the floor, smooshing the coil out of shape.  So he tried to reshape it, and installed it.  He turned on the dryer, only to watch it promptly short out!

Fortuntately, my husband isn’t a quitter, so back to the store he went, buying another $25 element (he said he considered the extra cost the fee for his education :)), and then again installed it.  Quick and easy this time around, and the dryer now works perfectly!  Not only is it heating properly, but the issue with the timer resolved, too.  And you can bet my son is relieved to have it working!

Avivah