From: sbarnhar@mailbox.mail.umn.edu (Dr. Barnhart)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Major Problem with Frigidaire Washer/Dryer combination
Date: 25 Aug 92 19:46:31 GMT
Followup-To: misc.consumers.house
Organization: U of Mn Propoganda Ministry

I recently moved to an new apartment on the  upper  two  floors  of  a 
house.
Included  as  part  of  the  apartment is a new (or new a year ago)
Frigidaire
washer/dryer combination (the kind with the washer on the bottom and the
dryer
on the top).  The washer part works great, the dryer sucks.

Now,  I  know that considering it's a) electric and b) the
combination-type, I
shouldn't expect wonderful drying performance, but  the  kind  of 
performance
we're  getting  out  of  the  dryer  makes  it absurd to even call this
barely
functioning unit a dryer.  It can take the better part  of  a  DAY  to  dry
 a
typical load of socks and underwear with the drying running constantly.

When I first moved in my roomies told me about this.  I asked them if they
had
complained to the landlord, and they had.  He had checked the venting,
wiring,
etc and it was all OK according to him.

Since I just moved in, I found it hard to believe that something purporting
to
be a dryer could function so poorly, especially considering it was new and 
of
a brand name  that I had recognized.  So I started investigating.  The
heating
coils can be seen to be heating up (they turn orange) and there's lots of
heat
in the dryer, so that part seems to be working.

I  decided to check the lint vent and when I did, I noticed that somehow
there
was a piece of cardboard in the door lodged up against the lint screen.   
Now
in this particular model air passes through the door where the lint screen
is.
With the cardboard there, it's impossible for air to be getting through.   
So
thinking  I  would fix it, I took off the door, took it apart, and removed
the
soggy cardboard and cleaned it up, and put it back on.  It works  better 
now,
but  still  nowhere near what I would expect to be reasonable drying time
(100
minutes on high heat to dry a load of  socks/underwear.      On  most 
working
dryers I've used in the past, 100 minutes on high heat will COOK a load of
any
kind of clothes.)

I started wondering about the outside venting, so flashlight in hand  I 
began
inspecting the  ventilation.    There's  a length of typical dryer vent
tubing
which runs out to the outside wall of the house.  When I went outside to 
look
at the wall, I noticed that instead of the usual dryer vent, there were
~dozen
1" holes drilled through the wall to vent the dryer  to  the  outside.   
I've
never  seen  this  kind of installation, but I'm guessing that there's
nothing
wrong with this.

So what's my question?   I  guess  I  have  several.  The  first  is,  is 
the
Frigidaire  unit  just  plain  worthless (bad ratings, etc)? Could the
outside
ventilation be bad (screwy holes in wall instead of nice, big 4" hole)? 
Could
my  ding-a-ling  roomies yearlong operation of the dryer with the cardboard
in
it have damaged it or plugged up the internal  ducting  with  lint  and 
other
stuff?

I'm  tempted  to  start taking the thing apart, to at least clean it to see
if
that helps.  If the outside venting is bad, would it hurt us to pump the
moist
air  into  the  house  (it's  electric  and  not gas, so there's no
combustion
fumes)?  Or should we just give up, and air dry or go to the laundromat?

I've posted this to misc.consumers and  misc.consumers.house.    Followups 
to
either group or email.  I'll try to summarize if necessary.


Shawn Barnhart ! sbarnhar@mailbox.mail.umn.edu
I'm not selling out, I'm buying in.