Product review (2 stars): That's too bad. Read on
First let me state emphatically that if you have a Samsung dryer with requires a side vent, you have no other viable choice but to buy and install this kit. With a ton of effort, you can probably find enough construction grade metal pieces from some other supplier and fabricate your own system but the materials themselves will not be the quality of the ones in this kit. That's too bad. Read on. This kit purports to contain all the pieces one needs to modify the rear vent exhaust system of a Samsung dryer so that it will exhaust to either side. So one would naturally assume that since the same company makes both the dryer and this kit, that the modification pieces will fit semi-precisely and the end result will be a factory grade modification. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm guessing what we have here are two separate engineering departments, one for the dryer, and one for the exhaust kit. And while a major, ongoing engineering effort continues to modify and improve the dryer, the exhaust kit guys were laid off years ago and the kit manufacturing was moved to China. Seeing that coming, the exhaust kit guys sabotaged the kit engineering drawings just before they were told to hit the road. Anyone buying this kit will need to have a lot of patience and common sense to make it work BUT, with enough of both plus the right tools, it can be done. First of all, the tabs attached to the different kit exhaust pieces for the purpose of securing the pieces in place on the dryer, do NOT match up with the dryer as described in the directions. No, not even once. This begins with the very first piece you must install. Be not discouraged. Keep bending the tab on the dryer toward the front of the dryer until the hole in the tab is close enough for you to get a long enough sheet metal screw to reach the distance to the hole in the small tab on the new piece, then tighten until the exhaust piece feels securely positioned. By the way, there are no sheet metal screws included in the kit. Find your own Owen. Now the real fun begins. The directions will tell you to take a punch or chisel and make several sharp blows to the stamped, precut "hole" in the side of the dryer to remove the circular piece of metal covering your new exhaust port. DON'T EVEN THINK OF DOING THIS. Get your electric drill out with a 1/16th size bit and drill a million holes around the circumference of the "cutout", THEN use a small, sharp metal chisel and a hammer to remove the un-drilled material. Do not use hard hammer blows. Be careful not to accidentally drill through anything on the inside of the dryer. Remember, if you screw this up and damage the machine, no warranty in the world is going to pay for it. You are. This is also why you don't want to hammer a punch or chisel at the solid metal cutout without drilling it out first. You simply are not going to want to hit this thousand dollar machine that hard. Now, in the kit you will find a 90 degree elbow and a short (exit right, looking from the front) or long (exit left) straight piece that serves as the exhaust outlet. The straight pieces will have attachment tabs riveted to them which, you guessed it, will not align with the edge of the exit hole you just cut in the side of the dryer. Not only that, the straight pieces will not exit at a right angle. It's cocked. To fix both of these problems, you will need a very nice pair of sheet metal snips. Cut enough metal from the air input side of the elbow such that the output side properly aligns with the exit hole you just drilled out, then cut enough metal from the exit piece such that the attachment tab now rests agains the side of the machine in proper fitment and alignment. Drill a small hole in the side of the dryer in alignment with the hole in the exhaust piece tab and use a suitably sized sheet metal screw to secure the exhaust piece to the side of the dryer wall. YOU'RE NOT DONE, which sheds real light as to why most retailers who sell dryers will NOT install this kit for you. Did I mention that from the very beginning of this project, you are working through a small opening in the back panel of the dryer? Gosh. How could I have forgotten? Ok, so you now have all of the new, personally modified pieces installed and secured to the dryer structure but then realize that the whole assembly is kinda loose and wobbly and doesn't give rise to much confidence that it will stay together for more than one load of tidy whities...which it won't. That's because you have to tape the joints Johnson. You have to tape the joints around their entire circumference in a space too small to do so. This is when you will wish you'd simply put a clothesline in the backyard and spent the savings on airfare to Aruba, but it's too late now isn't it. Take a black sharpie and mark the position of the fitted exhaust pieces as you hold them in proper position reaching through the small opening in the back. Once accomplished, remove both the elbow and the final exhaust piece. Get yourself a roll of aluminum foil tape specially designed for just this purpose (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc) and tape the elbow and exhaust piece together while aligned to the fitment marks you made with the sharpie. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER KIND OF TAPE. Aircraft mechanics actually use this type of tape to make temporary repairs to the skin of aircraft. This stuff is bad sticky and is high temperature rated (the dryer exhaust gets hot Henry). Re-install these two newly taped pieces back into the dryer and fasten the attachment tab once again. You will notice that the whole exhaust assembly has become more rigid. YOU ARE STILL NOT DONE. Now reaching through the access hole in the back of the machine, you must tape the inlet side of the elbow to the first exhaust piece you installed at the beginning of this novel. THIS is the step that determines how bad you want to do a nice job with this project. It's a bear. I suggest using several short pieces of tape instead of attempting to use one, continuous piece around the circumference. But that's just me. Either way will work fine and either way will be the final step to both sealing the joint air tight and providing the final rigidity to the entire assembly. Take your time with this step and you'll feel real good about yourself. Gaffe it off and youve just compromised a thousand dollar dryer, even if you did pay for it with Grandma's money. Ok, put the inspection panel door back on the rear of the unit, install the exhaust port plug included in the kit and you're done. One final word, don't expect the items in the kit to be undamaged. They're light weight metal and don't particularly inspire tender loving care in the packers. However, almost any damage can be carefully reshaped back into an acceptable piece with metal snips, pliers, foil tape and patience. Good luck.