Community Forums

jerryd13 · 07-26-2021, 09:10 AM

Freinds,

I wanted to ask those of you who have an electric clothes dryer, in particular a Ariston model TVM63X or similar. that is mounted to the sidewall of your RV As to the manner you use to insure that exhaust air vent is not plugged up with lint.

As we all know, lint is a hazard and easily ignited.

My motor home is a 2012 Tiffin 40 QHB, and item by item I am building up a working knowledge so as to prevent future problems, and this item is now on my list.

If you have this situation, your advice would be welcomed.

Thank you
Jerry

amosnandy · 07-26-2021, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryd13

Freinds,

I wanted to ask those of you who have an electric clothes dryer, in particular a Ariston model TVM63X or similar. that is mounted to the sidewall of your RV As to the manner you use to insure that exhaust air vent is not plugged up with lint.

As we all know, lint is a hazard and easily ignited.

My motor home is a 2012 Tiffin 40 QHB, and item by item I am building up a working knowledge so as to prevent future problems, and this item is now on my list.

If you have this situation, your advice would be welcomed.

Thank you
Jerry

To the best of my knowledge there is no lint filter like you have on your home dryer. If I'm reading my manual correctly lint is trapped in a lint trap and flushed out at the end of each cycle.

I have never seen a buildup of lint at my outside dryer vent. Not even sure how I would get the cover off.

I do see lint in the vent hose on my home dryer, which is in the basement and has a vent tube and cover to the outside. I've often wondered that too, as at home, I take the cover off and run a shop vac hose down into it and pull an amazing amount of lint out.

HarryStone · 07-26-2021, 09:44 AM

The longer and more convoluted the dryer vent hose, the more lint it will collect.

SargeW · 07-26-2021, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amosnandy

To the best of my knowledge there is no lint filter like you have on your home dryer.

We have the Ariston stackable W/D in our 2017 Bus, and the dryer absolutely has a removable lint trap in the front of the drum just inside the door. The DW cleans it regularly, sometimes a couple of times during a dry cycle if the item is new and being washed the first time.

I do see a minimal amount of lint at the exterior exhaust vent, but I have not seen any type of serious build up of lint at the hinged flapper door.

JD99336 · 07-27-2021, 10:58 PM

The other day I noticed something hanging out the vent on side of coach. It was a dyer sheet. A second one was one the ground. Still scratching my head to know how they got by the lint trap

dmctlc · 08-03-2021, 09:38 AM

I noticed, during our recent 2 plus month trip back to NE to visit family and friends, lint hanging out our outside dryer vent like we use to have in our house in NE. The dryer does have a lint trap and we regularly clean it out but like in our house some always gets by it and builds up on the outside. The lends me to believe that inside the exit hose to the vent has build up as well. This makes me nervous as being a FF for 36 yrs. I can't say how many dryer fires we been to because of lint buildup in the vent hose. Once a year I use to pull the dryer out and clean it. I'm not sure, other than pulling the dryer out, how to make sure it's clean. On a good side we don't use it as often as we did at home with kids , grandchildren living with use until our retirement. Nonetheless it still concerns me. I'm thing of dropping a wet vac hose down it but even if it could fit or make an adapter I'd be afraid of damaging the vent. Anyone have any ideas I'd like to hear them.... Thanks

Air Conditioned Gypsy · 08-03-2021, 01:42 PM

Dana,

I had to replace the tumbler belt on our dryer 2-3 years ago. It was a difficult proposition, due to the lack of room in the cabinet. Ours is a 2014 40QBH, so I am not sure that the placement and configuration is the same on your coach, but here is what I found:

Our dryer faces sideways, relative to the coach, back of the dryer against the driver side wall. There is a very short hose between the back of the dryer and the coach wall. There is a two-part vent in the coach wall. On the outside of the coach, there is a rain cover which is held in place with some screws inside the bottom corners. The top had a silicone bead holding it to the wall and preventing water intrusion. You have to use a knife to carefully separate the rain cover from the coach wall. Inside that is a plastic flapper, also screwed to the wall from the outside. The flapper has a circular flange extending into the coach wall about 2-3 inches, onto which the vent hose is secured by tape. I used real duct tape (the aluminum kind used on hvac ducts) when I replaced it.

So, if you want to remove the flapper to clean the vent hose you will have to remove the rain cover, pull the flapper out through the coach wall, separate it from the vent hose, clean the hose, tape the hose to the flapper, push the flapper back into place from outside the coach, and connect it, then replace the rain hood and connect it, using silicone around the top and sides. A bit of work, but after you have done it once, it is a piece of cake to do it again.

And regarding the lint filter - ours definitely has a lint filter in it. It is in the bottom of the door opening. A couple of finger holes are in it allowing you to pull it out when the dryer door is open.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

Chuck

Bill2 · 08-04-2021, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air Conditioned Gypsy

Dana,

I had to replace the tumbler belt on our dryer 2-3 years ago. It was a difficult proposition, due to the lack of room in the cabinet. Ours is a 2014 40QBH, so I am not sure that the placement and configuration is the same on your coach, but here is what I found:

Our dryer faces sideways, relative to the coach, back of the dryer against the driver side wall. There is a very short hose between the back of the dryer and the coach wall. There is a two-part vent in the coach wall. On the outside of the coach, there is a rain cover which is held in place with some screws inside the bottom corners. The top had a silicone bead holding it to the wall and preventing water intrusion. You have to use a knife to carefully separate the rain cover from the coach wall. Inside that is a plastic flapper, also screwed to the wall from the outside. The flapper has a circular flange extending into the coach wall about 2-3 inches, onto which the vent hose is secured by tape. I used real duct tape (the aluminum kind used on hvac ducts) when I replaced it.

So, if you want to remove the flapper to clean the vent hose you will have to remove the rain cover, pull the flapper out through the coach wall, separate it from the vent hose, clean the hose, tape the hose to the flapper, push the flapper back into place from outside the coach, and connect it, then replace the rain hood and connect it, using silicone around the top and sides. A bit of work, but after you have done it once, it is a piece of cake to do it again.

And regarding the lint filter - ours definitely has a lint filter in it. It is in the bottom of the door opening. A couple of finger holes are in it allowing you to pull it out when the dryer door is open.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

Chuck

Chuck,
I have the same coach as you, you didn’t mention whether it was worth it to do all that, was there any lent in the system that you needed to remove? We have been living full-time in ours for almost 6 years and every once in a while I see a little bit of lent at the exterior but not much. My wife cleans the filter every time she uses the dryer.

jerryd13 · 08-04-2021, 05:13 AM

Chuck,

Thank you for this information and for you taking the time to send it sir.
I do appreciate this very much.

Safe travels
Jerry Dunford

Air Conditioned Gypsy · 08-04-2021, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill2

Chuck,
I have the same coach as you, you didn’t mention whether it was worth it to do all that, was there any lent in the system that you needed to remove? We have been living full-time in ours for almost 6 years and every once in a while I see a little bit of lent at the exterior but not much. My wife cleans the filter every time she uses the dryer.

Hi Bill,

Same as you. Some lint residue often comes out and is visible, but not enough to worry about. The tube wasn't gunked up with lint, so I have never worried about that. I guess Dana makes a good point from a fireman's perspective, but I wouldn't go through the work of removal, just to clean out the vent.

I didn't mention it in the first post, but we had to remove the dryer again late last year because the heater unit quit working. The second time through (knowing what to do) it was much quicker and easier. But same story, not a pile of gunk in the exhaust tube and flapper. I think your wife's approach of cleaning the filter often is the best practice and we also do that.

And lastly - the new heater unit did not fix the issue, so while in Red Bay earlier this year, we had Tiffin express bay techs take a look at it. They recommended a new unit based on the condition of the innards of the old one. So we now have a whisper quiet new splendide that I hope will last as long as we have the coach!

Regards.

Chuck

Air Conditioned Gypsy · 08-04-2021, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryd13

Chuck,

Thank you for this information and for you taking the time to send it sir.
I do appreciate this very much.

Safe travels
Jerry Dunford

No Problemo, Jerry. Hope it is helpful to you.

Regards.

Chuck

dmctlc · 08-04-2021, 07:08 AM

Chuck, thanks for your info. My DW always cleans ours out everytime she runs the dryer, too. But wasn't sure how efficient that filter is as mentioned by JD99336 he had dryer sheets get through it. We have Spendide units in our coach and they are quiet and seem to capture a good amount if lint. Though listening to others buildup might be lesser of a problem than the home units perhaps because they're smaller or maybe the vent duct to the outside is smooth not corrugated. I've been wanting to get a cheap boroscope it gives me another reason to pick one up I could do that and slip it in from the outside for a piece of mind. Thanks

Props2 · 08-04-2021, 07:53 AM

I agree with everyone else. I had the infamous motor bearing failure on the dryer. Pulled it out and replaced the bearing.( I'm never doing that job again)!. I was surprised at the lack of buildup of lint in the vent hose. Ours had the metal corrugated hose. And its not from a lack of use.

As far as the borescope ?? Oh yea... ya gotta have one.

I have the Milwaukee and works great, especially for finding those pesky little cat toys that find their way under the slides.

JD99336 · 08-04-2021, 10:35 PM

I still haven't figured out the dryer sheet trick. I crawled up a ladder and tried to peek in the vent as best I could and see no evidence of build up. We have a noisy drier bearing and I bought the replacements. But....I may not undertake the replacement until it gets worse or quits working altogether.