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Wet Towels!!!

Don't ya just hate it when you stick your hand in the dryer expectingwarm fluffy fresh towels and find a cold wet massive lump instead? Whata way to ruin a perfectly good thought of showering... I don't knowabout you, but especially in the summer when I've been working in theyard or garden and I'm looking forward to an awesome shower... I likemy towels fluffy, smelling fresh, inviting, and ready to sop me up! Mywife and I have four children whom live at our house all the time andthere are days she pops the towels in the dryer and attends to otherchores... trust me, this has happened to me on more than one occasion!And, fellas, it isn't always her fault for not turning it on for a longenough period of time... could be something wrong with the machine!Let's see what's up...

So,for all you Do It Yourselfers out there, here are three tips to get youin the right direction to dry towels. First, you have to observe a fewthings to number down some possible causes because your drum belt mightbe broken or cracked, your heating element could be going out, or thevent itself could be stopped up.

First, test your drum and see if it is turning freely. Try and spin it by hand. It should turn but you want to feel some noticeable resistance. If it feels like it's spinning easily, your drive belt is probably over worn, stretched or broken.

Ifthe belt checks out alright, try drying a couple of wet towels next.Use a setting which should produce the full amount of heat. Let thedryer run for about ten minutes while you take care of other chores. Ifthe clothes are just only a little warm to the touch, you probably havea heating element malfunction which you will need to make a call to theappliance repair technician (me ) to change. After ten minutes youshould see a noticeable fluffing and warmth to the towels. They shouldbe quite hot actually, especially when you only put a couple in. Inever recommend Do It Yourselfers to change their own heating element.It just is simply a repair that a fully trained person should complete.Thousands of dryers every year cause fires... which leads me to anaside thought. Never ever ever ever dry your clothes when you are nothome, not even just doing yard work. You need to be near to your dryerso you can take care of issues quickly if there was a fire. I alsosuggest keeping a fire extinguisher in the general vicinity of yourdryer. They look like calm little appliances... but you should hearsome stories of what I've seen!

If neither of these are theanswer, then you probably are having trouble with your vent. First,check your lint trap and make sure it is properly cleaned. Next, gooutside while your machine is running and see if there is a good amountof air coming out. If there is not much air coming out, you could haveone of two problems. Either your dryer's vent fan isn't workingproperly or your vent pipe is plugged. Go back inside and take the pipeoff the wall. While running, if there is air flowing out of the pipethen your fan is fine and your vent line needs inspection. We here atArchAngel can clean your vents for you for a small fee if you don'twant to do this. If there is no air coming out and you believe it isthe fan, we can also do that for you as well.

If you want togive it a whirl and clean your vents...Check your vent pipe from oneend to the other and take out all necessary debris. This can be a nastynasty job. I always wear a mouth allergy cover... ugh yucky. -I alsorecommend simply purchasing a new pipe. I know, not environmentallyfriendly... but if you have a metal one you can recycle it. It is goodto replace the line altogether though as fires are caused by thousandsof these a year. It is also more efficient for your machine to keepyour vents cleaned. Just easier and safer to go ahead and replace it.

Alittle preventative maintenance is nice as well.... keeping the lenttrap clean and vents clean helps your machine run smooth for a muchlonger time. Don't put unecessary pressure on your heating element andother parts. Remember, your machine works for you so you work for it!

Ifyou do these simple things you will have nice and inviting towels everytime you go for some... we are so spoiled nowadays, I couldn't stand tonot have my smokin hot towels!

Hope that helps! Food for thought,

ArchAngel