Dryer Vent Hose

RCrosby257

My laundry dryer vent hose connects to a 4" PVC pipe which runs under the housing slab for a distance of about 16 feet before ending in an inverted "J" fitting just outside of the house wall.
Air seems to flow freely when the drying is running but since the house is about 20 years old I'd like to do a proper cleaning of the whole line.
Any suggestions? I'm thinking I might be able to run a snake through the line and pull something back through?
Thanks,
Rob

Larryh86GT

I have run a long shop vac hose to clean out the vent pipe before.

joecaption

Got a picture of this outside set up?

Hardway

Google chimney brush and see what size brushes the manufacture has. Maybe able to get a 4" brush.

Fix'n it

a leaf blower may work.

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hardwareman

they do make a 4' dryer vent brush. It has a flexible 10' handle on it. You could snake a water hose through then attach it to the brush. Also I have used an electric leaf blower, but they only get the loose stuff. Nothing works as good as a good brush cleaning.

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Gary in WA

You may have a lot of lint build-up to block/stop the brush between outlet/inlet. I'd run the end of heavy-weight twine/cord through- tied to an old sock, using a shop-vac to pull through. Fasten one end of the new brush to cord, another cord to other end of brush to back-pull in case it gets stuck mid-way. Most all stores now carry brushes for ducting, even on-line, not like 30 years ago...chimney brush is way too stiff, IMO.

Gary

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mikegp

I read somewhere that pvc shouldn't be used for dryer vents. Can't remember the exact reason, but it caused excess buildup leading to a fire hazard.

Thurman

I have found that these PVC dryer ducts are notorious for build-ups of lint in my area, especially with the humidity we have. I have used a few methods to clean these but the best is a round chimney brush available at the big box stores. I use a vacuum to pull a strong twine through from the outside, then tie the chimney brush to the twine and pull from the inside to the outside. Do this repeatedly until there is little lint left. I have had two (2) of these that had such a hard build-up within them I had to use my sewer cleaning attatchment on my pressure washer to get them really cleaned out. Just be sure to plug the inside piping I.D. Don't ask how I found out that one. Sometimes I wonder if the "chemicals" that are used in dryer sheets makes this lint stick to the walls of these PVC pipes so tightly.

bcgfdc3

Not positive but it might have something to do with the static electricity that PVC can build up and may not be a good thing with dryer lint being very combustible.

bcgfdc3

I found this in a different forum.

Re: PVC Dryer Vent

Yep, nothing but trouble on underground pvc vents. I tried it in two houses I built and then lived in and found out the hard way.
The real issue was the underground part causes a heat sink keeping the vent pipe cold and the warm moist air from the dryer exhaust will condense inside the vent pipe and collect lint. I usually had to unplug the pipe regularly to get clothes to dry. Go overhead with metal. Even stainless in the slab or underground will cause problems, IMHO.

RCrosby257

Excellent advice, All. Thank you so much. Especially like the idea of have a means of "backing out" if whatever I decide to pull through gets stuck. May or may not get to it before I leave for the summer, but will report back when I do. Take care,
Rob