Problem with new dryer?

[Goldie]

I had to buy a new washer and dryer to replace the 21-year old set that finally gave out. DH hooked up the dryer yesterday since Sears wouldn't do it because we didn't have metal venting to the outside (it was plastic). He bought some more metal venting and got it hooked up all right.

Well, the first load was jeans so I used the cotton (high heat) setting. When the automatic sensor went off, the jeans weren't too bad, but one sweatshirt was still way too wet. Not only that, but the clothes didn't really feel all that hot.

Now, on my old dryer, I almost NEVER used the high heat setting since you would almost scorch your hands taking the stuff out of the dryer - just seemed way too hot to me. The permanent press setting was just fine.

I've tried a couple different heat settings, but so far it just doesn't compare to the heat I got out of my old dryer. So, I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this same phenomenon. Do the new dryers just run cooler than the old ones? Or did maybe my husband mess something up on the install that's causing it to be cooler? Or maybe the dryer is a lemon???

BTW, this is a Sears Kenmore 700 series dryer - not exactly bottom of the line. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this while I keep experimenting with different settings to see what happens.

[lindrusso]

First thing I'd check is the venting. Not that your DH isn't competent :) , but maybe something is blocked or not hooked up correctly.

[FruitsAlive]

I agree with checking the venting. This happened to me with my kenmore. It turned out that the flap on the vent on the outside of the house got stuck shut. Who knew?

[mbrogier]

The venting can be an issue. We live in a nice rental house, but the washer and dryer are ancient. It was taking 4 hours to dry a mid sized load of clothes. (It's just me and Rob, so we don't have huge loads going constantly.) We thought the dryer was dead, and I found another dryer on Freecycle.

Rob starts disconnecting the old dryer as much as he feels is safe since it was gas. He discovered water in the vent line. Snow from the outside was getting in the line even though we were very particular not to let snow sit by the vent. He fixed it, and now the dryer is much warmer and works like a new dryer.

[Goldie]

First thing I'd check is the venting. Not that your DH isn't competent :) , but maybe something is blocked or not hooked up correctly.

LOL! I cringe sometimes when I ask him to do these things. I could hardly believe my eyes when I looked outside and saw some kind of patchy gray paint all around the sides of the dryer vent where it comes out of the siding. Gawd, it looks like he took a crowbar to it or something!

But he feels like Mr. Fixit, and sometimes these things work out just fine. Just not in this case:rolleyes:

Thanks for all the tips, I think you've put me on the right track.

[sparrowgrass]

In really cold weather, sometimes the steam condenses on the vent and the lint accumulates there. Then the flap won't open, and my clothes don't get dry.