Brand: Whirlpool Model Number: WED8800YW2 Main Symptom: Not drying completely What happens & when:
I have a Whirlpool dryer model # WED8800YW2 that I purchased new in 2013. It dried clothes well the first 10 or 11 years, but seems to be taking longer on big loads of towels or sheets the last few years. I have cleaned the entire dryer vent annually for at least the last 5 years, and less than 1 year ago, I disassembled the dryer front and back panel and vacuumed out the entire inside of the dryer. There is a smaller load in the dryer right now that is almost dry, and I opened the door and used a laser thermometer to measure the temp of the back of the drum which measured 180 degrees F, so it seems like the heating elements are working. I am concerned that the issue with long drying times on big loads are due to my house and not the dryer. The dryer is in a 2nd floor laundry room which is in the middle of my house, and therefore the 4” vent pipe inside the wall and ceiling is about 23 to 24 feet long and contains two 90 degree bends. To make matters worse, the vent pipe exits the back of the dryer horizontally, and has to offset horizontally about 15” to enter the wall vent pipe which also comes out of the wall horizontally. Until about 1 month ago, the dryer exhaust was connected to the wall vent pipe with a piece of flexible aluminum dryer vent hose (which I had also cleaned at least annually). I was concerned that this hose was restricting the air flow (kinked &/or clogged with accumulated lint), so I replaced it with a rigid periscope vent that I bought off of Amazon hoping it would reduce the drying time. Unfortunately, that periscope vent adds 2 more HARD 90 degree bends, and the cross sectional area of the periscope is about 7.5 sq inches compared to the cross sectional area of a 4” diameter pipe which is about 12.5 square inches. Also, with the periscope, the total length of vent is about 26 feet, plus four 90 degree bends which is right at the limit of 27 feet/4 bends per the dryer manual. This Amazon periscope vent seemed to reduce the drying time somewhat, but large loads of sheets/towels still seem to take longer than they used to. I know that ‘perceived long drying times’ is a first world problem, and not the end of the world, but I would like to know if there is something more that I can do to improve the situation. I also don’t want to go buy a new dryer to only find out that a new dryer does not fix my ‘problem’ of long drying times. Here are things I am considering:
Cutting the drywall around the vent pipe and installing a recessed dryer vent box. I think by doing this, I can get rid of the periscope vent, and rig some semi rigid vent pipe that will not accidentally kink/collapse and will mostly eliminate 1 of the hard 90’s. Because my wall is just a 2x4 wall (not a 2x6), a small amount of the box will stick out into the laundry room, but I think I can add some trim pieces to make it look ok.
Install a Dryer Booster fan. I only recently discovered these existed, so I don’t know much about them. From what I have seen, some have pressure switches to turn them on automatically which sounds good. Several that I saw online need to be installed in a vertical orientation. Because of the need to be installed vertical, and to make it easier to get the fan out of the way to clean the duct in the wall/ceiling, I would probably install the fan in my laundry room behind the dryer. This might also require me to install a recessed dryer vent box to allow enough clearance to the fan.
Buy the OEM periscope vent pipe 4396037 or the OEM “Over the Top” vent pipe. The OEM periscope vent pipe appears to have a much bigger cross sectional area than the one I bought from Amazon. The OEM Over the top vent pipe looks semi rigid so it might not kink/collapse, but it would cause my dryer to have to move a couple of inches out into my laundry room (not a major problem) and would make my total vent system longer than 27 feet recommended by Whirlpool.
Is there some other thing that could be wrong with my dryer causing the long drying times, or is there some other solution I should consider?
Is this a non-problem, and I should just accept longer drying times on large loads?
Thanks for reading this.
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For your Whirlpool WED8800YW2, I would not buy a new dryer yet. From everything you described, the most likely issue is reduced airflow through the exhaust system, but because the dryer is about 13 years old, there are also several dryer components—including the thermostats—that could have aged enough to cause a noticeable change in drying performance.
The important point is that your 180°F drum reading confirms that the dryer can produce heat, but it does not prove that it is heating correctly throughout an entire cycle or that enough air is moving through the machine.
Why I suspect the vent system first
Your installation is fairly demanding for a residential dryer:
Approximately 23–24 feet of concealed 4-inch duct
Two 90° bends in that concealed run
Roughly 26 feet total with the present connection
Four 90° bends total with the Amazon periscope
A periscope with only about 7.5 sq. in. of cross-sectional area, versus approximately 12.6 sq. in. for a 4-inch round duct
That means the periscope has only about 60% of the cross-sectional area of the 4-inch duct.
The fact that replacing the flexible connector with the periscope apparently improved drying somewhat is another clue that airflow is involved. The old flexible aluminum duct may have had even more resistance because of its corrugations, bends, or partial compression.
At the same time, the new periscope isn’t ideal. You’re gaining rigidity but introducing two hard 90° turns and a substantial reduction in duct area.
Your recessed vent-box idea would be my first modification
Of the solutions you’re considering, I like #1 best.
If installing a recessed dryer box allows you to eliminate the narrow periscope and connect the dryer using a short, properly rated metal transition duct with a much gentler bend, you’re reducing restriction without adding another mechanical device that can eventually fail or collect lint.
Even if the box has to project slightly from your 2x4 wall and you trim around it, that’s primarily a cosmetic issue.
dryer → reduced-area periscope → two hard 90s → existing duct.
I would hold off on the booster fan
A properly designed dryer exhaust power ventilator can be appropriate for some long duct installations, but I wouldn’t jump to that yet.
It introduces another motor, another item requiring cleaning/service, another possible lint accumulation point and another component whose operation has to coordinate with the dryer.
More importantly, you may not need one.
First determine whether eliminating the restrictive connection restores acceptable performance. If the permanent duct still proves too restrictive after optimizing the connection, then I’d investigate a properly listed dryer-exhaust power ventilator installed according to its instructions and applicable local code.
The OEM periscope is a reasonable second choice
If the OEM 4396037 periscope has substantially more internal area and smoother airflow than the Amazon unit, I’d prefer it over the narrow aftermarket periscope.
Likewise, the OEM “Over the Top” arrangement could potentially be better despite adding some length if it eliminates severe restrictions and tight bends. A few additional feet of reasonably smooth duct can be preferable to a short connection containing abrupt turns and a reduced cross-section.
But if you’re willing to install the recessed box properly, I’d favor that approach.
There could also be an age-related dryer problem
This part shouldn’t be overlooked.
Your dryer was purchased in 2013. After roughly 13 years of heating and cooling cycles, thermostats and other temperature-control components can change in their operating characteristics.
A thermostat doesn’t necessarily have to fail completely.
An aging thermostat or temperature-control component can cause the heating system to cycle differently than it did when the dryer was new. The heater may shut off sooner, remain off longer, or otherwise maintain a different temperature pattern. The change can be gradual enough that you notice:
“This dryer still gets hot, but it doesn’t seem to dry big loads as quickly as it used to.”
That’s quite different from the classic failed-heater complaint of “the dryer runs but doesn’t heat.”
And this is why I wouldn’t consider your 180°F laser-thermometer reading proof that everything in the heating system is operating correctly.
It proves the dryer gets hot. It doesn’t tell us what the temperature is doing during the other 99% of the drying cycle.
There’s another complication: restricted airflow itself can cause abnormal thermostat/high-limit cycling. Consequently, excessive heater cycling can be the result of the vent problem rather than a defective thermostat.
I therefore would test before replacing thermostats rather than replacing them simply because they’re old.
I’d also inspect the blower wheel
This is probably the other dryer component I’d put high on the list.
A dryer can make plenty of heat while having inadequate airflow if its blower wheel isn’t performing properly.
After many years, a blower wheel can become damaged, loosen on the motor shaft, accumulate debris or otherwise lose efficiency.
That can produce exactly the combination you’re describing:
Hot dryer + clothes eventually dry + large loads take considerably longer.
Since you’ve already cleaned the interior thoroughly, a simple lint obstruction inside the dryer is less likely, but that doesn’t completely eliminate a blower problem.
Don’t forget the moisture sensors
There’s also an easy way to separate a sensor problem from some of these other possibilities.
Run a substantial towel load using Timed Dry/High Heat rather than an automatic/sensor cycle.
If the dryer performs normally on Timed Dry but poorly on the automatic cycle, I’d investigate the moisture-sensing system.
If it’s slow on Timed Dry as well, the moisture sensors move much farther down the list.
The most useful test costs nothing
Before cutting drywall, buying parts, installing a booster fan, or replacing the dryer, I’d perform a controlled test.
Use a substantial load of wet towels—not sheets—and run the dryer on Timed Dry/High.
First run it normally through the house vent and note approximately how long the towels require.
Then, on another comparable load, temporarily disconnect the dryer from the wall duct and let it exhaust into the laundry room for part of the test. This is diagnostic only, not a permanent configuration; an electric dryer will dump a tremendous amount of warm, humid, lint-containing air into the room.
The comparison is extremely valuable:
Result
Likely direction
Dries considerably faster disconnected
House duct/connection restriction
Little difference connected vs. disconnected
Investigate dryer
Timed Dry works well but Auto doesn’t
Moisture sensing
Slow even disconnected
Blower/heating/temperature control
Very hot but airflow seems weak
Blower or airflow restriction
Heater cycling abnormally even disconnected
Thermostat/control deserves investigation
Check the outside vent at the same time
With a decent-sized load running, go outside and inspect the exhaust termination.
The damper should open freely and you should feel a strong stream of warm, humid air.
Make sure there isn’t a screen, stuck flap, lint accumulation, restrictive termination hood or other obstruction.
You can have a beautifully cleaned 24-foot duct and still have poor airflow if the last few inches at the exterior termination are restrictive.
Also try running it with the laundry-room door open
That’s another free experiment.
Run a large load with the laundry-room door completely open.
If drying performance noticeably improves, the dryer could be having difficulty getting sufficient makeup air into the laundry room. Every cubic foot of air that goes outside through the dryer vent has to be replaced by air entering the room.
Use towels rather than sheets for your testing
Sheets aren’t a particularly good diagnostic load.
Large sheets can wrap around one another and form a ball. The outside gets relatively dry while damp material remains trapped inside. Even a perfectly functioning dryer can struggle with that.
A standardized load of wet bath towels gives you a much better comparison.
What I would do in your situation
I would spend $0 initially.
Run the dryer on Timed Dry with a substantial towel load and compare its performance connected versus temporarily disconnected from the house vent. While you’re doing that, evaluate the airflow outside and try the laundry-room-door-open test.
If the dryer performs dramatically better disconnected, don’t replace the dryer or its thermostats. You’ve demonstrated that the exhaust system is the problem. At that point I’d install the recessed vent box and eliminate the restrictive Amazon periscope.
If performance remains poor with the vent disconnected, don’t cut the drywall yet. Then I’d investigate the blower wheel and measure the actual exhaust-temperature cycling. Given the dryer’s age, I’d specifically consider whether the thermostats/temperature-control components have drifted enough over years of heat cycling to produce a noticeable change in drying behavior.
If the recessed connection improves things but the long concealed duct still creates excessive resistance, then I’d consider a properly listed dryer exhaust power ventilator.
And only after those tests would I start thinking about replacing the dryer.
So I don’t think this is necessarily a “non-problem” that you simply have to accept. A 13-year-old dryer can still have many years of useful life, and a new dryer connected to the same restrictive vent may give you exactly the same long drying times. The connected-versus-disconnected test should tell you which side of the wall to investigate before you spend much money.
Thank you very much for such a detailed answer. I will clarrify a few points about my existing set up and then tell you the results of testing I did yesterday.
You mentioned potential problems with the last couple inches of the dryer vent at the termination hood. My hood is a louvered style hood and when I clean my dryer duct annually I remove the louvers and make sure the cleaning brush fully exits the duct to make sure I don’t just snow plow a big pile of lint into the last couple of inches of the duct. I also clean each louver before reinstalling them, and I make sure they freely open and are not bound up. When I run the dryer hooked up to the vent they appear to be wide open.
Regarding my laundry room door, we mostly leave it open when doing laundry, and the loads not drying completely seems to be independant of if/when we occaisionaly actually close the laundry room door. I checked and there is about a 1" gap between the bottom of our door and the flooring, and our door frame opening is 35", so even when the door is closed, there is still a 35 sq in area for the dryer to suck in make up air.
I ran a test load of towels that was a medium sized load. I first ran it with the dryer hooked up as described in my original post (hooked up to the dryer vent). I ran the load on the “Towel” setting which comes up as a 55 minute cycle, but I also timed it with a stopwatch. It ran for 52 minutes and stopped on it’s own based on it’s own moisture sensing. I opened the door immediately and the towels were dry to the touch.
I then rewashed the exact same load of towels, letting the washer spin them ‘dry’ as in the first test. I pulled the dryer out away from the wall about 15 inches and disconnected the periscope from the back of the dryer. I put the towels in the dryer on the same “Towel” setting and let them dry (again also using a stopwatch to time the cycle). This time the dryer stopped at 49 minutes and I immediatly opened the dryer and the towels were dry to the touch. The dryer put a very noticable amount of hot humid air not just into my laundry room, but also my whole 2nd floor. The 2nd floor was so humid, I suspect the humidity slowed down the drying process somewhat, but it still beat the first test by 3 minutes.
Is that 3 minute / 6% reducttion in drying time enough of a difference to warrant installing the recessed vent box? To me it seems like it is. I can still investigate dryer issues if the new recessed box does not completely fix the issue. I have my test load of towels set aside if there is an additional test that I should run.
Yes I think you’re right about the humidity. Without having to dry the air and the towels you’ll probably see at least a 10% drop in drying time and a corresponding drop in electricity usage