Gardus RLE202 LintEater 10-Piece Rotary Dryer Vent Cleaning System
by Gardus
|
List Price: Our Price: $23.18 You Save: $8.77 (27%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Gardus RLE202 LintEater 10-Piece Rotary Dryer Vent Cleaning System
Customer Review: Worth its weight in gold!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a product that simply blew me away. Our dryer vent was pretty badly clogged, and I'd tried just about everything to open it back up. Vacuum hoses, a plumber's snake, an air compressor, etc. No dice. I was about ready to go down in my crawl space and completely disassemble the dryer vent, a chore that I was not relishing at all, but it was either that or bite the bullet and call in some pros. As a last resort, I did an Amazon search, and came across this product. For $27 I really didn't hold out a lot of hope for it, but it came in today and I gave it a shot. I could not be more impressed! The combination of the short brush, the vacuum attachment, and the flexible rods did the trick. By the way, from the picture you may think that the rods are relatively stiff fiberglass (like cheap tent poles). That is not the case at all. They are actually a VERY flexible nylon or some such, and snake their way into the dryer vent really well. The people who assembled this kit knew what they were about. A really awesome product. If I had any "con" at all, and it's a ridiculously minor one, it's that I had to use a pipe wrench to disassemble the rods when I was finished, as they get really tight with all of the torque they have to endure. That's about it. Great job! I'm going to make a note on my calendar to use this every 6 months or so.Customer Review: The rod broke inside the duct - hours to get it out.
Summary: 2 Stars
I have a dryer duct that's about 35 ft long with three turns, so I ordered one with the 12' extension kit (GARDUS INC #R-3203612 12' Dry Vent Extention Kit), figuring I could clean part of it from one end, and part from the other. I used a 3/8" drill to turn the brush (you need a drill - forget about turning it by hand), keeping the drill on the low speed setting, and slowly fed the brush in, adding the three foot rod sections as I went.
I got about 12 ft into the duct OK, but when I added the next extension, the brush head just sheared off. I tried fishing it out with a wire snake, but gave up after a while, and spent the next three hours disassembling the duct to get the brush out - lucky for me the duct was mostly exposed - if it had been behind drywall or in the ceiling, it would have been a whole other story.
In disassembling the duct, I saw that the brush had done a pretty good job of cleaning the straight sections, but there was still significant buildup in the bends that I had to scrape out by hand. The white plastic rod had sheared off about 4 inches from the bristles but was not obviously stuck on anything.
I guess if you have a small section of duct, it will probably work, but throw in a couple of curves, and I think it's really pushing the limit at 12 ft.
Customer Review: It worked and saved me serious money
Summary: 5 Stars
When our dryer was literally taking 1 to 2 hours to cycle through to dry our clothes, I called in a repairman, who told me there was nothing wrong with the dryer, but that my dryer vent hose was most likely clogged. Since the hose runs about twenty feet under the house to the outside vent, I wasn't looking forward to shimmying under (God knows what's under there) to clean it out. When I called around to see how much it would cost to have it done commercially, I was getting quotes of about $200 or so for a hose that long. As if.
I researched online and found this dryer vent cleaning system. I didn't realize that dryer lint buildup is the number 2 cause of fires in the U.S. (DRYER LINT. THE SILENT KILLER) Anyway, I bought it along with the extension rods (for about $40) and after about 15 minutes had the hose cleaned out and a dryer that runs properly. I saved over $150, didn't have to climb under the house myself and now have it for future cleanings. Look, I'm the anti-handyman, but this was simple enough for me not even to screw it up. You should have a shop vac for the process (I borrowed one), although it does have a way to use your dryer's blower to help clean out your vent (I didn't try that one).
Overall, really satisfied with this product.
Customer Review: You won't believe what lurks in your dryer vent
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this product in preparation for a new dryer. I figured that after I had noticed birds nesting in my exterior vent opening I should give my duct a good cleaning--I am very glad I did. The operation of the product is simple--do be sure to note the instruction regarding NOT reversing the drill when pulling the cleaner from the vent when done cleaning (just leave it in the normal position as if you were driving a screw). Reversing the drill could cause the threaded joint fittings to come apart. The next important thing to note (as others have) is that you need to add/remove the links one at a time so that you don't have anymore than one or 1 1/2 not in the vent. If you have too many pieces together and not inserted in the vent it will whip around and damage the rod. I learned that the hard way but I blame it on myself.
On to the operation/result. I was blown away with the amount of straw and grass occluding my dryer vent at the exterior where the birds were. Once I cleared that obstruction I pulled tons of dryer lint out of the duct. I was astounded at how much crud was in there and preventing my dryer from working properly (as well as the potential for a dryer fire). This is a product that does what it says it will do and is well worth the money.
Customer Review: Eats Lint
Summary: 5 Stars
So, this is what life comes down to when you are 50 years old: reviewing dryer vent cleaners while sitting at your kitchen table waiting for American Idol. This is not what I envisioned when I was 12, I can tell you that much. You kids who think it won't happen to you?
It will. Sorry to burst your bubble.
That said, the product works great. Our dryer pretty much stopped working and we were thinking we needed a new one, which was seriously going to eat into my plastic surgery budget. One last shot before a trip to the appliance store was this Gardus LintEater. My husband, who is not the handy one of the family, had to do the work as I have a torn labrum. (Which sounds dirtier than it is - that's part of your shoulder.) He, the clumsiest man in the world, had absolutely no problem using this. I warned him to read the directions first, and he actually listened and followed. He hooked it up to the drill, and away he went. He got a bunch of musty, wet lint that had probably been up inside the wall since 1977 - probably consisting of bell bottom material and macramé.
Now our dryer actually dries clothes again, and I can continue to save for my facelift. Thank you Gardus.