Need help! Question about stuff being dropped down lint trap of CLOTHES DRYER.

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LesserBeing

Joined
Aug 15, 2013
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I would really appreciate a little help!
I accidently dropped a packet of allergy pills down the lint trap of my dryer. (the lint trap chute?)
I put the actual trap in the shoot and pulled it out to see if I grab it, and it was still stuck down there.
I really needed to run the dryer, and I've got clothes running right now on cool cycle.
My questions are:
Is there an easy way to extract this? (I've never worked on a dryer)?
Will the plastic melt and cause me problems or just mess up my clothes?
Could this damage my dryer?
Are there any other issues that I should be concerned about?
Thank you in advance for your help!
 
Home Depot plumbing dept carries a flexible grabber tool (AKA "mechanic's pickup") - steel claws - under 3/8" diameter - 20" long. Some auto parts stores carry them too. Designed to retrieve small parts from tiny spaces you cannot reach an arm into.

You can Shoe Goo a suitable plastic tube (aquarium supply stores) on the crevice tool of a vacuum and suck it out.
 
The dryer will come apart, probably with a phillips screwdriver.


Enter the make and model number in the Google and you will probably get diagrams and instructions to pull the front off.
 
I manage over 200 rentals and one of my tenants just did this a few months back. It ended up burning a hole through the heating element and shorted it out. I had one of my maintenance guys fix it and it ended up being about $70 in parts. If you have to pay a technician to come out and fix it figure another $100 on top of that more or less. Dryers are very simple with few parts so just pull it out from the wall, unplug it and take it apart. That is if you are mechanically inclined in the slightest. :)
 
Wait for a sunny day!
My GF had a house where the dryer was in the second story and the lint collector was accessable only from the outside !! I told her to call the maintanace man !
Mayor source of house fires , I understand is caused by dryers. That's why I would never use the dryer unless I was home. If you have cotton lint save it for starting campfires , can;t be beat.
 
you would be amazed how easily you can reach in there from the back of the lint tube its a open vent tube about 5-6" in diameter
unplug it
pull it away from the wall, and to be honest it will either be rite there at the bottom due to being to heavy to BLOW OUT with the exhaust or it will be down the pipe and outside
I have been in attics where the exhaust vents into the attic off the dryer(weird I know but I didnt install them) you find cash and pens and all kinds of light weight debris
from the vent blowing it clear of the machine and out down the path it follows.
the actual schematic would show you the path the air flows and where the package may loiter due to weight its typically as straight a shot out as they can make it for this reason
lint is a fire hazard as stated
so they want it and the liability of it out of the picture as fast as they can make it
 
Thanks for all of the ideas, guys! I haven't messed with it yet, but I'll keep this thread updated after I get it taken care of. (hopefully)
 
Unhook the exhaust hose, run it on a no or low heat setting, should shoot right out.

Take the opportunity to buy a grabber tool.

Another option is to buy a cheap water hose and tape it to your vacuum, if you have one with a hose, you can easily modify the size of the hole with string or a pipe clamp.

The last thing I would recommend is double sided tape on a stick or a coat hanger.

Maybe you have an air compressor, shoot it into the exhaust side of the dryer.

I think that covers my ideas, probably the last option is turning the dryer to get it to fall out, that's my last resort.
 
Hey, guys, !!!! got it!!!! I tried the extension claws, but that didn't work. Then I unplugged it, and just took off the air duct, and there it was!
Thanks for all of the help guys! I've learned my lesson!
Oh, as a bonus I found a sterling chain down there with the pills! Not sure how it got down there, but I'm pretty sure it's sterling by the way it's tarnished! (didn't see a .925 mark, but whatever) Don't get too excited, I don't think it even weighs 1/2 oz, but it's better than nothing.
 
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