New Dryers

[Anonymous]

i am starting my search for new dryers. My old dryers are not that old but they scorch and i've had to replace baskets because of nails going through the holes and ripping the basket. and the gas bills are killer. Also the baskets are turning very dark will stainless steel baskets hold up longer ?
Any thoughts?

[pete f]

who is making stainless baskets? The air flow is radial or axis, they both have pro and con. The ones like ADC stack, SQ stack have air coming from the rear and down thru the front. These get the back gunky in short time. Dryer like Dexter have air from the top exit the bottom, they tend to get more nail and screw hole tears becuase they have more holes in the basket. What are you using now?

[Anonymous]

they say Ipso on them but i don't think Ipso made them.
the back does get gunked up i think thats when they scorch. what can you do about the nails and screws?

[SuperMat]

I have Speed Queen stacks and 75# dryers, and they all have stainless steel baskets/drums. The main reason for me doing this was to avoid the Discoloring on the rear of the drum. This was done strictly from a "perception" standpoint. When galvanized drums get the discoloring on the rear of the drum, people tend to think it will wind up on their clothes. It looks pretty nasty, and does not instill confidence in the dryer. They are more expensive, about $350.00 per stack, but don't qoute me, lots of numbers in this head of mine. That just seems to be what I remember from a year and a half ago. The drums have a "chrome" appearence, but can turn a purpleish/pinkish/blueish color in the rear. I will only purchase these drums/dryers rather than galvanized. As far as nails and screws, if you come up with a resolution for that let me know. I've yet to see a laundromat that doesn't have that issue. I train all employees to stop any dryer making a noise and find out what it is. Usually a screw, and it is promptly removed, before it does too much damage.

[Anonymous]

are the stainless drums stronger than the regular drums?
Do the stainless drums still rip if a nail gets in?

[Ken]

SQ,Dexter,ADC all offer ss steel drum,if you pay extra.

[Anonymous]

will the stainless drums rip like the other ones?

[SuperMat]

When a screw or nail gets in drum, usually it bends the basket where the hole is. I usually will take a small round hammer and tap it back to a flat status. The screws and nails will cut the lining around the drum if not removed. I don't know if they are acually stronger, but haven't had any rips or tears in the actual drum. This includes a dozen 4" framing nails in a 75# dryer the third day I was open. Bent vent holes, but no tears.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to try one stainless basket and see how it works. My local distrbutor wants $550 to come out and put in one new basket, that sounds like alot. do you know how long it should take to replace a basket in a stack dryer?

[MyLaundry]

$550 is cheap. I paid $899 for a stainless steel drum from ADC. It took about 1-2 hours to replace the old and install the new.

[DirtyLaundry]

If you are changing a drum because of a hole, you may want to cut a section from an old drum to cover the hole, and braze it to your existing drum. Grind and smooth the rough edges off, and you are good to go. I have one I did this to about 12 years ago without a problem.

[goingtoarizona]

Back to the gas bill, how many BTUs are your old dryers, and how many BTUs is the one you're going to try? Make sure you're going down in BTUs or your gas bill may not change much at all. How much is your gas bill compared to your dryer income? (let's just ingore the water heater gas usage for this discussion). I've heard that utilities should be about 25% of revenues, is your gas bill higher or lower than 25% of your dryer income. That would make up my mind. We went from 135000 to 72000 BTU's and went from break even to close to the 25% rule.