Did it just suddenly turn brown or is it possible that you're just noticing that it had turned brown? If the latter, the gas burner could be burning a bit rich and leaving residue. Most, if not all, gas dryers dump the combustion gasses into the dryer drum.

The only reason I mention it is the age of the dryer.

sean_m, thanks for letting me know. I had a 5 year warranty that just expired a few weeks ago so I should have called but I had thought maybe it was just discoloration from rugs or clothing. I just noticed it had discolored unless I never looked before?

Two friends helped me clean the link out of the bottom of the dryer and the back vent telling me now my dryer should dry as good as new. But it is still taking three times as long to dry so I am thinking that it is not discoloration due to fabrics and is the fact that my drum is failing.

I am going to call PC Richards on Monday since I paid for a 5 year extended warranty and it is not fair that this started happening during the warranty's last few months but I did not realize it was serious.

I love my Whirlpool Duet 9400 washer but not my dryer that has that white tub and takes so long to dry anything.

I am trying to think what I washed that could cause the bug around the entrance to now be so brown and not white.Bug? I'm not understanding that reference.

The drum is a metal barrel. There's nothing much about it to fail other than the metal simply wearing through, which is unlikely. Can you provide a picture of the discoloration?

Sean_M above is correct of course that the combustion byproducts of a gas dryer are exhausted via the air stream through the drum and clothes ... which incidentally is why a gas dryer must never be exhausted indoors.

The polymer enamel drum coating, or whatever is it, can pick up color from unstable fabric dyes. Typically this happens if the user runs a lot of jeans loads, the drum and rear bulkhead may pick up a blue stain ... but it in no way affects the dryer's function or performance, and the stain does not transfer to other clothes.

In reference to long drying times, have you confirmed that the machine is heating? If you start a load and check it 15 mins later, the clothes are warm/hot? If not, then there's a problem with the gas burner, ignitor, thermal fuse, or some such component. If so and they're still not drying, you may have clogged exhaust ducting ... which could cause overheating and thus relatedly cause the drum discoloration.

Where does the exhaust exit outside your house and what path does the ducting take? Directly through an exterior wall? Or up through an attic? Up to ground level from a basement? Several bends and turns before exiting from your laundry room to the outdoors? If anything other than a direct shot through an exterior wall, you need to check the exhaust ducting from the wall opening behind the dryer all the way to where it exits outside the house. Turn the dryer on, go to where it blows outside and check how strong is the airflow. Your friends cleaning the "back vent" ... if that refers to a length of flexduct between the dryer and wall, that's not necessarily the full distance.

Dadoes, Sorry, I meant tub and I must have spelled it wrong by typing so fast and the spell check I used respelled it as bug.

We did open the bottom part of the dryer today and I was surprised how much lint was in it as well as that back vent from the wall behind the dryer to the dryer. My friend told me he cleans his out every months but he is strong and there is no way I can remove the front of the driver without someone here to help me as well as the venting hose from the dryer to the wall.

My small laundry room is on the second floor in a two floor townhouse. I am assuming that the venting is going through the attic to the roof but maybe I am wrong? How do I check out the exhaust ducting from the wall opening behind the dryer to see where it is going to? If it is venting on the roof of the townhouse (I don't own the roof since I only own the interior of my two floor townhouse and garage with no basement and the tiny fenced in backyard I have outside) which I think it is since the attic is right above the laundry room, how do I clean it?

I bought my home in April 1997 but the closing was delayed since the seller did not show up to the closing and we ended up closing in August 1997 (so I guess that is when I was the official owner of my first home) but due to problems with the seller, I could not move in until December 1997. The townhouse was 7 years old I think in April 1997 or so it must be about 4 months short of 20 years I think.

How do I make sure the venting going outside is free of lint? I know around 7 years ago, I paid someone to clean the vents inside and the dryer vent with a truck mounted equipment but I am sure they did not climb up on the roof and I don't remember them going into the attic.

I'll try to take pictures tomorrow to post.

Dadoes, I really need sleep and have not sleep too many hours last night due to worrying about my dryer causing a fire if I don't clean it better than just cleaning the filter. I will go to sleep after this post and stop waiting for my clothes to dry.

After doing a little more research, I think the dryer is still taking so long is because after we cleaned the silver flexduct that attached from the wall to the dryer, my friend and I both thought that the material (at first I thought it was lint packed so tightly)that was in the vent in the wall was insulating material. Now I wonder if it is also lint that must be removed and it is blocking the airway?

There shouldn't be anything inside the exhaust duct opening in the wall. Wall insulation would be inside the wall but outside the exhaust ducting.

Perhaps walk around your building, looking for dryer exhaust hoods on the exterior. If you don't see any, then likely it does exhaust to the roof. There's no in-house maintenance or owners' association with your townhouse? Do you have access to the attic to follow how the ducting runs? Sometimes the ducting must be disassembled in the attic for cleaning, then reassembled after. If you and your friend aren't able to do the cleaning, you'll need to hire a service again. This time, make sure they follow the ducting all the way to the exit, SHOW YOU WHERE IS IT, and confirm after cleaning that the dryer blows a proper exhaust. Many exhaust hoods have a screen to guard against birds/critters getting in, and of course they collect lint at the end and MUST be cleaned REGULARLY. It's not unheard that even a hired, professional cleaning service doesn't do a proper job.

dadoes, Thank you for letting me know that the exhaust duct should be empty so I cleaned it with a friend this morning and got anther few gallons of major wet compacted lint out of it. Then another friend came by and used a 15 foot snake and about another 1 gallon of lint came out. We went up to the attic and was able to see how it was venting from the laundry room to the room. The second friend said he was going to bring a shop vac to try to clean it out in the attic but now I am wondering if I need to hire a service to go in the attic to clean out the rest?

I do not remember the prior service ever going into my attic so I am sure they did not do a proper job. At least now I am educated in how to clean my dryer duct/vents and not just the filter on the dryer.

My clothes seem to be drying quicker despite still taking a long time. I will dry the next load to see if it is better.

Do you think I no longer need a fuse?

I know of a nice person whose house burned down despite cleaning the filter due to lint being clogged in her dryer ducts. I could not understand what happened but I read about it on a Maltese list I am on and I felt so bad for her. Now I see how it can happen and I will stay on top of it.

Thank you so much! I hope by next week to have it clean or I will call a service again but this time I will know what to look for and what to watch for and what to ask.

I have no in-house maintenance agreement. I pay maintenance fees for the outside snow removal, lawn maintenance, roof repairs, and painting on the outside. Duct-work inside and any repairs or maintenance inside is my responsibility. Thanks for asking.

Another poor night of sleep worrying about my vents but tonight I think I will sleep better with less worry that I may have a fire due to clogged ducts.

Do you think I no longer need a fuse?If you are referring to a thermal fuse in the dryer, no. The fuse either works or it doesn't. If the dryer heats then the fuse is OK.

Sometimes a leaf blower can be used from inside to blow through the ducting ... but may not work with the heavy accumulation you seem to have. If there's a screen on the exhaust hood at the end, blowing through won't work anyway unless the screen is removed first. Can you/your friend get on the roof? Perhaps snake the duct from that end?

I'm so very glad you are investigating and taking care of the problem before a tragedy happened. This is a classic example of what I meant about someone saying that they've cleaned the exhaust ducting and everything is fine ... when it really wasn't done properly. There can be a whole lot more to it than just the foot or so of flexduct connecting the dryer to the wall.

dadoes, Thank you so much for your help. That is great that I do not need a fuse now.

Amazingly I washed 6 pair of petite jeans (remember I am not quite 5 feet tall) and dried them. They are totally dry in 2 hours instead of maybe 3.5 hours my jeans used to take in the last 6 months when the drying time started to get worse but I was too busy with too many deadlines to deal with it.

Now I am determined to clean out the rest of the duct work leading to outside. I will discuss with my friend tomorrow what more we can do or if we have to call someone for extra help. I think we would need permission to get on the roof and I doubt it if the townhouse complex would let us do that due to liability concerns.

I will ask the hired maintenance man who does outside maintenance work for my townhouse complex if he knows who cleans or will clean the duct that vents outside on the roof. I always see him climbing up on ladders to clean the gutters or to paint. I have a feeling there is a lot more lint clogged up in the vents in the attic that lead to the roof.

There was duct tape around one vent in the unfinished very cold attic and I was wondering if we took the duct tape off, can we clean it that way?

Disassembling the ducting in the attic allow finishing the cleaning job. Hopefully the 15' snake should reach rest of the way to the end from there. Just be sure you get it reconnected and sealed securely.

Technically, the kind of tape usually referred to as duct tape isn't the right kind. There's a metal foil tape that's more suited for use when heat is involved.

Also, when running a dryer duct through an unheated space, it's a good idea to insulate the duct. Hot moist air running through a cold space can result in condensation inside the duct, promoting lint to stick and accumulate.

I'd STRONGLY recommend checking with the building owner, resident association, or whatever you may have about the situation. Not to cause you more panic, but yours is probably not the only clogged dryer exhaust in the building. If you haven't yet disposed of the lint, perhaps keep it to show them.

dadoes, I have asked around and one neighbor paid a professional $1,100 to clean the attic vents and all the dryer vents and ducts and told me they were so compacted that he had no choice. I am looking into taking care of this problem and will update the list when time. I had to stop to do all my holiday cards for my clients, friends and relatives now that the dryer is drying better despite not being perfect yet.

I got my dryer vent totally clean now which was filled with damp lint packed so tightly (many gallon bags of damp lint). I did this in January and now that it is the next month, it is now taking even longer to dry about 6 to 8 hours for a normal load of laundry and I am upset. The Whirlpool Duet's extended warranty ended the first week in November and it looks like I may need a new dryer.

My friend had taken the venting apart and brought it outside to clean with the vacuum hose and a damp towel attached to a broom stick. Maybe he did not use the correct metal foil tape? I will get someone to go into my attic to check this out and also have a repair guy look at my dryer.

I wish I would be allowed to vent the dryer out the small back room to the back of my townhouse rather than up the laundry room to the attic very high up and the a long venting dryer duct way across the attic from the front to the back and then up to the roof. Now that I have learned about venting, this is the worst way to vent a gas dryer.

If there's a window close by, you might try temporarily venting the dryer out the window. The cheap white plastic ducting should be good enough for this purpose, if the window is really close. Otherwise flexible metal duct (not the foil kind) might be a better choice. This'll let you see how the dryer performs with a known unobstructed vent.

Sububanmd, Thanks for posting. I live in an interior townhouse so there is not window close by since the tiny laundry room has no windows and the venting goes to the wall and up inside the wall to the attic and up about 4 feet in the attic before the metal duct angles to go to the back of the attic before going up to the roof to vent. This is amazing that they did not make the laundry room in the back of the townhouse to vent outside a window or wall since now I have learned about venting. Is there any other way to test the dryer without using that long vent that was just cleaned out?

How far is the closest window? You could run the temporary duct 15 or 20 feet, I think. Since it's a gas dryer you have to vent it outside. Electric dryer could vent right into the room, for one or two loads.

With your vent obstructed for an extended period of time, your dryer was running at an reduced airflow rate of course, which could contribute to the brownish discoloration. Airflow is not related to the blue tinge, which as I explained elsewhere is caused by typical unstable dyes used in denim jeans, unless you're going to say that you don't wear/dry jeans. :-)

Neither discoloration is the fault of the dryer itself. Obstructed exhaust, reduced airflow is an installation/operation issue. Blue tinge is very common and not harmful.

As to the dryer being "worn out" from the exhaust obstruction, that's unlikely. If the obstruction was bad enough, the dryer has at least two types of overheat protection -- an auto-resetting thermostat to cycle the heat off if it exceeds normal operating parameters, and a non-resettable thermal fuse in case the thermostat fails to shut off. The dryer should be non-functional/dead if the fuse blows, so apparently that hasn't happened.

If your exhaust is now completely clear, and the drying time is longer than ever, then *something* else is at fault. It's largely impossible to fully/properly diagnose a problem like this from afar. Pictures would be helpful. If it was an electric dryer, a good test on how much effect the long vent run has on extending drying time would be to simply disconnect the exhaust and let it blow inside. But, you can't do that with a gas dryer due to the risk of CO.

Dadoes, Thanks for your input which is also a learning process for me. My white tub never discolored until it started to not work efficiently in November which is when my extended warranty ran out. The dry time always was so long but when it got longer is when I started to notice.

I am going to see if one of my strong friends can take apart the dryer again to see if it is clogged like it was in November and if it still doesn't work, I will have to have a repair person look at it to see how much it would cost to fix or if I need a new dryer. Maybe I need a new thermostat like you and someone else suggested.

I wish I had a lot of money to sell my home and build a home with a laundry room on a few floor with its own room with the shortest vent to the outside. With the knowledge I have learned, I would clean the dryer vent often and clean the inside of the machine also as well as the lint screen.

+

Update: I had the repair men here twice last week. First they changed the High Limit Thermostat but that turned off in 5 minutes. They kept the bottom metal piece off the dryer to watch what was happening. They then came back and installed the Thermistor they mentioned they needed when they were here the day before. On the invoice they claimed they installed gas coils but I did not see them do this so I hope they are telling the truth.

I was happy that they did listen to me and they did go up in my attic and attach two broom stick handles with duct tape and push out more heavy damp lint that was clogging the vent to the dryer vent that goes from the laundry room wall straight up many feet high in the attic before turning to go perpendicular all the way across the other side of the attic that covers many feet before turning to vent out the back of the townhouse up on the roof.

The fee was $309.23 but at least my Whirlpool Duet Dryer is finally drying and it amazes me that some loads are dry in 45 minutes and some in 65 minutes instead of 2.5 hours (took 2.5 hours to dry one heavy beach towel and 8 hours to dry a load of towels and 5 hours to dry a load of regular clothes and 2.25 hours to dry one light weight bath towel, hand towel and wash cloth) to 8 hours! The 4 sheets I washed and dried last night came out so hot it amazed me. I have not tried anything but the extra high setting so far and I may try the sensor drying that never worked for me. I don't think my dryer ever worked this great before even when it was new 5.25 years old. Four years ago, I did have my dryer vent professionally cleaned but they never went in the attic.

My two male friends helped me clean the lint out of the dryer and to the wall and up the wall and in the attic taking apart the vents. My friend John claimed the vent was clear which is the vent that would not come apart that goes straight up the floor before turning. He used a snake on both sides to unclog it but maybe there was a clog in the middle of it?

My townhouse will be 21 year old in another month and I have lived here for 12.5 years. I always cleaned the filter but never knew there was a dryer vent in the attic.

Yes Lynn, those Whirpool/kenmore gas dryers do dry fast,I love it. Now try the sensor cycles so you do not over dry you do not over dry your clothes or damage them. I only have to use the highest settings for my bath towels which are super thick. I never have to add "more dry" to them either. Well it sounds like your system is clean and running good....thats great!

Gates1, I don't remember my dryer every drying this fast even when it was new. I am so pleased with how quick it is drying. I must try out the sensor cycle before I now ruin clothes since I just shrunk one of my favorite tops.

Thank you for being there for me. I also want to thank dadoes for teaching me about the dryer vent, suburbanmd for reminding me that I have to vent the gas dryer outside to not have carbon monoxide in my home, and sean_m for replying and making me think something was not right with the discoloration on my dryer from overheating and turning off.

My Duet (electric) dryer drum has been stained blue from drying Jeans.....In fact, every dryer I can ever remember having has done that. Never a brown stain though. I've never had a gas dryer. Sort of scary (gas dryers) ......they shouldn't be vented indoors......I would always be paranoid that the vent pipe got clogged even more so if I had a gas dryer.

Lynn, start with the "casual" cycle or "normal" better to be safe than sorry with the temperatures. I find that T shirts and light weight tops, or flannel PJ pants dry real nice on Casual. Less wrinkling, and static. My dryer is gas, it too has a blue tint to the drum. All my dryers have done this too. I never felt scrared to own a gas appliance, I have a stove, oven, dryer and grill. Like any other appliance, proper proventive maintence goes a long way.

Thanks mark40511 for letting me know that your drum gets blue stains from drying jeans.

gates1, My dryer always worked on the high setting but the sensor never worked but then the drying time kept getting longer until November the drying time more than doubled and that is when the drum started discoloring.

I will have to try the casual or normal setting since the high timed setting now seems to be too hot which amazes me.

I will let everyone know how the sensor now works. I have had such a rough 5 years that I just dealt with one of the features not working.

Yes the high heat cycle does xrank out some heat, but I have never found it to damage any clothes. Of course I would not use High heat and a knit fabric or polyester. I have a some king size cotton blanket that if I need done in a hurry, I will use high heat for the first 15 minutes, then switch it to a lower temperature. Those beast will hold some moisture, even on the 1200rpm spin. I prefer to hang them out to dry, but nature does not always cooperated with me on that...