In part one we discussed the origin of lint, its impact on machine performance, and how to control it in your equipment. Now lets look at the lint that somehow escapes your lint screen and gets into your duct work, your laundry, and outside.
We now know lint screens are not meant to capture 100% of your lint due to air flow and dryer performance requirements. Some lint will accumulate in you dryer ducts. If you have a short, straight duct run to the outside and adequate make up air very little lint will accumulate in the duct. On the other hand, long duct runs with several 90 degree turns or a high vertical run will cause lint to build up. After all, your blower motor can only push air ( and lint ) so far. Long runs may require booster fans to move the lint. Inverter driven , variable speed motors are best. Even with these you may need a professional duct cleaning company to clean the ducts annually.
If you have the room ,external lint collectors like those from Energenics will collect up to 98% of the lint leaving the dryer. It collects lint in one container which is emptied as needed. Some of these units can be purchased with the Air Flow Optimizer on it which regulates the back pressure in the drying system. As back pressure builds up a variable speed fan will increase speed until back pressure reaches an acceptable range. Lint collectors keep your neighbors, customers and guests happy because their property and cars are covered with your lint.
Finally, despite all your best efforts some lint will still be air borne. In a commercial laundry application or and OPL with an ironer a Lint Scrubber mounted over the ironer / folder line will capture most of the ambient lint. As a result, pipes and other equipment will not have to be blown down quite so often. Check out the Lint Scrubber, Air Flow Optimizer and other lint collectors at www.energenics.com.
Lint is a fact of life in the laundry business but with proper maintenance and attention it doesn’t have to be a nusance.
