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A tech in Tulsa told me to stop using my phone flashlight on dryer vents, and it changed how I diagnose airflow
I was at a customer's place last month in Tulsa doing a dryer that took forever to dry clothes, and I was doing what I always do, which is pull the vent and shine my phone light in there to see if it was packed. A guy I used to work with, Mike, was there to help on a bigger job and he said 'that light isn't showing you anything, you need to feel the pull.' I kind of blew him off at first because I'd been doing the flashlight thing for like 8 years. But he took his hand and held it right at the vent opening while the dryer ran and showed me how weak the pull was, even though the inside looked clean to my light. Turns out the duct was crushed behind the wall about 4 feet in, and my flashlight was only showing me the first bend. Now I carry a little strip of tissue paper in my bag and hold it at the vent, and if it doesn't snap flat against the opening, I know there's a real problem. I've caught 3 crushed ducts since then that I would've totally missed before. Anyone else use the tissue test or is there a better way to check pull without pulling the whole duct apart?
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