Rinnai RD-600CG gas dryer cleaning

I have this Rinnai RD-600CG gas dryer from City Gas since 2007. It is almost 8 years old and had replaced the capacitor and the rubber belt 1 year ago. I clean the filters after each drying session. Our clothes have fibers that will dislodge and will be trapped by the filters. Even after many washings and dryings, you will still see the lint on the filters. You will see plenty of lint when you are drying towels.

After one wash, the typical amount of lint is shown below. Hot air will flow through the filters and the lint will be trapped on them. If the lint is not removed, the air flow will be blocked and the drying process will take longer. There are two filters in the gas dryer. In fact, there is another filter which is on the outside of the dryer. This one is for the air inlet to the dryer. You will need to clean this filter which is underneath the gas dryer.

Filters in the gas dryer

Remove the cover (with the movable filter) by your fingers. You need to pull the cover towards you and the cover will come off. 

Remove the filter cover

There is another filter behind the removable filter. 

Lint trapped in the gas dryer

The lint is quite difficult to remove by your fingers. There is a trick that I used and that is to wet your fingertips with water and you can easily remove the lint using your wet fingers. Just rub it around the filter and the lint will accumulate into a small crumb or ball. 

Lint trapped on the removable filter (rotating)

Remove the lint using fingers

Removable filter cleaned

Again, using your wet fingers, you can easily remove the lint from the fixed filter. A lot of people did not realize that you need to remove the lint from this filter. The instruction manual said that you need to clean this periodically but I think you need to clean this after each use. You can see that after removing the lint, the holes for the air outlet are clearly visible and not blocked. This will reduce the drying process time.

Cleaning the fixed filter in the gas dryer

Fixed filter cleaned

After the removable filter has been cleaned, you need to assemble the filter back to the cover. The orientation of the filter is important. The Chinese character "後" on the filter means "back" or "behind". So this side with the Chinese character or the PP should be facing you and when you put the cover back the Chinese character or the PP should face the fixed filter. I have never put it wrongly so I don't know what is the effect of it if it is in the wrong way.

Put back the removable filter onto the cover (note the side)

Filters cleaned

It is always better to clean the filters after each cycle of drying. I notice that the drying cycle gets longer if the lint is not removed. The drying process requires dried hot air to flow into the clothes/towels and then carries the moisture away from the clothes/towels. If the lint has blocked the filters, the moist air cannot be removed from the chamber effectively. This will reduce the drying efficiency and the dryer will require more energy and time to dry the clothes/towels.

See my blog on Rinnai RD-600CG gas dryer repair.