Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Dryer Circuit Kicking Off - Need to solve the puzzle.

I purchased a house built in 1975 last October. The prior owners moved the washer and dryer to the unfinished basement. In the process they merely connected to the existing end of wires at the old dryer electrical outlet 220V using twist wire caps and extended new wires into the basement to a new receptacle plug. Also the prior owner did not install dryer vent duct to the outside for the new dryer location. They were using some sort of indoor water bucket lint catcher.

We bought a used dryer when we moved into the home (only about a year old Maytag). Initially the dryer worked fine at first but, we never installed either a water bucket lint catcher or a vent to the outside (35+ feet with several turns).

Over the last few months, my neglect of the dryer condition has caught up with me. The dryer has started tripping the circuit breaker. Especially when we have a heavy load of clothes in the dryer.

I have since installed a water bucket lint catcher and I am working now to install a complete duct system to the old outside vent. I have taken the dryer apart partially and vacuumed out the much of the lint, which has helped the dryer work much better, but it is still tripping the circuit breaker for heavier loads.

Other pieces to the puzzle are:

A. The new (4 years old) wiring extension appears to be considerably smaller wiring gage than the old (26 years old) existing wiring. I have seen this inside the old dryer receptacle box. I suppose it could be the same gage if the old wiring had a much thicker insulation.
B. The circuit breaker in the garage really gets hot before it kicks off.
C. I certainly know that my procrastination cause a significant amount of lint buildup around the dryer area, resulting in re-circulating of the some of the lint through the intake of the dryer. Shame on me for procrastinating.
D. I felt the wiring (through the insulation of course) at the old receptacle box while the dryer was running. Both the thicker and thinner wire on either side of the wire nuts felt cool to the touch while the circuit breaker in the garage was warm to the touch.
E. I’m not an electrician or electrical engineer, but I know a bit about electrical basics and wiring and I am mechanically inclined.


My potential problems and questions are:

1. Have I ruined my dryer due to lint re-circulation, or is there a possibility that a good service technician can really get the dryer cleaned so it works well again.
2. Can I clean the dryer correctly myself? If so, how.
3. Is the dryer kicking off because of the additional load to the motor for heavier loads. (I suspect this because it seems to me, that the dryer heat circuit is either on or off and the only variable is the weight of the load.)
4. Is my wiring gage too small from the old receptacle to the new receptacle (or could I just be looking at thinner insulation and the same gage wire?
5. If I run new duct from the dryer to the outside, it will be approximately 35 to 40 feet with several elbows and probably 8 total feet of flexible (metal) duct at the ends. (This must be the reason the prior owner did not bother 4 years ago.) I have already purchased 4” galvanized straight duct and elbows for this project.
6. Could I just have a bad or under rated circuit breaker? How would I check that?

Thanks for listening. Sorry it took so long to explain the puzzle.

CLM

Do you have 10 gauge wire? That's what dryers need for their 30 amp rating. In theory, if you had lesser gauge wire screwed into the breaker, the wire at the breaker terminal could get hot and then the breaker itself could be fooled into thinking there was an overcurrent to it. Sort of like how fuses can blow if there is no overcurrent...just simply something loose at the fuse socket, or the wire is loose to the breaker's terminal screw.

Speaking of the last thing I said...make sure the screws are tight at the breaker. My own water heater breaker used to trip daily because of that looseness, and now after tightening, it no longer does.

If wire looseness, or gauging size is NOT the issue...then you do have an overcurrent issue and this can be caused by a load on the motor from it not being able to freely spin. This could be from: The motor itself, the idler pulley (belt tensioner) bearing gone bad, a drum support bearing gone bad, or something still jamming up the blower wheel inside like a huge wad of lint or a sock. Check to feel how forceful the air feels to you as it comes out the back of the dryer to rule out the last thing I said. If need be, compare this force to a friends or relatives or neighbors exhaust.

Thanks for your great feedback.

I have rechecked the connections at the new J-box and the connection is good and tight.

At the old J Box, I have discovered my old wiring is Aluminum and they just used wire nut with some sort of dark grey goop to on the connection inside the wire nuts. I’m pretty sure the new wiring is 10 ga now, but there is no marking on the orange sleeve. The wires were only stripped ½” and they were not twisted together inside the wire nut. I have wiped off the grey goop, stripped the insulation back to about 7/8” and twisted the wires together with pliers and ten reinstalled the wire nuts. Also the 4th bare wire just stops in the old junction box and is connected to nothing. The old aluminum wiring did not have the 4th ground conductor. Do I need to get some of that grey goop and put back on in the connections? Is the aluminum to copper connection a problem? If so, how can that be resolved? Is the missing ground wire from the breaker box to the old j box a function problem or a safety problem?

Regarding the gray goop: That is an anti-oxidant paste that MUST be used in making aluminum to copper connections or else the joinery will fail in due time due to differences in metal type/heat expansion rates, etc.

Regarding your technical question regarding proper grounding?: If I were you, I would pose this part of your question to the guys over in the electrical forum as they are very code-savvy there.