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I just moved my dryer (gas) a couple feet to a better location in the basement. It is actually now closer to the existing dryer vent to the outside of the house. The previous owner has it connected with about 15 feet of 4" flex tubing. Now I don't need that much so I was going to remove some of the existing flex tube.

It was hooked up with 2 or 3 sections of flex tube. With the dryer in a new location I can run the vent pretty straight up and then over to the hole in the wall. I bought some 4" rigid aluminum tube to come out of the dryer and then I connected that to a 4 foot long piece of the old flex tube. I used the metal strap with a screw that tightens around the tube (not sure what it is called).

Is this the correct way to connect the flex to the rigid one and the actual vent in the wall? Do I also need to tape over this connection, if so what type of tape? I seem to recall that duct tape should not be used on ducts, though I am not sure if it is OK on a dryer vent.

Do I also need to tape around where the rigid tube meets a rigid "elbow" that comes out of the dryer?

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What you've done sounds fine.

One thing to look for though is that your connections are the right direction. The female end of each tubing should be on the end closest to the dryer. This prevents lint from snagging on the sharp metal on the way through the vent system and creating a clog (a big fire hazard). With the female ends upstream, there won't be any sharp ends to catch on.

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    When I ran my dryer vent, I had to have the male end upstream at the very end (the vent coming into the house). I made that connection prior to mounting everything else, and put some foil tape on the inside covering up the lip. As long as you plan things correctly and make sure there is nothing to snag on (including screws sticking into the pipe) you should be okay.
    – gregmac
    Feb 7, 2011 at 23:13
  • @gregmac, Excellent point about the screws!
    – BQ.
    Feb 7, 2011 at 23:26
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You should seal the connections with aluminum foil duct tape like this - http://www.amazon.com/Nashua-617021-Aluminum-Foil-Duct/dp/B000LEXIDG

Also, I'd highly recommend running rigid aluminum the whole way. Flex pipe quickly gets clogged with lint because the ridges in the pipe collect lint like crazy.

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