Lets talk gas dryers..

[mk162]

$86/month on a 60" wide MD-8.

pierre

I think I remember you telling me you're running natural gas though, correct?  Also, how's the support system on Interchange dryers?

We run one too...I've never really needed support.  Almost all parts are available from either Grainer(if you have deep pockets) or some other furnace/boiler supply company.  The same igniter from Grainer was $73, vs. $23 at  Stromquist.

I can't recall that I've ever contacted support other than to ask what spare parts I should stock. 

Our gas bill last month was $67 in gas and over $90 in meter fees and base charges...

[ebscreen]

$86/month on a 60" wide MD-8.

pierre

That's insane. We pay about $0.95 a therm plus whatever bs they tack on. I'd imagine you
aren't too far off from that? If so that would really make looking into new dryers worthwhile.

Gas bill is about $335. Natural gas. We also have gas water heater and gas heaters in the warehouse (not running in summer though). We run the dryer at least 10hrs a day. Its 28ft long 72 inch wide.

That's what we pay for two dryers 9 hrs/day? One of them an old inefficient American. Are your per therm charges outrageous or something?

[cbjamel]

My mini sprint is 100 for gas on xcel energy in colorado.

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[GraphicDisorder]

$86/month on a 60" wide MD-8.

pierre

That's insane. We pay about $0.95 a therm plus whatever bs they tack on. I'd imagine you
aren't too far off from that? If so that would really make looking into new dryers worthwhile.

Gas bill is about $335. Natural gas. We also have gas water heater and gas heaters in the warehouse (not running in summer though). We run the dryer at least 10hrs a day. Its 28ft long 72 inch wide.

That's what we pay for two dryers 9 hrs/day? One of them an old inefficient American. Are your per therm charges outrageous or something?

No idea what the per therm rate is never looked, our gas bill was always at least $100 a month prior to even having a gas dryer at all. winter it would get up there trying to heat a not very well sealed building.

[ZooCity]

Sprint 2000HO with circ blower control.  It's a big beast and runs OK for us.

For criticism, heartily agreed on the amateur hardware used to latch the chambers together.  Circ blower assy has been ok for us but also agree it's not super smart.  Careful install, correct lube, heat slinger and firewall/insulation have helped ours to run without a hitch for a very long time.  I keep a shaft and set of pillow block bearings on hand however, that assy just looks like trouble.  Worth it for all that air flow though.   

Pros are the simplicity of most of the parts, availability and over the phone tech support.   I've had to take most of it apart as various parts need tlc or replacement and it hasn't been a major hassle.  I can probably continue to overhaul this dryer indefinitely.   A sound used buy for a dryer if you can find one.  I like that garage door setup on the back of the 3000 models and the access looks much better on them.

One thing I'd toss out in a search for a gas dryer is to find one with some on board diagnostics.  I hate when we're getting an alarm or failure and I have to break out the schematics to find it.  Would be nice to just go check and fix the part that is sounding off to the system.

[TCT]

Been researching this as well the last few weeks. Frustrating that Roq does not have a abundance of usage numbers. M&R has lots of usage info. I was able to contact two owners, both not in the states though.... They love the dryers.

For me currently, I was looking to add a dryer before the end of the year, but after looking at our current bill I can not in any way see how we would "save" money or have a decent ROI figure. Our current dryer is 60" gas, old, 10' of heat but only costs us 106 therms or $94.74 a month. Even if we saved 50%, the ROI on a dryer would be ridiculous.

[ZooCity]

Yeah once you have a decent gas dryer that's the proper size for your shop getting a new one is more of a luxury item to knock down maintenance.  It'll probably be years and years before we upgrade ours as it's a big purchase with slow roi compared to what we have on hand.  They're simple machines and you can replace the whole gas train and burner I think without excessive cost.

But initially buying our gas dryer was the only time that sales phrase "you can't afford not to buy this" rang true.  The note on the dryer + gas is less than the electric usage on our prior dryer and the capacity is 2x or more. 

[DannyGruninger]

Alex I can get you everything you need based on my shop. Right now we are paying an average of $9.00 per day to run our gas dryers. If you want therms etc I can calculate that for you. Both dryers cost around $250.00 a month to run


The roq gas dryers we have are 72" wide belts, 15ft chambers

[TCT]

Alex I can get you everything you need based on my shop. Right now we are paying an average of $9.00 per day to run our gas dryers. If you want therms etc I can calculate that for you. Both dryers cost around $250.00 a month to run


The roq gas dryers we have are 72" wide belts, 15ft chambers

That would be cool. I just go off of therms because I know the cost depending on location can vary. We pay $0.46/therm

[sqslabs]

Yeah once you have a decent gas dryer that's the proper size for your shop getting a new one is more of a luxury item to knock down maintenance.  It'll probably be years and years before we upgrade ours as it's a big purchase with slow roi compared to what we have on hand.  They're simple machines and you can replace the whole gas train and burner I think without excessive cost.

I wish that were the case for us.  I have a split belt with 10' of gas heat that fits my shop perfectly.  And I've had the best dryer techs and multiple electricians/gas companies come in and charge me a lot of money for zero results in getting it to run as it should.  If I can get my gas bill down to $250/mo or so on a new unit, it would be a fairly easy purchase.

[sqslabs]

Alex I can get you everything you need based on my shop. Right now we are paying an average of $9.00 per day to run our gas dryers. If you want therms etc I can calculate that for you. Both dryers cost around $250.00 a month to run


The roq gas dryers we have are 72" wide belts, 15ft chambers

To clarify, is that $250 each or for both?

[ZooCity]

Well that sucks, what dryer is it?  I'd love me a split belt in here.

[DannyGruninger]

Alex I can get you everything you need based on my shop. Right now we are paying an average of $9.00 per day to run our gas dryers. If you want therms etc I can calculate that for you. Both dryers cost around $250.00 a month to run


The roq gas dryers we have are 72" wide belts, 15ft chambers

To clarify, is that $250 each or for both?

Both dryers

[sqslabs]

Well that sucks, what dryer is it?  I'd love me a split belt in here.

Adelco Jet Force.  I've posted about the issues in this thread:  http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,18282

Latest thing we tried is a voltage boost, which didn't work either.  I'm fairly certain the issue can be worked out, but with our monthly gas usage it just no longer makes sense to keep throwing money at the dryer when nobody seems to have an answer beyond a guess.

[mk162]

I will say if I had to do it all over again, i would buy an interchange in a heartbeat...i would just ask for an on-off switch.  Seriously, mine didn't come with that.  We put a disconnect before it and that works great.