Acme Miami 9460 Dryer Booster- Booster for clothes dryers

When we updated our washer and dryer to brand new Maytags. We all know that the new products are not the same quality as the old ones. I should have kept my mother’s machines and I’m 50. The dryer never worked correctly. We had Maytag out twice today check it because it would take over 2 hours to dry our clothes and they never really felt dry. We nearly bought another unit but instead I started reading online about the new safety systems on the dryers and if you can’t vent them almost directly outdoors they just won’t work. Heat sensing systems or some garbage like that to protect us. Our old dryer worked perfectly with the same vent. I ordered the 9460 booster fan. It arrived not very well package but mine was fine. The legs were loose but a quick tightening with a wrench and it was no problem. The air inlet and outlet are wrong for floor mounting anyways. You almost have to use it horizontally. I replaced the flex piping which is junk and went with metal. Pretty easy to work with. Bought some sections of straight pipe, a few adjustable elbows and some strapping from menards used for this. Spent about 85.00. I tried at reduce any right angles and left a light incline up to the fan. Hung the fan from the rafters with strapping to reduce any vibrations. Used aluminum tape and then drilled the hole for the vacuum sensor. I had to remove the sensor from the fan and mount it in the rafters to sit in the upright position. I brought the wife down and the loaded the dryer with wet bedding. She blower started seconds after the dryer started and the clothes dried perfectly. Sheets done in about 40 minutes and the next load of clothes in about 25 minutes. I can’t believe the difference. A must for people with a long run of pipe. I guess mine to be about 90ft. One photo I posted was of our flex pipe partially blocked with lint. No more of that with hard pipe. Fan runs quiet and works without adjustment.

This is our second Acme Miami dryer booster. When we installed our first one ten years ago, we were overjoyed to discover that we no longer took over an hour for dryer loads. I’m convinced that the booster paid for itself in energy savings with much shorter drying times. Not to mention less wear and tear on the dryer itself. Our dryer vent run is over 30 feet long with 3 90-degree bends from dryer to outlet. Every foot of vent pipe length and every bend adds more resistance to air flow. This dryer booster helps your dryer to do its job more efficiently.Installation is not difficult but does require maybe a square foot of floor space between the dryer and vent connection because the booster sits on the floor. Installation also requires making a pencil-size hole in the vent hose coming out of the dryer to allow use of the air-pressure tube that automatically turns the booster on when the dryer starts and off when the dryer stops. I wrapped the vent hose with a band of duct tape, made a small hole through the tape and hose with a sharp pointed tool, inserted the air pressure tube and sealed around it with more duct tape. The previous installation worked flawlessly for ten years, and the new unit is working perfectly as well. Our original unit was still working when we replaced it, but it had developed a loud motor bearing noise that was annoying and probably a sign that the booster was nearing the end of its service life.

This is an example of value engineering "in extremis".1) the assembly arrived loosely packed in a corrugated box with just some crumpled paper to hold it in place, along with one small piece of corrugated cardboard.2) as noted by many reviewers, the feet have to be tightened. This could easily be solved with a 5 cent lock washer.3) the pressure switch and the electrical junction box were not mounted squarely on the cylinder. No means to adjust the verticality.4) the ventilation screen on the underside is held in place by crimping around the perimeter, but not all of the screen was under the crimp, exposing some sharp edges.5) the 4" diameter inlet at the top of the cone was not formed into a complete circle, and had a sharp edge sticking out about 1/8". Even after bending it into shaped, the crimping around the perimeter had not been done sufficiently, and a rigid 4" duct would not fit. Even after additional crimping (the material is very thick), it was necessary to cut a some slits in the rigid duct to allow it to be forced down to the proper depth. By comparison, the outlet port was the proper dimension and easily accepted a 4" rigid elbow. Others have commented on the crimping issue. Flex duct would probably just fit okay.6) Some reviewers have commented that the hot side of the AC wiring is connected to one of the motor wires. While this would be contrary to some electrical codes that require the hot wire to go directly to the power switch, there is a rationale for this. Wiring in this manner avoids have 110 volts exposed on the terminals of the pressure switch when the cover plate is removed for adjustment.7) The fan lacks a run indicator. While it's possible to hear the fan running, the sound might be masked by the vent fan in the laundry room. I drilled a 7/8" hole in the cover plate of the junction box and mounted a green LED indicator (from Amazon).8) While Acme says that a lint pre-filter isn't necessary, the instructions state to check the assembly for lint every six months. That means removing the exhaust duct. I mounted a pre-filter to avoid this, and drilled a hole in the side to accommodate the pressure sensor tube.Setting aside the cosmetic and fabrication issues, once installed, the performance is excellent. The drying time has definitely been reduced by 50%. So I rate it 5 stars for performance and a generous 3 (should be 2.5) for quality control, and rate it overall as a 4.

This unit is well made and works ok. My duct is about 30 feet long with 3 90 degree bends. I would say it gives me about 20% improvement. It is supposed to work for up to 50 feet. I'm sure it does but with how much improvement? I wish it had a more powerful fan.