Yes, I have to do this unenviable job...first time this dryer has failed in over ten years. Old belt has broken...
New belt is on its way, and I've looked back in this group to find out what I can.
I have the top off the machine, also the small panel at bottom front. This seems to be all the access there is. I know I have to get the belt over the motor shaft and the two idler pulleys, and I hear this is not easy.
But...how do I get the belt over the drum in the first place? I guess I can try and move the duct in front of the drum.... not sure how much it moves.
remove switch panel(prises off), remove the front panel (screws top and bottom) complete with door (be careful of switch wiring to door lock) it is then easy to put the belt round the drum, it is also easy to go behind one spring loaded wheel and round the motor shaft, you then have to devise a way to pull the other spring loaded wheel back so that the belt can go where it should so that each wheel is pressing on the back of the belt, this is not too hard to do afaicr. reassemble. I usually found that the plastic strips that support the front of the drum were either worn or broken, so you usually need a couple of those too, or swap them top to bottom so that the least worn are on the lower edge, a good Hoover out is a good idea too,
Hah! Here we go............ It's the long way round, but does allow you to do some additional preventative maintenance on the way.
Lay the machine on it's front, access required all round. Electric screwdriver if poss, small spanner set, hoover, pliers, and a small quantity of grease.
Remove the flange from the exhaust pipe, two screws. Remove the rear bearing cover, two screws. Remove the two large screws going into the top drop. Remove the heater cover, multiple screws.
Hoover out the accumulated fluff, taking great care not to touch the heaters themselves (very delicate).
Examine the thermal switches (and wiring to them) for signs of overload/burning..... about £22 a new pair.
Remove the bronze earthing strap from the rear bearing, two screws. Then remove the split pin and washer.
Remove the three bolts securing the fan, casually taking note that the fan has an anti-rotation dimple that must be properly engaged in the hub on re-assembly.
Remove all the backplate securing screws.... dozens of the bloody things.
Lift off the backplate assembly. There is enough length in the cabling for it to be moved over to one side. Look out for the little square graphite'y bush that may fall out of the rear bearing pressing.
Hoover out the accumulated fluff. Note though that if there is large quantities of fluff in the body of the machine then it is certain that the seal around the drum periphery is worn and should be replaced. Note that earlier Hotpoints had a separate nylon drum support, which resulted in almost no wear of the drum seal. Later Hotpoints dropped the drum support, with the support now provided by the drum seal itself, which (of course) results in a high wear-rate. :(((((
Check the drum seal by lifting out the drum and checking that the seal is ok, with no sign of any metal-metal rubbing around the front rim.
Everything is now open to replace the belt.... Around the drum first and then threaded through the two idlers and round the motor shaft. Note that later Hotpoints do not have the two idlers.
Whilst you are there, *carefully* put a touch of grease onto the steel shafts of the idlers. This will prevent a possible later (very irritating) squeak.
Now put the backplate back on, taking care to put the cablings back as they were. Get the bearing shaft back in place first, then roughly line up the screw holes, especially in the vertical plane, so that the belt is tight. Whilst holding it in place, replace the screws along the bottom to secure the backplate in the vertical plane. Then go round and replace all backplate screws.
Put the fan back on. Remember that antirotation dimple.
Now back to the rear bearing. A touch of grease on it, replace the washer and split pin. Replace that bronze earthing strap. Use the fan to turn the drum and check that the bent over bits of the split pin do not foul the earthing strap as the drum rotates.
If all ok, drop the heater cover back on, followed by the bearing cover.
Refit the rest of the odds and sods.
Machine upright, reach in and *slowly* turn the drum by hand to settle the belt.
That's the bit that reads like a Haynes manual! I tried prising it off but it's held with a combination of plastic posts and tubular string clips that won't budge...
There is nothing there held by two screws apart from the flange. Unless you're talking inside. Thewre is one large rectangular 'box' held by many screws. I removed all of them and nothing moved. That is, I removed all the ones round the edge; there are more but I fear that if I undo them, bits will fall off inside!
Sorry, don't get this bit.
Probably the bit I was talking about.
The rest seems OK but then I haven't seen inside yet!
I think you have to remove all screw heads you can see. Nothing falls off inside.
I must admit, I couldn't quite remember if the old type hotpoint actually had a bearing cover. If you can already see the bearing and the rear shaft of the drum then there is no bearing cover to remove.
Yes, I was being a little slippery there, because (again) I couldn't exactly remember what happened on the old type.
AFAIR, where the rear backplate reaches the top cover there are some extra screws to remove in order to finally release the backplate.
If your model is the same as the one I am thinking of, the switch/lights panel has to be prised off to reveal the top row of screws that hold the front panel on, on mine the spring clips were retained in the metal work and the posts are pushed into them, therefore removal was brute force and ignorance to get them to move, by the time I junked mine they almost fell off !
Indeed...job done! Thanks for the detailed help...only difference was the lack of separate bearing cover. New belt arrived this morning, finally got round to it this evening and it was all pretty quick (including the preventive maintenance).
Much easier than the washing machine bearings were....
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