Dryer Motor On The Way Out?

Question

All,Just tried to dry a load of laundry in my '97 Whirpool dryer only todiscover that my dryer drum was not rotating.  I heard a hum and shutthings down.Upon investigation I found the following things:1.  Belt was not broken.2.  All wheels turned freely3.  Motor turned freely*After vacuuming all of the lint/dust... I reconnected the door switchto check if the motor would turn without a load (i.e. the beltattached).  Nogo... at first.* I "helped" the motor turn and cleaned up a bit more lint.  The motornow seems to turn more freely.  It is always rotating now (w/o a load)when I start things up.Question:Can I get away with lubing things up and hope for the best or am Ilooking at a motor and/or start capacitor replacement?Many thanks!Greg

Appliance Repair Aid · Accepted Answer

Hi,Normally no capacitors in a dryer motor circuit. Certainly -sounds-like a motor going sour! :(jeff.Appliance Repair Aid

~^Johnny^~ · Answer

It could have just been a stuck centrifugal mechanism in the motor.The only trouble is,  it can stick again.  It activates thecentrifugal switch,  which cuts power to the start winding whileapplying power to the ignition/heating circuits.The little springs and weights are usually integral with the motorthese days,  making it nearly impossible to get in there and servicethem.  Lint can get in there,  and prevent them from operatingfreely.

meirman · Answer

In  on Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:34:09 -0500 Greg posted:

Greg · Answer

-snip-Thanks for the follow-ups.  I believe the problem may have fixeditself after using compressed air and vacuuming out everything.  Withand without the drum (even with a load in the dryer) attached... Ican't get the motor to bind up again.  Hopefully I bought myself alittle more time with this dryer. :-)Best.Greg

anoldfart2 · Answer

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:34:09 -0500, Greg wrote:

Dryer Motor On The Way Out?

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