Dryer repair q

[Nick Danger]

I have a 20-year-old gas dryer that stopped rotating its drum, so I opened it up to have a look. I found that the belt had apparently stretched, as it had no traction. I bought a new one and found that it was the same length as the old one. I installed it and the problem was still there. There is no way the drum could have been dislocated, and the motor is firmly bolted down. I finally concluded that there was only one way to get everything to fit and operate properly. I have to increase the diameter of the idler pulley a little bit. I wrapped a lot of duct tape around it and now it works- but with a lot of noise. The only explanation I can think of is that the idler pulley has worn down. But when I look at pictures of one online, it looks just like the one I have - not thicker. I don't see a pile of white plastic sawdust inside the dryer. But I can't think of any other explanation. Does anyone else have experience with this? Do idler pulleys just wear down to the point that they belt loses its tension? Is there some other explanation?

[Bob]

Perhaps some lubrication might help - for example, motor bearings, idler bushings, etc. Don't really know, just an idea. Bob-tx

[Uncle Monster]

Was there no spring to apply tension to the idler pulley? There is also a bearing holding up the backside of the tub that could be worn out allowing the tub to drop down and make the belt too loose. If you posted the model number I may be able to look up the mechanical drawing and take a look at what you have.

[8~{} Uncle Monster

[Dave + Gloria]

Maybe tension spring for the idler pulley has gone soft?

[Mikepier]

Most dryers have an spring loaded idler pulley ( similiar to a car) that puts tension on the belt. The pulley is also connected to a switch in the event the belt breaks or comes off, the dryer will shut off, and it will not turn on until the problem is fixed.

Here is a website that lists the belt routing diagram for most dryers, make sure that you routed it correctly.

Otherwise soundes like a broken idler pulley.

[hallerb]

its very easy to get the belt on wrong:( and difficult to see when removing ands replacing:(:(

[Blattus Slafaly]

If the tub dropped down it would no longer fit in the front door collar. It's more likely the tension spring. He may have put the belt on the wrong side of the pulley. The springs are very tight and hard to stretch while standing on your head.

[Uncle Monster]

If the tub dropped a little, the friction could make the belt slip.

[8~{} Uncle Monster

[Nick Danger]

The model is Maytag LDG412. I don't think I put the belt on wrong. I have a new belt, and the package has an illustration showing how to thread it, and I'm sure I'm doing it that way. Any other way would be completely ineffective. The tension in the spring seems about right. It doesn't look stretched or otherwise distorted. I've managed to get it just barely working by wrapping lots of duct tape around the idler pulley, but I can't imagine that that much plastic could have worn off it. The roller wheel is plausible as possible culprit. It only needs a fraction of an inch to get things back in place, and I don't see anywhere else that I can make adjustments to get it to work. Also, I see some skid marks on the drum. Given that a new roller wheel costs $7.90 on eBay, including shipping, I've gone ahead and ordered it.

[Red Green]

"Nick Danger" wrote in news:48d56937$0$5624$ [e-mail]:

My hero!

[hrhofmann]

[e-mail]:

e quoted text -

I bet the belt is on the wrong side of the tensioner, You have to put the belt on with the tensioner greatly distorted to get it to go on correctly. I have done the belt replacement on 3 similar dryers, and I always have a problem getting the belt on correctly. I forget in between each session, a sign of advancing age, I guess.

Bob Hofmann

[Nick Danger]

It looks like I'm going to be guilty until proven innocent. Stay tuned - I'll post a pic tomorrow. It's too late at night now to crawl around in the dust and lint in the laundry room and twist my body up like a pretzel just to take a picture.

[Nick Danger]

I'm sure no one is paying attention to this thread anymore, but I'll post for the benefit of future generations of dryer repair historians. This whole issue started when I needed to replace the fan. In order to get at it, I had to remove the assembly that holds the front of the drum in place. That caused the drum to slip down and forward a little. It's no big deal - it's easy to push it back into place and put everything together. However, there is a groove around the circumference of the drum, close to where the belt is supposed to be. The belt ended up slipping into the groove. With the limited visibility through a small opening in the back of the dryer, it appeared that the belt was where it was supposed to be, but it just didn't have enough tension. After studying the situation for hours and concluding that no part could have worn down sufficiently to make that much difference and that everything was mounted firmly enough that it could not have shifted, I finally had to start considering other alternatives, and realized that moving the belt out of the groove would fix the problem.

[Uncle Monster]

D'OH!! It's in the Oxford English Dictionary

[8~{} Uncle Monster