Man the shit just doesn’t stop sometimes. Our Dryer is on the fritz - and I’ve taken half if it apart to look for any build-up of lint or, broken belt, etc. Everything seems fine.
I’m worried by what I’ve read: http://forum.appliancepartspros.com/dryer-repair/24303-dryer-starts-then-squeals-then-stops.html
Ours does the same thing, runs for 5 minutes, has this awful squealing sound, then stops. Anyone have any tips?
Poor jpinard. Did you happen to evict a gypsy in a previous job? Maybe buy a house on a lot where a graveyard used to be? You know in certain Russian fairy tales evil witches turn family members and pets into toads (or swans) and take their place… hmm…
How old is the dryer? In today’s climate, there are lots of handymen willing to do these sorts of odd job repairs for reasonable prices if you shop around. Better still, perhaps a friend has a hard luck brother-in-law who does these kinds of repairs.
Dryers are pretty simple machines, and it should be repairable. I’d guess something were stuck, then a loose belt, before i think bearings.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-repair-a-dryer.htm
My guess as to your problem, and its just a guess, is this:
The front of the dryer’s drum is usually supported by two rollers. These wheels are either metal with a rubber rim or pressed nylon. If the rollers squeak but appear to be in good condition, apply a few drops of 20-weight nondetergent motor oil (not all-purpose oil) to them. If the rollers are worn, you can replace them if the roller assembly is not riveted.
If not this, then probably the motor bearings are bad.
Oh cool, maybe that is it! Is WD-40 a non-detergent motor oil?
If you have to buy a replacement, don’t buy a GE. They make lousy washer/dryers and don’t stand by their warranties.
I would suggest keeping your eye on Craigs List. Dryers are so cheap now, that you might find someone giving one away or selling one super-cheap even if it worked (perhaps they bought a new washer and wanted to upgrade the dryer at the same time).
Just repaired my dryer today. We purchased an extended warranty from Sears (193.00), which turned out to be a good thing, as he had to replace the fan and motor, which would have run us 500+.
Now we have to go out to the hardware store and buy a brush-snake to clean out the lint vent. Turns out we’re getting almost zero air-flow through that thing. The tech suggested pulling the plug of lint, and then running a leaf-blower from the dryer end of things to blow it all out.
This is going to be fun, while it’s snowing out. /sigh
Yeah, anyone here who has a dryer that has not done this, I cannot recommend highly enough that you do it immediately. About 6 months after we bought our house (dryer was included) we noticed that our clothes weren’t getting dry so I pulled the vent to check it and it was packed full of lint from one end to the other! This is one of the leading causing of house fires so it really fereaked me out. I’ll be obsessively checking this once a year from now on.
WD-40 is NOT motor oil.
Motor oil is the kind of oil you put in your car. Engine oil. Most passenger car motor oil contains detergents. You don’t want that. You want the cheap motor oil that’s for lawnmowers. Also, it specifically calls for 20 weight oil (sae 20).
Thanks, I’m glad I didn’t get that far yet. I’ll have Jen grab some from the store. Phil, I’m perusing Craigslist as we speak :)
Yeah, but it doesn’t count when you’re using it to look for male escorts.
I had to go to 3 hardware stores today, and no one had a snake or chimney brush suitable for the job. The best I could find was a plumbing snake that would have cost me around 80.00, and even then, I would have been duct-taping a brush onto the end of it.
So, I called a local service called Dirty Ducts, and they’re coming out tomorrow. My daughter is now concerned for the ducks we have hidden in our walls.
Mystery, we got ours from Bed, Bath, & Beyond: Bed Bath & Beyond | The Best Deals Online: Furniture, Bedding, Rugs, Kitchen Essentials & Moree
It works very well and is only $10.
Yea, we’ve got one of those. It doesn’t help for the 20 feet of tubing that runs through the attic and out a vent over our garage. That’s what I needed a snake for.
Sorry missed that. When our ducts got plugged, I just removed the ducts and put in a new one (from the dryer up to the exhaust port).
You’ve got a 20 foot venting run? Wow. Any way to shorten that up? (i.e. add a new vent to your house closer to the dryer.)
I had a dryer die on me with similar symptoms. The single ball axle(?) was apparently attached with three tiny screws and then poorly welded. I filed off the screws, drilled three new holes, and bolted that fucker on. Works just fine.
I’m trying to get the drum out of the dryer and had to take a break. It’s hard to do with a dislocated shoulder.
The single ball axle you mention, is that at the back of (behind) the drum when you’re looking inside the dryer? So it is parallel to the ground?
I had very little hope when I first posted this thread, but now I’m really geeked that maybe there’s a chance this is salvageable. Thanks guys.
If you look inside the dryer, the ball hitch (previously known as the axle) is located in the dead center of the drum, but on the other side. I’m not sure how far along you are, but when the dryer is away from the wall, a sizable back plate should be removable. You’ll see the motor, belt, and back of the drum which probably has a broken ball hitch. Awesome, still had my old bookmarks. It looks like this. The flat part is what’s screwed to the back of the drum.If I remember correctly, the heating element will need to be removed (just a couple screws). It’s such a simple design, once you have some light on it you should easily see what went wrong. Removing the drum is done by lifting it up out of the ball hitch’s socket. You’re going to want to take a vacuum to it. Also remove the front plate, because it’ll help you get at this thing. Please note I’m doing this entirely from memory.
If you do decide to reattach the ball bearing by drilling like I did, I should point out that it took a long time to drill through that thing and I ruined two drill bits. You may want to find a buddy that doesn’t mind the occasional metal splinter.
That is awesome Catmaster. I have a Frigidaire Dryer as well so that diagram is spot-on. I have a ton of semi-dull drill bits so I can afford to waste a few.