Clothes Dryer Maint

[LCHIEN]

I have a 29-y.o. maytag gas dryer.
A couple of times it has made a intermittent squealing sound like the bearings on the drum are going out. Is this the problem? Is it driven by a belt from the motor? How can i tell what's squealing?
Are they serviceable, lubricable, or can they be be replaced by bearings from the hardware store?

[Stormbringer]

http://fixitnow.com/

http://applianceguru.com/

http://www.repairclinic.com/SmartSea...artsearch.aspx

Hope it helps....then again you could always opt for a new dryer. I'd say you got your moneys worth out of the current one.

Greg

[dlminehart]

I replaced the rollers in mine after about 10 years. Took about 45 minutes, cost about $30. It's worked fine for the past few years.

[TheRic]

I have a Kenmore Dryer, about every 5 years I need to replace the Drum Slides. At the front of my drum where the drum spins around the door near the top are two slides. The slides are about 1/2" X 3", they are plastic / Teflon / slick stuff. It is supporting the weight of the drum and wet clothes in the front.

[Kristofor]

About a year ago my dryer started making obnoxious squealing noises intermittently when running.

Opening the thing up showed that the metal ball/post that acts as the bearing in back had worn entirely through the hard plastic cup that it spun in. This seems like a cheap design, but I guess it worked for a decade, so it's not too bad.

After the plastic had been eroded the metal where the cup was sitting was cutting into the metal of the bearing and doing a nice job of turning the size of that support down. I was able to purchase a kit from the local Sears (not even a brand they sell) for about $22 that included the replacement bearing, cup, holder, drive belt, wheels, idler pulley arm, and high temperature lube. All in all I thought that was a very reasonable deal. I could see by looking which part was bad on mine, but this kit would cover 95% of the things that could make squealing noises on my dryer and I'd imaging there's something similar for yours if you can't tell what it is.

I replaced the bearing (picture to be attached this evening), and it's been running quietly ever since. It wasn't too bad, less than 60 minutes slow and careful work total (plus drive time), but I could do it again now in probably 10 minutes.

Kristofor

[Kristofor]

And the picture as promised...



This is not a great photo I know, but if you look at the base of the "ball" there's not supposed to be a tiny neck there, but a much thicker chunk of metal indicated by the red lines. Additionally the "ball" was a sphere on the new one but ground way down on this one. I was able to snap that off easily with my bare hands... Had that happened while running I imagine it would not have been a $22 fix...

Kristofor.

[Uncle Cracker]

Just about everything in a dryer is subject to wear-out. Could be anything from a glazed drive belt to bad bearings, to a loose penny jammed somewhere it doesn't belong. Just take it apart and have a good look-see. The problem will probably be easy to isolate.

[LCHIEN]

About a year ago my dryer started making obnoxious squealing noises intermittently when running.

Opening the thing up showed that the metal ball/post that acts as the bearing in back had worn entirely through the hard plastic cup that it spun in. This seems like a cheap design, but I guess it worked for a decade, so it's not too bad.

After the plastic had been eroded the metal where the cup was sitting was cutting into the metal of the bearing and doing a nice job of turning the size of that support down. I was able to purchase a kit from the local Sears (not even a brand they sell) for about $22 that included the replacement bearing, cup, holder, drive belt, wheels, idler pulley arm, and high temperature lube. All in all I thought that was a very reasonable deal. I could see by looking which part was bad on mine, but this kit would cover 95% of the things that could make squealing noises on my dryer and I'd imaging there's something similar for yours if you can't tell what it is.

I replaced the bearing (picture to be attached this evening), and it's been running quietly ever since. It wasn't too bad, less than 60 minutes slow and careful work total (plus drive time), but I could do it again now in probably 10 minutes.

Kristofor

Thanks for the detail and the pic. From Stormbringer's link (Thanks Stormy) the Appliance Guru, I now know that there are two styles of tumbler drum bearings, one like yours (whirlpool et al) with a knob on the back in a socket and the other (Maytag et al) where the drum rides on 2 rollers at the circumference in the rear and two sliding pads at the front. I will be disassembling mine to see what parts are worn (29 yrs!) and how much it willbe to replace them.