Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

2

Time Required

                          1 hour

Sections

1

  • Defective Drive Belt
  • 2 steps

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Defective Drive Belt
  • There are many brands of electric dryers out there, but fortunately their construction follows just a few basic designs. The one I’m describing is a 20 year old Canadian Eaton model, but some of the inexpensive models sold today have the same construction.
  • A good indicator that you are dealing with a similar model is the presence of three screws at the end of the drum, which you can see after opening the appliance door. In these appliances the drum is held in place by the axis connected by the three screws you can see in the picture and the friction pads at the front panel of the dryer.
  • The first thing you will want to do is reach behind the dryer and unplug it from the electric outlet.

There are many brands of electric dryers out there, but fortunately their construction follows just a few basic designs. The one I’m describing is a 20 year old Canadian Eaton model, but some of the inexpensive models sold today have the same construction.

A good indicator that you are dealing with a similar model is the presence of three screws at the end of the drum, which you can see after opening the appliance door. In these appliances the drum is held in place by the axis connected by the three screws you can see in the picture and the friction pads at the front panel of the dryer.

The first thing you will want to do is reach behind the dryer and unplug it from the electric outlet.

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Step 2

  • If the belt is not yet completely broken, you will need to disengage it from the motor an the tensioner. To do that, unscrew the service door at the back.
  • Inside the door you will see the drive belt, wrapped around the motor pulley and the tensioner. Reach inside the appliance, push down on the tensioner lever, and disengage the belt. Be careful not to cut yourself: there are sharp metal edges all around.

If the belt is not yet completely broken, you will need to disengage it from the motor an the tensioner. To do that, unscrew the service door at the back.

Inside the door you will see the drive belt, wrapped around the motor pulley and the tensioner. Reach inside the appliance, push down on the tensioner lever, and disengage the belt. Be careful not to cut yourself: there are sharp metal edges all around.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                                                                                      3 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 2 other contributors 


                    Nick Ivanov

Member since: 10/09/2011

2,139 Reputation

                                      3 Guides authored                  



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fmorgan - Mar 18, 2017

Reply

Just what I needed - now I have to get a new belt. Thanks for the info…

fmorgan - Apr 9, 2017

Reply

Marlon - Nov 3, 2017

Reply

I could not agree any further with this informative post. Personally I had a lot of doubt in mind about whether to call a Professional technician for the replacement of the belt or to buy a dryer repair kit and just get busy to work with the repairs myself. My mind is cleared and I think now I can make a better decision.

However, I think that one should be very careful if he or she decides to buy own dryer repair kit for the work. If you do not have the right skills to replace the belt, you might end up even destroying the whole thing further. That in turn will even cost you a higher bill to repair it. Great caution must be taken if you decide to repair the dryer yourself.

Alternatively, what I would prefer is for one to buy a cheap belt, preferably a Whirlpool dryer belt that goes for around $5 to $8 and call a professional repair tech to come and replace the belt for you.