There’s never a dull day around this house is there? A couple of weeks after I solved the leaking washing machine problem (problem was the drain hose lost it’s plug but I didn’t realise that was the case until after I found it on the bottom of the machine) now the dryer makes plenty of noise but the drum doesn’t spin. Also it clunks. And while I’m no dryer repair person, I’m fairly sure that’s not supposed to be the case. Let’s see if we can suss this one out then!
Yes indeed with a broken down dryer I could call up the nearest service guy and throw money at things. But then since it’s currently not spinning, there’s a pretty good chance I couldn’t really make things worse, so let’s see if we can at least have a look inside and see if there’s anything obvious. And if this doesn’t work then I’ll call someone in, but not before I attempt to save some coin and score a possible personal achievement.
Dryer repair – spin spin, spin the drum circle!
Dryer model: Electrolux EDV5051
Issue: Drum not spinning around, not even if you throw a best of Kylie Minogue cd at it.
Repair guide?: Plenty of manuals on how to use it, not any I’ve found on how to fix it (aside from calling in a pro)
Best guess?: Having never repaired a dryer before, I’m hoping it’s something easily replaceable like a drive belt. I’ve put them in cars before, so how hard could this be if it is?
Credit where credit is due, this is the first time we’ve run into any hardware issues and that’s a great run considering it’s over ten years old and with a potentially easy fix, we’re hoping it lasts just as long before something else goes bang. Or Clunk.
So spinning things around and attacking from the back, the first thing that gets removed is the rear lint cover. Which is something, because I didn’t realise had one. And I don’t think this has been off the machine since it got put there in the factory so there’s enough lint here to make a pretty unique and fuzzy jumper. Better out than in though, I’m learning a lot with today’s dryer repair bizzo.
Now suitably de-fluffed (or de-linted if you will) I hit my next snag, mainly the Electrolux engineers that decided to annoy all future dryer repair attempts by using a pretty odd size hex head screws – 6.5mm. I have a six, I have a seven and if I look hard enough I probably have a couple of the always missing coveted 10mm sockets too. But 6.5mm? Not a chance.
Why is this a thing? Why couldn’t they use a more common size? Or was this to dissuade the amateur because the real dryer repair fraternity drive vans drowning in 6.5mm sockets and tools?
As luck and I would have it, you can get away with undoing them with a 6mm socket if you push down enough. Maybe it was designed this way for emergencies? Oh well, as long as they come off. Also use a power drill to make this less of a mind numbing chore because Electrolux in their wisdom must have got a hell of a deal on 6.5’s because they’re certainly a lot of them to take away here.
Annoyingly we have to remove this boogie board cover AND the bit behind it because ‘engineering.’ The cover hides access to a bolt we need to remove, the bolt in question once undone makes lifting the back cover a doddle. Not that I realised until later on, but hey that’s why it’s there and bolted up.
Amusingly to anyone who knows what they’re doing (so dryer repair experts really) I did not undo the nut here. But still, with everything else undone including some screws up front (that it turns out I didn’t need to touch) I moved the back section and drum out just enough to have a deep look around. And wouldn’t you know who won the pony, deep in the sea of lint on the bottom:
Stretched and snapped, this drive belt has rotated it’s last dryer drum. However once I plugged in the model number and ‘drive belt’ I found a very affordable replacement in no time.
A couple of clicks and the belt is now on order. When it arrives we’ll open this beast up again (properly this time) and have a go at getting the new belt drumming like it should.
Wish me luck!
(If you’re an amazon.au buyer, it’s also available there as well. Spares for everyone!
PART TWO – THE BELT ARRIVES!
A big shout out to Ozespares on eBay – the site told me the belt would arrive next week but it’s Thursday and it was waiting in the box when I got home so what better time than right now to give installation a whirl?
First and foremost, unplug the machine and rest it on it’s front. Working this way makes pulling the bolts/screws a doddle during dryer repair but don’t forget to have a container nearby for all the fasteners. As we’ve already discovered, there’s a few of them!
So if you like your instructions with steps:
- Unplug the dryer and rest it on it’s front carefully.
- Remove the boogie board cover to expose the back plate
3. Remove both the bolt in the middle (13mm) and the 6.5mm bolts on the heating element below.
4. Slide out the element and unplug this plug using a flat head screwdriver to push the tab in.
5. Take the bolts off the back plate, take the back plate off and marvel at all the dust and lint inside. There’s never been a better time to break out the vacuum than right now during this dryer repair!
6. In this particular model (EDV5051 remember) the belt mechanism is deceptively simple. The belt goes round the drum, over the belt guide, under the motor winder and off we go. If you remove the spring off the motor first (mine was already off for some reason when I first looked into this) you can feed things through so much easier.
Interesting note the belt guide doesn’t turn easily but looking at the way it’s designed (it has a flattened section on the inner round circle if that makes sense) I don’t think it needs to, just as long as the belt runs along it okay and still gets pulled by the winder while the spring keeps the tension. I guess we’ll find out soon enough!
7. Before putting everything back in full, it’s time to test so pop on the back plate, do up the 13mm nut, connect the element back in and screw it in place and put a couple of screws (not all) in the back plate to keep it in place. Hopefully it spins!
RESULTS
It spins! Drum moves now, air flows, clothes get dried. There’s a slight occasional whine I’m picking up now that’s either the belt stretching or the bearings in the guide going (might be that) so some further investigation might be needed down the track. But the most important thing is that it’s working and fixing it took less than half an hour. Not bad for a complete novice new to dryer repair!
SHOUT OUTS
Peraturan jalan raya dan Elemen bahaya jalan raya on Youtube. He’s working on a slightly different model to mine here but the video was super helpful, especially in seeing where things should be (like the spring)
But then, almost a year later
I found myself replacing the belt again and then having all sorts of problems turning the drum. After attempting another few hours of dryer repair, I finally called in someone with a better idea than me. And it turns out the problem was right there in front of me staring me in the face..
Thanks for the help with the dryer repair Trev!