Repair stories from PartSelect's customers - like you. We give all our customers a chance to help out others by sharing the story of their appliance repair. You can find useful tips as well as estimates of the difficulty of the repair and how long it will take, along with any tools you may require to complete your repair.
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Visitor Rating
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Drum would not spin
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Overall Rating:
Helpful
Rated By:
5 Customers
Posted By:
garland From Morganton, NC
Posted:
2/20/2008 5:53:44 PM
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Appliance Repaired:
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Westinghouse
Dryer
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de400adw2
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Age Of Appliance:
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More than 10 years
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After unplugging the dryer, disconnecting it from the vent, and moving into an open work area, I popped the top open with the blade of a screwdriver, disconnected the two wires that connect to the door switch, then lifted the front panel (with the door) up and away from the drum. Next, I lifted the drum out of the worn rear bearing assembly and lowered it into the dryer in order to release tension on the belt. I then removed the entire drum by carrying it forward and out of the way. I then removed the old bearing assembly, which was loose and covered with metal dust. After cleaning the area with a dry cloth to remove the old grease and metal dust, and vacuuming all the lint off *everything*, I installed the new bearing assembly with a 5/16" nut driver, being careful to position the provided ball-bearing between the plastic bearing assembly and the outer clip. The little ball-bearing is very important, as it is the drum's only path to ground, and prevents the build up of static electricity as the drums spins. I then filled the new bearing assembly with the provided grease. Everything is easy up to this point, but the difficult part for me was removing the old hub from the drum and re-attaching the new one. It is held on by three screws and they become seated very tightly. After loosening them and removing the old hub from the drum, attaching the new one prvoed difficult as well, as the screw-holes in the new hub are not threaded to fit the screws. The screws muct be forced to cut a thread as you install them, which requires a great deal of force. After installing the new hub and putting the new belt (pruchased separately) around the drum, the next step is to reinstall the drum by lifting it in through the front of the dryer and positioning the new hub over the new bearing assembly and pressing it down into place. It will gently "snap" into place as it seats. Then, on the back side of the dryer, I removed the vent panel by removing the two screws that hold it in place and positioned the new drive belt (loosely dangling around the drum) over the motor's drive wheel and behind the sring-tensioned idle arm. Then it is a simply matter to reinstall the front panel by genly lifting the drum and sliding the door opening inside it, then reseating all the little clips that hold the front panel in place. I then pressed the top back into place, reconnected the vent hose, plugged it back in and checked for operation. My fifteen year-old dryer now works like new!
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| Parts Used: |
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| Level of difficulty: |
A Bit Difficult |
| Time to do repair: |
30 - 60 mins |
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Parts Used in this Repair
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Repair stories are provided by PartSelect customers and are not intended to replace an on-site diagnosis or advice from a qualified appliance service technician. Difficulty of repair and time to repair may vary based on experience.
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