DE8600 Dryer - Instructions

popped out old female clasp on dryer itself with screwdriver, undid 2 screws on dryer door and door handle with phillips screwdriver, popped in new male clasp part, put door knob back on and put the two screws back in door and it was all set to go. Less than 15 minutes to do. Better than new and wife is happy. No more duct tape holding door closed now.

1) Unplug the unit.
2) Remove all screws from top of the unit except for the one in the center front that does not go through the outer casing.
3) Find the Thermal Limiter which is on the back wall near the top on the left side when looking from the front.
4) Disconnect the two wires
5) Remove the two screws that mount the limiter to the back wall.
6) Use an ohmeter to test if a current flows through the unit. If no current flows through (an open switch), then the unit will need to be replaced.
7) Clean any lint that you can at this point.
8) Use two screws to mount new Thermal Limiter
9) Reconnect the two wires to the Limiter.
10) Attach the top of the dryer case.

Unplugged the dryer from electrical socket. Vacuumed lint from dryer and exit hose. Removed top from dryer. Used pliers to remove the 2 wires from the thermal limiter. Used screwdriver to remove 2 screws that held the limiter in place.
Installed the new limiter, connected the 2 wires, plugged in the dryer's electrical connection, turned on dryer, and resumed my "washday chores".

This unit is a stackable washer&dryer,so first pull unit away from wall atleast 4 foot. Unplug power cord,then take10 dagree front panel off then the control panel off and unplug the 5 connetors if your unit has that many,then lay panel asside. Take dryer door off,makes it easier when putting it all back together. Now take front panel off and the dryer lent tube,now just take the 3 center phillips head screws out and slide drum out. Pull upward on what they call the shaft which held drum on. Now these are the parts you should order. Belt,grounding ball clip,grounding ball,drum support bearing,bearing bracket,and most important part is the shaft. The shaft is ur insurance for the whole job. Use a good grease like white lithium grease and coat the shaft end and the drum support bearing. The grease will cut down on friction for a while,and re assemble the way you took apart. Reminder grounding ball goes behind drum support bearing not in front. Good luck and please vaccum.

Using the instructions accompanying the belt I bought from you,I removed the casing an front support for the drum. I then tried to follow the instructions to install the new belt from the front and found it to be absolutely impossible.I saw that there is a removeable plate on the lower right corner of the back that,if removed, would expose the motor and idler pulleys that are the object of the installation so I removed it and,without much difficulty, installed the belt. One problem in doing so involved the belt's tendency to slide into the groove in the drum when manipulating it onto the pulley set so I enlisted the aid of my wife to hold it in place from the front while I successfully and rather easily did so.

Sans manual, I turned to the web to find out how to open up the dryer. Maytag uses two Phillips screws on the bottom front panel. Once removed, the front pulls out at the bottom and slides free from the top. Caution, wires on the left side of the front panel prevent total detachment from the dryer. A 1/4 hex screwdriver was used to remove the cover to the blower housing. Once the cover is unbolted attached wires prevent its complete removal and can be set clear of the blower housing. Pliers were used to remove a pinch clamp from the squirrel cage fan (blower assembly) and snap ring pliers were needed to remove the retaining snap ring. The fan was easily removed from the motor's rotor. The loose fan caused damage to the blower housing which I believe was the source of the original rattle. Once the fan had been removed, the housing was removed by using a 5/16 socket on the end of an extension. The replace parts were installed in reverse order and fit perfectly. Other work included the replacement of the drive belt for the drum. PartSelect was chosen because it had the parts in stock and could be shipped overnight.

Well, I had to find out just how the dryer came apart. Most of the time, the back comes off but with this particular Maytag, it is the front that has to be removed. Once the four screws from either side are removed, the front pops off and the canister that holds the heating element is right there on the bottom. Cleaning away years of lint was fun but the heating canister was removed quickly using two screws and removing four wires that attached to the unit. Once the screws were removed (top back and bottom front) and the wires removed, the replacement unit slid right in without any problems. The regulator on the old unit had to be transferred to the new unit before installation. I closed up the front, put the four screws back in and snapped the front closed and the dryer worked perfectly.

Took off face of dryer (two lower screws below door in front) and then removed the drum which gave me access to the idler arm and idler pully. Vaccumed the interior to remove dust and lint. Replaced idler arm and idler pulley assembly. Replace old belt as drum was reinstalled. Opened rear access panel to complete final routing of the new belt over idler pulley and drive motor. Turned the machine on to check repairs and function. Closed rear access door. Pushed dryer back into place and re-leveled machine.

Removed the Front panel (two philips screws) and then removed the front support bracket (4 hex nuts - two per side). New support bracket required the install of two front glide bushings which are comprised of a teflon like tab and a similar but smaller cork tab (no instructions or indications as to the order of placement) however most logical placement had the cork covered by the teflon tab). The teflon tab was riveted to the support assembly on each side with the supplied pop rivets. A plastic filter/air discharge chute was removed from the old support, cleaned to remove residual lint and years of collected garbage and then secured to the new support. The tumble drumb was easily aligned and matched to the front support as the support has alignment tabs which match the frame. While disassembled the entire unit was cleaned to remove copious amounts of lint and dust. On note - make sure the drive belt has not relocated in the tumbler groove located at the back of the tumbler - insufficient tension results and no tumbler action. Proper alignment will save you the re-removal of the front plate to access the belt. As this is a gas unit all fittings were re-attached and checked with soapy H2O to prevent an early forced remodel of the laundry room!

After reading about similar problems people have had with this make of dryer, I focused attention on the thermal limiter. I determined that it was the culprit by "jumping" it with a 6" piece of wire. Then I simply went on the site, ordered the part. It arrived a few days later and I pulled out the old one, screwed in the new one, and the dryer is good as new.

It was very easy to access the parts that needed to be replaced (blower wheel, belt, and glides).
1. Unplug the dryer power cord.
2. Removed the two screws at the bottom of the front dryer panel. Pull the bottom of the panel forward, which frees the retaining clips at the top of the panel.
3. Disconnect the two wires from the back of the panel, and remove the panel. The drum will be resting on the motor/blower hosuing.
4. Slide the belt off of the back of the tumbler, and remove the tumbler (have to angle it a bit, to clear the frame) and the belt.
5. Remove the thermostat cover (piece of angled sheet metal, in front of the blower unit).
6. Remove the screws from the blower housing, and lay it forward, to expose the blower wheel.
7. Remove the snap ring, and then the retaining ring from the blower wheel. Remove the old wheel.
8. Install the new wheel, then the retaining ring, and then the snap ring. Reattach the cover to the blower assembly.
9. Reattach the thermostat cover.
10. On the tumbler, drill out the rivets for each of the glides, and remove all glide parts. Install new glides.

This is a good time to complete any general cleaning inside the dryer cabinet, especially in the area of the motor. Since there is limited access to the motor itself, might help to use the blower function of a shopvac to blow out that dust.
Vacuum out all lint from around the felt drum seals.

11. Loop the new belt over the tumbler, and install the tumbler (the glides go towards the front of the dryer). Note: to keep the belt from falling off, I taped it to the drum with two pieces of painters tape..the blue tape that comes back off easily.
12. On the back of the dryer, remove the access panel, and complete installation of the belt to the idler pulley.
13. If you taped the belt to the drum....don't forget to remove the tape now. Reinstall front panel to dryer.

This was my first experience working with snap ring retaining rings. Even with snap ring pliers, they are difficult to remove without stretching them out. Be sure to order a new one with your blower wheel.

Also my first experience using a pop rivet gun ( to install the new glides). Found a rivet gun at Lowes for $9.99. Worked okay, and all rivets set properly. Good thing, because you don't get any extras with the glide kits.

After replacing the parts, and starting up the dryer, all of the clunking/squelling/rumbling noises were gone. There was a noticable smell while the new glides got broken in...smelled a bit like melting rubber. However, after a couple of drying cyles, the odor was gone.

Researched for part on PartSelect, ordered part, arrived next day, cut open delivery package and plastic bag containing lint filter and placed new filter in dryer filter channel. Quick & super easy - my kind of DIY!

0) Turned off breaker at panel and disconnected power cord from 240v wall outlet
1) Removed screws that hold electrical cover plate on back of dryer.
2) Lifted the top of dryer using putty knife on 2 top edges of lid. This lifts up like a cars hood.
3) Removed the screws that attach the power cord to the terminal block and disconnected power cord
4) Removed screws that attach terminal block to dryer
5) Removed melted terminals by prying out of terminal block. Note metal lip on terminal has to be lifted in order to slide connector out. Also unscrewed ground wire from terminal block to dryer.
6) Drew diagram of what color wires go to what terminals
7) Cut terminals off of wires and connected new terminals. Crimped closed and used butane solder torch to solder connection between terminal and wire
8) Reconnected terminals to terminal block by sliding in. **Note, had to file down the edges of the terminals using moto-tool to make it fit as they are connected together using break-away tabs that leave a large piece of metal connected not allowing to fit in terminal block
9) Reconnected terminal block to dryer and reconnected ground wire.
10) Reconnected power cord to terminal block with screws
11) Replaced cover over wiring terminal block
12) Reconnected power cored to 240ac wall outlet
13) Turned breaker back on

Before anything, I unplugged the dryer and tipped it over on its front. Then I removed the lower access panel and saw that the belt was broken. I removed the belt. I replaced the panel and put the dryer upright. When I ordered the belt off this site, I used one of the repair stories. With a phillips-head screwdriver, I removed the two screws below the door on the front panel. The panel is held in place by two clips at the top. Gently pull the cover off, since there are also two door-open sensor wires connected to the front panel. I removed the hex nuts holding the tumbler in place. When I started to put the belt on, and was having a bit of trouble, my neice pointed out the diagram on the bag the belt was in. From then on it was a piece of cake. I got the belt in place, replaced the tumbler and front panel, and plugged it in. Good as new!

UNPLUGGED DRYER.
1. I used a putty knife to pop the clips in the front. This allows the top to open like a car hood.

2. There are two screws one on each side holding the front to the body. Then there are clips which can just be pulled.

3. There are some electrical connections. I made a diagram and disconnected them.

4. The front slides up off two tabs at the bottom.

5. Peel and scrape off old felt. install new felt using high temp glue and clamps. The top one the plastic guides go to the top.

6. The belt has a tensioner on the bottom right and comes off easily.

7. There are three screws in the middle of the back of the drum. They were very tight and require a good phillips head screw driver.

8. Drum lifts out the front.

9. Unscrew the ball bearing assembly from the back, put the high temp lubricant on the ball.

10. Re-assemble in opposite steps.

Plug in and test.