DG20F8AM Admiral Dryer - Instructions

I took the front off the cabinet (pry up front of top and remove two screws. Removed the drum, replaced the left rear drum support roller by removing one snap ring on shaft of roller and repacing after installing the new wheel. Reinstalled the drum, the hardest part of the repair was getting the belt back on the drum. It is hard to reach the belt to place it back on the motor. (small space to reach through) Being able to purchase a single wheel from this website saved me $50.00, the local suppier wanted to sell me a whole kit.

Thanks to reports from others, I concluded that most likely the gas ignition coils (one or both) were no longer functioning properly. I replaced both with the 'M' Series New Style Coil Kit which is about 1/2 the price of either coil individually -- yes,true,go figure! The actual replacement took only about 10 minutes. What was most difficult and took the most time was the removal of the front panel of the cabinet -- this was difficult only because there were no instructions in my owner's manual (or any other source I could find) and it took me awhile to figure it out. Now I could do the whole job in about 20 minutes! The detailed instructions from others as to the process of replacing the coils was invaluable -- I don't know if I would have been able to figure that out on my own. But most important was the information that enabled me to diagnose the problem in the first place. Thank you, all you previous comment contributors.

I followed the "How to" video on your web site. Most importantly, I cleaned the entire filter area which probably caused the problem as your instructions recommended. I will do that annually going forward. I would recommend your service to anyone.

Pulled the old seal off then pushed the new one in place.

Replaced the thermal shut off and the thermistor located on the heating element bracket.
Easy to diagnose and to replace- not totally accessable but not that bad either. Cleaned out lint obstruction causing the problem.

Once we realized we needed to take the FRONT off the dryer, not the back all went well. It was an easy fix and the part fix perfectly. Instead of $60 or more for a repairman, we spent less than $20 fixing the dryer.

I first made sure there was power to dryer. It was ok so I unpluged the dryer from the socket and afer researching on line I was sure it was the thermal fuse. I check continuity on the fuse and it did not have continuity. So I installed a new fuse and high temp thermostat (they come together)
Just lift top of dryer up and back. In the left rear corner is the heating element. On top of the element is the thermostat. On the right side is the fuse it is a round disc with two white wires attached. The thermostat and heating element need to be removed to install fuse (one screw each and lift out of the way ) . Need to check for blocked lint or like I had the white plastic hose had a kink and need replaced with metal lint hose.

first I went online and took a look at the schematic and realized that two items can shut the complete unit down and would be easy to check. First I checked the door switch with a multimeter then the high limit non-resettable thermostat. The contacts on the thermostat were open which told me it was bad. Went online to www.partselect.com and found the part really easily. came in when they said it would and it was a perfect match to the original (part numbers on the side and eveything). Make sure you correct the problem that caused the unit to overheat in the first place. IN my case the dryer air passages were full of lint. After a good cleaning put it all back together and it worked better than it has in years.

First I removed the screws of the dryer cover. Next removed the screws holding the dryer drum.

Drilled out the two rivets left from the old glide. Inserted the plastic and postitioned the cushion underneath. Inserted the new glide and drilled a hole in the plastic to accomodate the new rivet. Inserted rivet. Pulled the other end so it was tight holding the cushion and did the other end. Done.

Had to cut the glide 1/4 '' of the width to slide it through the existing slots in the panel.

Had a problem holding drum in place and putting front back on. Got it together and drum wouldn't turn. Had to tear it a part again and belt had turned.

I watched the video tape

the video was very well done and able to understand. disconnect power ,remove lint trap,remove 2 phillps head screws, push putty knife in front seam line about 1'' in from corners to release top assembly ,lift up and support, disconnect wire connector ,remove 1 screw in each front corner lift front panel off while holding drum, remove broken belt,install new belt with grooves against drum ,feed around tensioner pulley and onto motor shaft pulley ,spin drum by hand to make sure belt tracking etc. reassembly in reverse.

Learned as I went along, from various YouTube videos.

I lucked out opening the top of the dryer in that I didn't break anything when I popped the top up, since I didn't know to use a putty knife to depress inward the retaining clips.

Found the belt lying on top of the drum, and when I lifted it, it easily came free since it was broken.

Watched the YouTube from PartSelect, finally, and Steve made it seem so easy. Unplugged it, turned off the gas, too.

Front two screws unscrewed no problem. Front panel lifted away, no problem. Tons of lint in the front housing, so I decided to clean away as much lint as possible since this was the best opportunity, and I also vacuumed lint out of the sheet metal exhaust all the way to the outdoors exit port. Then I had to get that sheet metal pipe back in place, perfectly, and that was a little tricky

The roller kit was a bargain compared to separate parts I thought I'd need (one roller only) so I replaced both rollers and their posts, spacer, and washers.

Another vender video recommended high temp lithium grease to lube the new posts, but I just used "plumbers grease" that I happened to find lying around the house.

The most difficult part of the whole process was pre-fitting the new screws into the plates of the new posts because you are self-threading the screws and I didn't have a nut driver. (I was trying to do it using two wrenches, one to hold the plate, the other to turn the screw. The torque required is so high that you'll start to round the hex edges of the screws and ruin them. So, I went out and bought a 5/16" socket for $2.49, and self threaded the screws by holding the plates with a wrench, and using my power drill with the 5/16" socket.

This is where you risk ruining everything because as soon as the screw has self-threaded the plate, the resistance drops to near-zero, and the drill zooms the screw down hard onto the plate. I found, afterward, one ribbon of thread lying on the work area, which means I stripped one of the threads by one winding. (I'm not too worried, but it did make me wonder if I had screwed up. Keep the old screws to use as replacements for the new ones if you encounter the same problem where you inadvertently strip a screw too far.)

Then, the plates go back into the dryer, and the left side plate has a much larger gap, because you have to remove/replace it through the rear wall slot by turning it in-situ; the right one just falls down into your waiting hand, and is replaced by raising it up from behind its slot.

Finally, you come to the belt replacement, and just follow the way Steve showed in the YouTube. However, I tried and tried, but it was difficult for me since I'm left handed and you do it with the right hand. I was finally able to get it by getting the belt around the metal drive, first, and then bringing the white wheel over and working it into position by pulling the belt forward to clear the white wheel being positioned to receive the belt's tension.

This is a very doable dryer repair, it will save you hundreds of dollars, you'll do a better job than a repairman (since you vacuum all the lint out too), and its a great story to tell your friends.

Learning how to do it, actually doing the repair, and then double checking that I got everything "right," I'd guess that I put in 8 hours of my time.

It was fun… but keep your cool since there will be a little aggravation, and maybe a trip to the hardware store to get tools you don't own.

Grown daughter did the repair following instructions on your site........Unplug, take screws out of top by lint filter and with putty knife pry up top panel and lean back. Unplug elec. harness in front corner. A screw on each side of front panel removes that. Get old belt off and then we vaccumed all the lint from under and around drum. Put new belt around drum making sure not twisted and pull pulley as shown to make tight......... would have taken less time but we vaccumed all the lint from under and around the drum. Anyone could do this......

Received the replacement filter which was an exact duplicate of the 22 year old filter. Took the old one out; slid the new one in and got ready for another 22 years of use. At 86 years of age I probably won't be around to see the new filter wear out. The dryer has already outlasted the place where I purchased it - Montgomery Wards! They just don't make stuff to last like this anymore.