DLB1550BAL Hotpoint Dryer - Instructions

Change the coil by removing the cotter pin around drum in the back I accidently removed the 3 star bits and the front and it was hard getting back together. The coils are easy to change, but found that the coil wasn't the issue it was the cyclical thermosat underneath the lint catcher in front. The part (heater coil) works better than the older one, so I guess it wasn't a complete screw up. I read up on a few others and think I should have check thermostat first oops. good luck

The info from your web site was helpful. I had never taken a dryer apart and the instructions made the job easy. Used socket set to remove the back panel and top control panel. Then used a phillip's screwdriver to remove the two screws that hold the top of the dryer; these screws are accessed by opening the door to the dryer. To remove the front of the dryer remove to the two screws that are located at the top upper corners where front panel meet the side panel. Once these two screws are removed, remove the belt from around the drum and lift the drum out. The drum bearing is located on the back of the drum; remove the remnants of the old bearing and replace it with the new one. Retrace your steps to put the dryer back together. To get the belt back on track you will have to remove the lower back panel to access the belt drive and tension pulley. It is not difficult. God bless you.

disassembled chassis of dryer, unbolted top, lifted top to expose drum. bolted top back on. resumed repair next morning. unbolted top. lifted drum (it moved up and down about 1 inch) and got new belt around it. rebolted top down. tipped dryer to its back. unbolted and removed panel at bottom, exposing drive motor and tensioner spring. positioned belt around drive motor spindle and tensioner spring. replaced panel. reconnected dryer to electricity. reconnected gas using new flexible connector.

inserted the latch into the opening in the front face of the dryer

Researching on the web I thought the trouble might be lint buildup or trouble w/ one of the parts involved in spinning the drum. However I cleaned out all the lint and replaced the belt and idler pulley and this didn't improve the smell (drum bearing was fine). I then concluded the trouble was the motor. Running the motor w/o the drum in place confirmed this was where the noise/smell was coming from. Replacing the motor was fiddly--I had to remove the clip holding the motor (pried the top w/ a screwdriver), wires (made a diagram so as to put back in same order, they were hard to get off--a pliers did the job), clamps holding the motor on the duct, the motor mount, the duct, the fan. Putting all this back together took a while (not hard just fiddly). Tested the motor w/out the drum in place and it sounded fine. Put the drum and back/front/top panels back and the dryer runs fine now. All parts came quickly and exactly matched the parts in my 1993 Hotpoint dryer. As others have said the pulley kit is not needed--these are included w/ the motor. BTW I am a 53-year-old lady. Thanks to all who took the time to write up their experiences--big help!!

Opened front door and removed 4 screws inside, lift the top cover disconected 2 wires and replaced the door switch. Because my dryer was an old dryer my door switch had 2 wires connected to the door switch new door switch had 3 connectors I called part select customer service and they instructed me to use the 2 small connector with the 2 wires that I have.

After having a friend who repairs appliances come and diagnose the problem, I was able to find the parts I needed very easily at PartSelect. They came quickly and I removed the front panel, followed the instructions (they were not very detailed) and also had help reading some of the other posts from people on the website. I replaced the parts and the dryer is now quiet and running fine.

I suspected the idler pulley shaft was worn. I found the repalcement pulley on parts select web site. finding the part was very easy and delivery was very quick. After removing the dryer from the wall,I removed the access panel in the rear which exposed the motor, belt, and pulley. After removing the belt from the pulley, I removed the pully assembly from the dryer. I removed the keeper retaining ring on the pulley and installed the new pulley with the new parts supplied. The new pulley assembly was then ready for re-installation.

What to do if you have a load of wet laundry at 23:00, the dryer won’t start, and you have no spare start switch.
Removed rear access panel and discovered the wire from terminal #2 (goes to heater coils) on the start switch had melted and disconnected. The start switch showed signs of overheating but not melted. Removed the switch and found the switch’s actuator button was jammed in the ‘in’ position (dryer won't start). The switch was a friendly one in that it was possible to disassemble it. Most switches today are molded/glued together, but this one could be pried apart. The contacts inside were still in fair condition and, after dressing them, the switch was reassembled. The actuator button had a burr that was filed off and the switch action worked fine. All of the 1/4" male QC contacts on the switch were cleaned with a wire brush. The burned wire was cut back about 6” and a new piece of 14ga wire was spliced in with a wire nut. A new 1/4” QC terminal was crimped to the wire and all wires were re-attached to the switch.
This fix would probably last for a long time to come, but I bought a new switch and installed it and will keep the old switch as a backup.
p.s. The load of laundry was dry by 02:00.

I have had this happen to another ge dryer, so I had an idea what was wrong. After taking the 4 torx screws out from under the front lip of dryer top, lifting the top back (like opening the hood of your car) in the back right corner is where the high limit tstat is. To verify the problem (dryer already unpluged of course) pull the two wires off the terminals of tstat, connect them together, wrap bare parts w/ electrical tape. Let top down & plug dryer in-- it started& ran fine. Got online and ordered replacement tstat (it arrived in 2 days-- great!) unscrewed the two 1/4" hex screws holding tstat on, installed new part. On to bigger and better things ! Dryer working fine.

The job is simple once you know how to remove the front panel. The steps are as follows:
1. disconnect the power cord.
2. remove 4 Phillips-head screws under the lip of the front panel that secure it to the top panel (#1 point Phillips-head screw driver)
3. swing the top panel up, it is hinged in the rear.
4. making note of the connection points of the color-coded wires, disconnect the wires to the lamp socket and door switch (I used a felt-tipped pen on the inside of the front panel to mark the connection points, "R" for red, etc.)
5. remove the upper 2 hex-head screws from inside of the front panel (5/16" nut-driver)
6. loosen the lower 2 hex-head screws (5/16" nut-driver) accessible from outside the panel (you only have to loosen them since the bottom mounting tabs are slotted)
7. slightly lift (to clear above mentioned lower tabs) and tilt the front panel toward you. Swing the front panel to the right as though you were opening a door and position so it does not fall.
8. remove 10 hex-head screws from the black lower rear access panel (5/16" nut-driver) and remove the broken drive belt. Note that the narrow black panel securing the power cable can remain in place.
9. at this point take advantage of the situation and vacuum out the years of lint and dust you could not reach before.
10. stand in front of the dryer, lift the dryer drum slightly and slip the new belt (rib side down) around the drum. Position the belt near the rear of the drum along the wear-mark left by the old belt.
11. go to the back and place the belt in the motor's drive-belt pulley, making sure the ribbed side of the belt mates with the ribs in the pulley.
12. position the tension wheel so that the it takes up the slack in the drive belt. Note the flat side of the drive belt will mate with the flat of the tension wheel.
13. spin the dryer drum a few turns by hand to make sure the drive belt lines up properly with the pulley.
14. reassemble the dryer by reversing the above steps, starting at step 8.

It wasn't so bad taking it apart, but getting the drum back on was a problem. So what i did was too turn the dryer over and cut the heads off of three long screws and slid the drum over top of these and it lined up with the bearing housing.After a few tries it finally lined up and then i put the regular screws back in to hold the drum in place, one at a time.

I did not have an actual repair. I simply replaced the lint filter that dropped into the receptacle. However, what I want to mention is that the part was available as old as the dryer is and there was a nice photo to scale of the replacement part so that I was sure I was getting the correct piece. A great site to obtain parts from my experience.

Just replaced it with the new one

There is a plastic female closure part in the dryer door that wouldn't close tightly around the metal male closure on the dryer. I popped out the plastic square with a screwdriver, popped the new plastic closure in with my thumb. Works great. I never even installed the new metal portion of the latch.