DLB3900SAM Hotpoint Dryer - Instructions

Put part in. Put the door cover on & turned on & it worked. Thanks for having the part. So far, so good.

This is the third time for a belt on this 28 year old dryer. Not too much to it. Unplug the dryer. Open the door. Remove the screws holding on the front panel and loosen the screw at the bottom. Disconnect the wires to the door switch and lift off the front panel and start up the shop vac to clean out the lint - there is a lot to be found in various places. Slide the new belt over the front of the drum and make sure there are no twists. You can now reverse the order to mounte the front panel but don't close the top so you have light to see inside. Go around to the back panel and remove the machine bolts holding on the access panel at the back. This allows access to the motor and belt tensioner. Get the shop vac out here and get to some more lint. Google the model number to find a diagram on how to route the belt. Put the belt on the motor shaft and around the tensioner as depicted. Occaisionally the plastic idler pully is worn and this can be the cause of the brokent belt. If the idler wheel does not spin freely, squeads or is cracked it should be replaced or you will be right back replacing the belt again. If all is fine it is time for a test run. CAUTION - you can plug the dryer in but keep your hands out of the cabinet as there are live exposed 220 volt terminals exposed. This allows you to observe that all is working and not binding during a test run with NO heat. If all is fine, unplug the dryer and put the covers back on. Reconnect the exhaust hose (now is a good time to clean that and the vent to outdoors as well).

Removed door strike and latch, replaced, works like new.

I was unsure of how to disassemble the machine to reach the belt, but a YouTube video gave me confidence. Thanks to Partselect.com, the great customer service, and fast delivery. I had my dryer up and running really fast! The process was really not difficult at all and it gave me a chance to vacuum out years of trapped lint. I am so happy to have saved hundreds of dollars, not having to buy a new dryer.I would urge other folks to tackle these relatively simple repairs, the right parts are a phone call away. Frank

new part arrived and had it installed and working in less than 3 minutes.

The only tool used was a phillips head screwdriver. I removed two screws to lift the lid and two more screws to free the front panel, slid off the front panel, and had direct access to all 4 slides, replaced, reassembled, and good as new.

My dryer would run but not heat and the timer would not advance. PartSelect helped me determine that the heating element needed to be replaced. I have very little experience with appliance repair. I found this to be challenging but well worth it.

Parts arrived well in time, exactly what was needed. The latch was a snap-in process. The strike require gentile use of a pliers, and went in quickly. Thanks!

The post the dryer start knob rest on broke off flush with the Rotary Start Switch. I had to remove the back of the control panel to get to the RSS. Determining that it could be easily removed, I removed it. I doubted that gluing the post back on would hold since it was all one plastic piece. So I opted to research and find the RSS and replace it.

It clicked right in. Thank you!

Pulled broken one out and inserted new one in slots and popped in place.

Googled possible problem where noise was coming from. Went to Parts Select web site. Ordered felt and drum bracket. Removed screws behind control knobs and removed top of dryer. Removed two screws on front inside dryer (left/right side) this allowed me to remove front panel of dryer. Unattached wires. Drum bracket is located above door opening...pretty much snaps out, felt piece is located on bottom bracket. Felt piece was replaced and new top bracket replaced. Reattach wires, lift drum slightly to fit doo iInto place. Dryer still made noise. Noticed I did not have any drum slides! Drum slides slide into top of front bracket at 10/2 o'clock position and 11/1o'clock. Easy and very inexpensive dryer repair!! My husband was very impressed that I could take dryer apart and fix!!!

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.

Unscrew the top panel parts three screws. Then another three or six screws to get to the dryer front which needs only to lift straight up about two inches. Pull back slightly and replace the teflon slides. To replace the slides they lay on a tiny plastic pin and slightly bend into the slot to hold them in place. Reseat the dryer drum. Reverse the process to make it like new. From the time you start hearing the dryer squeak, BE CERTAIN to replace these within a week or two (depending on usage.)Otherwise, you may wear out the housing where the teflon would rest. If that happens, you will be out more money to replace the housing and a lot more time to install. Been there and done that. Trust me.

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.