DDC4500SGM General Electric Dryer - Instructions

Inserted handle into slots

When I went home at Christmas, I saw that my Mom had been using a small bench to keep her dryer door shut. I wrote the make / model of the dryer down and found your website. I ordered the part, and my sister snapped it into place. My mom was so happy to have her dryer door stay shut again!

To perform this repair (please see numerous descriptions on the web for generic belt replacement) I had to rivet two loose parts to the drum in order to reinstall the drum. Specifically, the loose metal disk and hot air shroud at the rear of the drum (near the rear berrings) made it impossible to realign the parts to reinstall the three torx bolts at the rear of the drum during reassembly. These two loose parts are positioned behind the drum (when looking inside the drum) i.e. between the drum and the rear berrings.

It was necessary to align the mounting holes in the drum, disk, and air shroud outside of the dryer itself and then to rivet them in place (making sure the smooth rivet head was INSIDE the drum as to avoid providing a rough edge where the clothes could catch during tumbling). Just press the 3 torx bolts through the holes to establish correct alignment. Be sure to install the rivets ouside of the contact area between the heat shroud and mounting plate. You should see an indented pattern on the heat shroud that you can use as a guide.

It was also helpful to make a black mark on one of the drum mounting holes (inside the drum) and its mate on the berring attachment plate - to help orient you when installing the drum with the 3 torx bolts. It only aligns one way - and making the marks will save you aggravation while your head is in the drum during reassembly. Loud swearing at this point only punishes your ears because, after all, your head is in an acoustically punishing echo chamber - and the echoes make it seem as if the dryer is actually cussing YOU and your incompetence out...

I hope this helps someone else save some time in reinstalling the drum.

One additional pointer: you must remove the lower plate on the rear side of the dryer to wrap the belt around the tensioner pulley and motor drive. The belt wraps, from right to left, first around the motor pulley and then up and to the left around the tensioner pulley. Just place the belt around the motor pulley, and then pull the tensioner pulley toward you and leftward until it clears the belt, then push toward the front of the dryer - and let the tensioner contact the belt on the right side of the tensioner pulley.

And finally, the ribbed side of the belt makes contact with the drum and the motor pulley. The smooth side of the belt is in contact with the tensioner pulley. Good luck, and may the choice words I used during the process be unnecessary for you... for you... for you!

I received the replacement part I ordered from PartSelect.com within 3 days of placing the order. I opened the plastic bag it came in. I snapped the part into the holes left vacant by aforementioned abscence of broken part.

I was cleaning my laundry room when I noticed the gasket needed cleaning. While wiping it off it appeared as though I could remove it and that was my biggest mistake. Once removed it could not be replaced, due to the little parts that held it to the door began tearing off as I tried to put it back on. I ordered a new gasket and had it put on. It did not require any tools, just concentration. I've learned "if it's not broken, don't fix it"! I spoke with several other people and I am the only one who has removed a gasket. Thank you very much PartSelect for your help.

I just pressed the latch with my thumb, the latch went in, and voila....job done. Thank you

my two twin boys Mike and Curtis age 14 did the repare they toke of the front of the dryer then the top put the belt around the drum then put the top and front back on then went to the back and removed the panel and put the belt on the pulley then set the tension wheel then put the back cover back on
the repair was easy I watched to make sure they did it right and did not have to tell them how I am very proud of them they do great work
finding the part was easy and it was here the next day after I ordered it and it was only sent 3 to 5 work days. You guys have a great web site and fast shipping thanks for the good work!

Removed the broken handle from the dryer and popped on the new one.

Easy as 1-2-3. I took off the top hinge screws in order to lift up the top of the dryer.

I then took off the front dryer piece with the door intact. The lint filter was in the front door section.

I released the wiring clips to the front of the dryer and lowered the front of the dryer down gently. there is enough slack with the wiring if you disconnect the wirre clips.

I removed the old broken belt. ThenI gently lifted thr dryer drum enough to slid in the new belt with the ridges down. Look for the old belt line (worn area on the drum) and slip the belt up on the drum to that point.

Then I replaced the wiring with clips and put the front of the dryer back together.

Going around to the lower back of the dryer, I unscrewed the back plate where the exhaust comes out. It was 8 screws with a socket.

Once the back was off, I pulled the dryer pully to the right and fed the reamider of the belt through both pulleys ensuring that the ridged side was on the correct side of the pulley. The pylleys match the ridges on the belt. I rleased the tension on the movavle pulley and it was done.

All I had to do was button the back up and do a "dry run" I quick have the drum a half roation from inside the drum with the door open. Then it was all gravy. I was done and saved myself a good deal of money. Look on the net for pics to make thing easier for you. There are people out ther who will NOT charge you for this info.

First i removed the lower rear inspection plate to see what the problem was.
next i removed the screws in the front top panel.
next i lift the top back,the rear hinges held it in place.
next i removed the bolts that held the front panel in place,but before i removed the panel i removed the wires that were connected to the front elements and disconnected then,
next i removed the front panel,then i place the new dryer belt over the dryer drum,but first you have to rise the drum up a little to get the belt under it.
next i put all the front panels back in place,make sure you reconnect the wires that you removed earlier.
next i moved to the back panel, there i position the belt over the dryer drum,then i place the belt over the motor drive pulley, then i pull down the tension bar roller to the left and place the belt over it.Then i replace the rear panel in place.plug in the power core and turn it on. finished. After over 35 years this is the first time i had to replace the belt,matter of fact this is the first time i had to replace anything on this dryer, washers will that is a different story. but the dryer runs great maybe for another 30 +years LOL.

There are 2 switches that should be pressed in when you move the handle to lock door, the switches usually go bad with time. Just take the six screws off on the inside of door, then remove screw on the underneath part of handle. The switches are located on the top part under a piece of 1 inch metal plate held in by a screw, remove that and you'll see the 2 switches, test the button on each one to see if it goes in and out, you'll hear the click to. Just unplug bottom first then the top if you need to replace the top one. Thats it.

watched the video on your website,this made repair to the dryer very easy.hardest step in the repair was getting the belt hooked up on motor and tensioner,but being old and persistent i finally won!

snapped in new latch

Removed the rear access panel (8 - 10 bolts), checked the pullys. Opened the dryer door, removed 4 allen screws at top and lifted the top of the dryer (like a hood on a car). Removed a screw (phillips) on each side (inside) pulled open the front and worked the belt around the drum. Placed belt onto pullys, plugged in checked for proper rotation of drum then unplugged and installed screws and bolts. - Fairly easy, saved a bunch from a service call. I also found 15+ years of lint inside the dryer. Vacumed and cleaned the inside -it even dries faster! Sorry Honey - No new dryer this year - Now can I go hunting?

Open the dryer door and remove the two screws in the top of the door opening that hold the top of the dryer on, and then remove the dryer top. On the inside of the dryer, there are two screws that hold the front of the dryer on. Remove one screw from each side of the dryer near the top, and the front of the dryer will fall away. The drum slides are visible when you lean the front panel of the dryer out away from the drum. You can replace the drum slides without even removing the front of the dryer completely. Pull out the old drum slides and insert the new slides. Lift the drum slighly from the inside through the dryer door as you tilt the front back into place. Reinsert the screws holding the front of the dryer on and tighten. BE CAREFUL not to drop the screws or you may have to disassemble the dryer to get at the dropped screws. Reinstall the top of the dryer. It is a difficult fit which requres inserting into 3 tabs and sliding the top into place. Check that the top is flush before inserting and tightening the screws in the top of the door opening.