DLB1550AAL Hotpoint Dryer - Instructions

take off door, take off front, mind the 2 wires for the door switch, take off top, take out enough screws on right side so it will lean out a bit for the drum to be removed. before removing drum you must remove the belt. pull the wheel to the right, minding the belt pattern for reassembly, its springy and will relieve tension. pull drum out. look to the left of the pulley and check to see any stray wire that may have pulled out while battling the belt. if you found a stray wire and it reaches the dryer motor find its home. on to the coils. I left assembly on dryer so I didn't have to figure out wire placement. the end connectors that the coils attach to are to be reused so don't get to mean with them. remove the end connectors minding how many wires it has and which of the 2 coils go to it. remove the old coils so as not to damage the very brittle ceramic insulators. on to the new, the instructions will tell you to stretch out the new coils to specified lengths. start with the shorter one first! just to see the stretchiness and how far is too far to stretch, if to long it will touch the heat shield and no good can come of that. after stretched out its time to string new coils in, carefully, so as not to stretch or collapse the coil. now hooking the end connectors to the ends of spring. I used 2 pliers to bend the tab a little bigger so it would cover the spring end. after springs are attached to ends and ends are in place, time to battle the drum and tensioner again, make sure plastic piece is on drum insert if equipped, put drum in place and bend tensioner down and install belt. put side screws on, then front and 2 wires , then top then door. plug in and start up. if unit doesn't start remember that stray wire going to the motor, you guessed it wire goes to the start switch. unplug and hook up the wire and it will work.

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.

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