Fixing the Dryer

I fixed the dryer last week. For quite a while it had been squeaking a bit in the beginning of cycles with heavy loads, with the squeaking lessening or stopping altogether as the load dried. Recently, though, it started rumbling loudly. The squeaking pretty much stopped then, or at least wasn't audible.

After poking around at it without opening the thing up (I wasn't sure I wanted to do that initially) I saw that the drum was separating from the back panel at the bottom. After a bit of research I figured it was probably a problem with the drum support rollers.

So I flipped off the circuit breaker, unplugged it, and opened it up.

At this point I'll mention that this is a Kenmore dryer, model 110.86672100 electric dryer. I mention this because I was able to find very little on this dryer in my searches and want to make this available for folks looking for help with this problem. The guide I used was an old copy of the Reader's Digest "New Fix-It-Yourself Manual", dated 1996. It was a housewarming gift from around 11 years ago. It's very visual, which helps, but sometimes sketchy and encyclopedic.

So, like I said, I opened it up. I didn't do it with a putty knife like all the dryer opening how-to guides out there tell you. That just didn't work for me. I was able to see the clips, though, and choose more capable tools: large and small flat-head screwdrivers. I pushed the large one into the slot to separate the top from the front panel a bit, the pushed in the center tab of the clip with the small one to release it. Repeat on each side. Oh, and I removed the lint trap and the screws under its cover first. Don't forget that step.

Let me interrupt here to mention that we have a magnetic vent cover we put on top of the lint trap handle. It's designed for heat & air vents, but does help if you get a bit of dust from your lint trap. Anyway, I put that on top of the water heater which is next to the dryer and it made a handy place to put removed screws.

After removing the top I removed the front panel with a box wrench. Then, after a good vacuuming, following the instructions in the book I removed the belt and drum. That's when I finally got a look at the guts.

These machines are pretty darn simple. Other than the heater, blower, and ductwork behind the back panel, and the electronics in the console, it's pretty much a motor, belt, drum, a couple wheels, and a belt tensioner.

There's a fabric ring around the back of the drum that meets up with the back panel to form a seal. Before tackling this I had described what was happening to my brother who then told me about his ring needing to be replaced when it started rumbling. The ring looked fine in ours, though, so I kept looking for the problem. (It's a good thing too, because I think replacing the ring would be a messier and longer job, with the glue involved.)

I poked around and discovered that the lower support roller was worn down so as to be visibly smaller than the right side roller, and it rocked on its shaft while the right side roller turned solidly and smoothly. So we went to the local appliance parts place to pick up a roller replacement kit. The kit included two rollers and four plastic triangular clips. When I took off the old parts, though, the bad roller had only one clip, but places for two. (I suspect the transition to rumbling may have happened when the missing clip finally broke off, and that it was picked up by the vacuum.)

Here you can see the old roller and the three remaining clips. You can see how much the one roller was worn, inside and out. The inside was worn more on one side than the other, and asymmetrically there. It was clearly the source of the rumbling, and the loss of support for the drum which caused it to drop away from the back panel. I suspect the lessening support also caused a loss of tension in the belt over time, which caused the squeaking. After I replaced the rollers the squeaking was gone too.

Here are the two new rollers in place around the back panel and motor. You can see the belt tensioner in front of the motor. I believe the motor also drives the blower behind the back panel. You can also see the wrench I used to remove the front panel and the bottom roller's support bracket, and the point of the small screwdriver. I also used that to pry the old clips off and to gently pry the new clips on. The roller clips fit into grooves around the shafts. The right roller clips are positioned farther apart, allowing the roller to move a bit as you remove and replace the drum. I suppose it gives it a bit of leeway in operation too. The bottom roller is fixed in one position, though, presumably to help hold the drum against the back panel.

And here is a closeup of the bottom roller. You can see where the plastic clip goes. There's one on the other side as well, which of course had to be put on before the roller. The bracket has a metal clip as well, which was also included in the kit. I put that back on by positioning the closed box wrench head over it and rapping it with the butt of the larger screwdriver handle.

After that I put back the drum and belt. A small box under the front of the drum was handy while putting the belt back on the tensioner and motor pully. Then I put the front panel back on. Opening the front door made it easier to support the drum while doing this. It probably would have been less awkward if I had some help, but it really wasn't all that bad.

Before closing the top I turned the drum a bit to make sure everything was fitting together. The fabric seal had gotten folded inside the drum around part of it, but that was easily fixed by pushing it back into place with a screwdriver from the inside of the drum.

I closed the lid, replaced the lint trap screws and the trap, plugged it in and closed the circuit breaker. I tested it and man did it run smooth! It hasn't rumbled since, and I think it's actually doing a better job. I suspect there have been gaps forming between the drum and pack panel that let cool air get in, reducing the drying power. Anyway, there you have it. I hope these illustrations help someone along the way. If you find yourself with the same repair to do and have any questions, feel free to post a comment. Most days I'll be alerted by email within the day, but I can only guarantee an honest answer, not an informed, accurate, timely, or useful one.

Test Results and A Weekend Of Painting

Test Results - We went in for the HSG test Thursday. The wait in the outpatient check-in was a long one. From what I could overhear my wife wasn't in their system for some reason. Eventually they called us up and we got checked in and she got a bracelet. Off to the radiology waiting room from where we were very soon escorted to the x-ray room. I had to wait in the hall, so I pulled out my Palm and read a book on it.

My wife had been dreading this test for a while after reading stories of it being very painful for some women. I could hear her laughing from time to time, though, so I figured it maybe wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought it would be. Still, I was prepared to hear a scream and rush to the door. (Okay, maybe just comfort her after - there were x-rays in there after all.) Soon, though, the nurse came out and told me I could come in. The delay in the check-in didn't amount to anything consequential, as it turns out, because the doctor was late. We chatted a little bit, and my wife flashed her bare hip at me as she sat on the xray table, and I patted her butt. She asked me to fetch her a bit of paper from the adjoining restoom, and as I came back the doctor entered. They shooed me out and I went back to reading.

Before long I sensed someone near. I looked up and the doctor was there, rolling down his sleeves. He said everything looked normal, and there was nothing he saw that would get in the way of her getting pregnant. When my wife was done dressing she came out, and as we left she told me about it.

As with many of the procedures so far the worst for her was when the doctor was inserting the hardware. Once everything was in place they had her lie down and the x-ray machine was moved into place. Then the doctor started injecting the dye. My wife says it felt like a bad cramp at its peak. Afterward the doctor rewound the tape (they recorded the whole thing rather than just take a few shots along the way) and showed her what was what. There was nothing amiss in her uterus, and the dye flowed freely through one tube. There was so much flowing through the one, it was hard to see the other, but he could see enough to know that at most there was a blockage, and nothing else.

Before the test she had taken some anti-anxiety medication, so on the drive home she slept most of the way. She woke up right as I turned off the highway.

Weekend Of Painting - As I had promised my wife earlier in the week, this weekend I finished a long put off project: painting the den. When we first moved into the Secret Lair we painted the walls in this room a pale peachy pink. I don't remember the name of the color. The trim was sort of a pastel pinkish mauve. It worked well, but I don't think it was quite what she was after. A few years ago - October of '04 according to the sticker on the paint can - she picked a different pair of colors: terra cotta for the walls, and sand for the trim. We pulled the furniture away from the walls in phases, painting each wall and its trim and allowing it to dry before moving the furniture back and moving on to the next wall. The end of the room where the computers are posed a bit of a problem. My wife had, at that time, a huge corner desk with cabinets, and of course my smaller desk was heaped with junk on top and underneath. It was a daunting task. She wanted to get a new desk anyway, so we decided to put off finishing the paint job until she could pick one she liked.

Finally, not long after alluding to it in this post, we got the new desk. The old one is in the dump now. It was fun tossing it into the compactor. But still we didn't paint. We had the whole IVF thing going by then, and that just ate up too much of our time. Plus, I was hesitant to expose her to paint fumes. We're in a lull now, and since we're doing a frozen transfer next we don't have to worry about the conditions for developing eggs, so now is the time. Friday night my wife cleared off her desk. Saturday morning she headed out to the gym and then to Secret Headquarters to catch up on some paperwork. I stayed home to paint.

The first thing I did was disconnect her computer and move the components out of harm's way. Then I removed her keyboard tray and drawers, taped the computer cabinet door shut, and rolled the desk away from the wall onto its top. It slid over the carpet easily after that. Then I started clearing off mine. That took a while. I boxed up most things, and put some in a pile on the sofa. There were many things I threw away, but the piles of papers I just moved intact without going through them. I'll do that when I put them back. My current computer has been sitting on top of the desk, while my old one remained in its cubbyhole below. there was also a much older computer, salvaged from the junk pile at my former workplace, sitting idle on the floor under the desk, with the cable modem and router on top. I moved both old computers out permanently. (I'll strip out the hard drives later.) Man there was a lot of dust! I vacuumed as I went along and the dust cannister, which started out pretty empty, is now about 1/3 full. The place where the older computer was on the floor is visibly lighter than the rest of the carpet. I think we need to clean it, or replace it - it's been here since before we bought the house.

My desk is much lighter, so I was able to lift it out of the way. That being done, I started the actual wall prep, beginning with a wash with some TSP substitute. My wife has had a long habit of squishing bugs against the wall, then not cleaning them off, so the wall by her desk was a bit of a mess. I scrubbed the worst spots, then did an allover wipe down. After that dried, I did a dry wipe with an old clean towel to clear off any lint from the disintegrating washcloth I'd used with the TSP, and the walls were ready for paint.

We had a full can of the terra cotta left, plus a partial cam. I opened the partial can first and found that there was some corrosion around the rim that had rubbed off and sprinkled into the paint as I opened the can. If the paint had been fully mixed I would have skimmed it off the top, but after over three years the color had all settled to the bottom. I tossed that can and opened the other, which was fortunately pristine. I finished up, including the brush painting in the corners and along the ceiling, around 9PM and after a quick clean-up we headed out for a much-needed meal. Afterward I discovered I had had my fly open the whole time we were out. Good thing I was wearing a coat. We had to switch from one sale to another at midnight, so I rolled her desk back over, moved mine back into place, and set up the computers.

Today my wife headed out again, to the gym, Secret Headquarters for a bit of work, and to her sister's house for a visit with the family. I stayed home to paint the trim. This time it didn't take so long to move everything out of the way. The main part of the trim went fast, but the den is sunken a couple steps down from the rest of the house, so there was a banister to paint as well. It meets the wall with an oval piece which was a lot of fun to tape around. After that I went back to the beginning and gave it all another coat.

My wife wanted to get on the computer tonight, so I set them back up again. It's still temporary and the desks are out from the wall a bit since I want the paint to have time to dry well and adhere tightly before we have anything rubbing against it. Tomorrow evening I plan to go along the trim with a small art brush to touch up the places where the trim paint seeped under the tape. After that, it'll all be done. Yay!