Dryer fix

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EatenByLimestone

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My dryer started squeezing something fierce. I figured it was the belt or an idler pulley and ordered a kit. When I pulled it apart I found it was the idler pulley, but went over everything else, making sure to lube everything and more importantly, vacuum it out! Holy crap there was a lot of lint in there! For sure it was a fire hazard! I’d already started cleaning the front when I took this pic. You guys may want to vacuum yours out!

[Hearth.com] Dryer fix
 
Just be careful what you lube those bearings with or it will attract lint into the bearings and seize them up
 
That is a worry. I used a penetrating oil for garage doors. I believe it’s mineral oil. If it gums up, it’ll only take me 15 minutes to pull it apart again.
 
My dryer started squeezing something fierce. I figured it was the belt or an idler pulley and ordered a kit. When I pulled it apart I found it was the idler pulley, but went over everything else, making sure to lube everything and more importantly, vacuum it out! Holy crap there was a lot of lint in there! For sure it was a fire hazard! I’d already started cleaning the front when I took this pic. You guys may want to vacuum yours out!

View attachment 316849
Nice work. I just did this to my 2010 GE dryer and I found a huge lump of lint on the vent. I replaced the belt, the drum bearings and a heat sensor because one of the leg connections snapped off. I had to go back in because I didn't tighten enough another spade connector in the heating element which caused the wire to burn out. So far so good, but man, you sure want to be careful when fixing them.
 
I dryed 1 good sized load last night and the lint trap was packed much more than usual. My guess is much more air moved through the cleaned out dryer. The hose seemed a bit cooler, but I don’t feel for temp on it often. I think that should mean it’ll dry faster.
 
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just think how much lint is in your exhaust leaving the house if that much was under the dryer... Cleaned mine out last year when the dryer died, a lot more in their than i expected
 
I generally keep up with the vent cleaning. I had a thermal fuse go one time and a partially clogged hose was the cause.

Now I know to check this every so often too. It really wasn’t that hard. Especially when you consider the consequences of not doing the maintenance.
 
Before I had a soot eater for the chimney I something very similar for cleaning out dryer lines. I forget the name but it’s exactly like the soot eater, just smaller. Came with an adapter to take the louver off the outside and hook up a shop vac and run the rods for the cleaner through a small hole. I kicked the dryer on air dry (no heat) to help push. 2 years of lint filled a 15 gal shop vac. I don’t let it go 2 years between cleanings now!
 
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