Notes on REPAIRING Inglis/Kenmore/Whirlpool CLOTHES DRYERS This common design is identifiable by the long rectangular lint screen stowed into the right corner of the top surface. The motor with blower and drum drive is in the bottom right of the cabinet. The drum rotates on rear rollers and a flange of the front panel at the door opening. LOOKING Most models have a bottom front panel that can be removed to look at the belt and wiring to the motor. I recommend looking there every few years to clean out lint that could help fuel a fire. (I saw a case where the belt slipped off the idler but kept moving, creating rubber dust that arced across motor terminals, and the arcing heated the plastic housing of the switch which decomposed into conductive material. The idler bore had worn badly and the owner ignored the modest amount of noise it made. But worn parts don't get any better with further use. That failure in the presence of much lint would probably be a fire.) MOTOR SWITCH You can replace the motor switch from the bottom front, but I recommend replacing the motor assembly due to the difficulty matching a new switch closely to the motor so that it will be reliably actuated by the motor's centrifugal mechanism when the motor stops. (Those with time to spend might try bending the intermediate actuating bracket sticking out of the motor.) BELT The belt's ribbed side goes on the motor pulley to match its grooves. The end of the belt is looped, stuck through the idler bracket then around the motor pulley. Make sure it is staying in position on the idler, otherwise it will slip off - bend the bracket sideways as required. (Newer idlers are crowned to center the belt.) Turn the drum by hand through several revolutions, moving the belt on the drum and flipping it over on the drum as needed to get it straight. Then get your hands out of the area, restore power, and run it for several minutes to make sure the belt stays in position. Replacing the belt requires removal of the front panel, to slip the belt around the drum. Removing the front panel requires raising the top, as follows: - Remove screws holding the filter chute to the top - raise the top with broad soft pry bars that won't crack the enamel, using a putty knife blunt end to push the catches in the top of the front panel near the outer corners - block the top in raised position. Put blocks under the drum to hold it up. Unfasten the front panel (typically screws accessible below the raised top, and at bottom. (On down-hinged doors look at one of the hinge plate screws each side. You may or may not have to remove such doors before removing the front panel itself.) The door switch will impede removal, unfasten it or detach the wires after noting positions. On re-installation of front panel make sure the wires are not rubbing on the drum (there should be clips at the top of the front panel and at the top of the side panel holding the harness away from the drum). Locate the panel vertically to give good fit of the drum to the back panel, for sealing. MOTOR Replacing the motor requires removal of the drum. After removing the front panel and belt the drum can be lifted slightly to clear the rear rollers then pulled through the front. When reinstalling, lift the rear lip of the drum over the rollers and make sure the seal is on the outside of the circular projection all around. While you have the drum out, check the rollers for bearing wear, if OK put two drops of oil on the shaft. The motor is held by two large c-clips. Remove a c-clip by placing a screw driver into the hooked area on the end and pushing down and prying it away from the center. To reinstall, place the screw-driver into the hooked area and push down hard. Note that the motor mount rings may have projections that fit into notches in the mounting bracketry, requiring specific orientation of the motor in rotation to sit down right. Now for the big mystery - how to separate the motor from the blower, since you can't take the assembled pair out without cutting sheet metal. Here's the secret: the motor shaft sticks deep into the blower hub, with left-hand threads on the end. Put a medium size crescent wrench on the flats on the blower hub, and another on the flat on the other end of the motor shaft behind the drum pulley. It may be difficult to break the thread loose, then it should unscrew easily. (Remember the threads are left hand, opposite to normal threads.) To reinstall you may want to hold the blower hub with vice grip pliers to better control location, then slip the long motor shaft deep into the hub - that will align the two parts and the threads will engage readily. Tighten with the crescent wrenches. (While larger wrenches would make it easier to loosen the threaded connection, space is limited so bigger wrenches may be too thick or have too long a handle.) WIRING For motor wiring, pay close attention to terminal numbering not the physical location of terminals, as switches vary. If the buzzer sounds loudly when you turn the dryer on, wires are probably reversed - which grounds the buzzer through the centrifugal switch when the motor is not turning. Look closely at the end of the wires - they may be labelled with switch terminal number, in a format such as "6M". The motor wiring is fairly simple - refer to a wiring diagram to understand this and troubleshoot. The Start switch powers both windings through the motor switch, until the centrifugal switch activates to switch to a different wire that powers only the run winding. Note the two windings are wound differently - typically the one with the white or yellow wire is the run winding and the one with the black wire is the extra start boost winding (which will overheat easily). The blue wire is the common to both windings. The door switch interrupts power neutral to the common motor wire, the timer controls power phase to the run input and the start switch. (The motor is 115vac, so uses neutral and one of the two phases whereas the 5kw heater uses two phases to get 240 volts. BTW, the motor switch also interrupts heater power when the motor is not turning.) The buzzer wiring is clever. When the motor centrifugal switch is in run position and the start switch in normal (off) position the buzzer has a ground path through the motor winding. While power is on from the timer it over rides that by putting power on that side of the buzzer through the start switch. When the timer turns off the buzzer sounds until the motor stops, which will take a few seconds due to inertia of the drum. One trap I've seen is bad connectors on an old dryer. The material was poor quality so they did not grip the terminal well and broke if adjustment was attempted. Makes trouble- shooting difficult. With a basic wiring diagram of motor control, and an understanding as I try to convey above, it is possible to troubleshoot problems of drum not turning from the bottom front. Other problems will require a detailed diagram, for the specific model in the case of the highly optioned ones that have extra timer-like devices and relays, and access to the inside of the controls housing. HEATER The heater coil is in the duct on the other side of the back from the motor. The duct may be held in place by one screw at the top (a stand- off bracket to something else) and hooks at the bottom. After removing the top screw you need to pull the duct away from the drum enough so its grill projection into the drum rear wall is clear of the drum rear wall (it will hit the rear sheet metal of the dryer) then lift up an inch or so, then pull it down and out of the dryer. Be careful with the heater as the coils are fragile. Troubleshooting info: - the heater may fail gradually, with a period during which it creates less heat - it has occurred that an open heater element has drooped and welded itself to the duct, creating very high heat - one can get fooled by the amount of heat soaking through from hot parts after heat is turned off. Also, the motor and its fan may generate some apparent warmth. Test meters are good tools to diagnose/verify. :-) PARTS My limited experience with troubleshooting this design and trying to replace only the motor switch suggests that replacing the entire motor assembly may be much less time-consuming and more successful. It seems the switch does not get fully activated by the metal angle in the motor's centrifugal mechanism, especially with some of the switch substitutions listed in parts catalogues. (I did not try bending the angle.) COST Note that the parts cost to replace the motor, belt and idler is 1/4 the price of a good but basic new dryer on sale - with labor it would be roughly half. So it only makes sense to repair a dryer that is otherwise in good condition (no rust in the drum, as occurs when tumbling clothes wear the finish off the drum) and/or has several good features that are still working. (Options and production changes on these dryers include belt-break detection, buzzer volume control, interior light, and moisture sensor.) VARIATIONS Newer/fancier models have a switch that detects belt breakage and shuts power to the motor (which will then shut power to the heater, as that power requires motor rotation to be active). Other extras include a germ-killing light in addition to the normal unterior light, the buzzer which is not on all models, and a dryness-sensor with circuit board. (The more-less dry markings on the timer dial of a regular model do not indicate a sensor, but a feature that only powers the timer when the temperature regulation thermostat takes power off the heater. In contrast, in the Timed Drying mode the timer runs continuously. All modes will have a cool-down period of a few minutes before the timer moves to OFF.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright smilin' Keith Sketchley April 08, 2003 (0939PST) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- BACK in your browser should return you to the page you came here from.