DIY Dryer Repair

cmplxty in #hive-189641 • 10 months ago

Hi fellow DIYers,

Today I wanted to share the fun I had fixing my dryer the other day!

DIY Dryer Repair

The other day I was talking with @tarazkp about his appliance woes that he's going through, among other things about his clothes washing machine. I feel bad that he's going through issues but sure enough, I had a little bit of a woe of my own! It wasn't as difficult as his, but it was an appliance that decided it wasn't going to work properly!

I know that many people here on Hive don't use a clothes dryer, they just hang their clothes out to dry outside on a line or on a wire rack or something. I did that as well when I was in Italy years ago and it was good except when it was cold and things don't dry properly lol. For us, we have always had a dryer because it's just more time efficient to have the dryer along with the washing machine so things get done quickly. Dryers are great, except when they aren't!

I've always been curious about our dryer, just from the standpoint of where the different parts are and how they work. I've fixed the appliances in our house a couple different times for various reasons. Our old washer and dryer had some issues and I thankfully was able to fix it for the most part, until the washer motor died and then we had to get a new set lol.

This was the first time I've had to do anything to the pair we've got and I'm looking forward to continuing that streak as long as I possibly can, for the simple fact that it is difficult when the things aren't working haha. This wasn't too bad though, in all honesty! When we turned the dryer on one day when we were doing loads of laundry, it absolutely didn't sound right. It sounded like something was stuck somewhere so I knew that I had to jump into action and get to work! Thankfully I also had my trusty sidekick with me, my son, to also learn along the way.

Because this was the first time I've done anything to the dryer besides take lint out of the thing, or clean the lint pipe, I was pretty interested to see how the various things worked. This model is a fair bit different than the last one we had which was nice, so there were things in different spots. I like being able to learn and understand how these things work out of curiosity but at the same time - getting myself prepared for when things break and I have to fix them!

I took the opportunity to get myself familiar with how the various pieces worked and looked. I wasn't completely sure where the sound was coming from and next time we have something like this happen - I am going to have my son turn the dryer on while I stand behind it to figure out where the noises or smells are coming from. We were in front of the dryer when we were hearing it so we didn't have a good idea of what was going on. We tried to just take the back panel off it and clean around and try again but that didn't work, we had to go deeper.

I ended up having to take off the panel that covers the blower motor, that sucks the lint out and air of the dryer and pushes it out the vent pipe towards the open air. This ended up being the issue! Somehow we got a massive clump of lint somehow sucked into the motor and it was turning poorly with that obstruction in the way, and once I saw this big chunk of shit where it shouldn't be, I immediately knew that this was likely the culprit. The dryer was operating fine until one load was taken out so somehow a big chunk of lint made it's way in there.

It was cool to take the panel off and see the inner workings of the thing. I don't think or hope that I would have to replace anything like the blower motor but knowing what it looks like, where it is and how it connects to the lint catch at the top was really interesting! I love digging into things like this, it's a lot of fun haha and just a part of my nature I guess!

While I was down there, one of the things that I made sure to identify was the heating element. On the electric dryers like the one I've got here, the heating element is what generates the heat. The coils here get a bunch of electricity and it produces a substantial amount of heat. This heat is then pushed up into the dryer and that's what ends up drying the stuff. For dryers like this, the most frequent thing that is going to happen is the heating element is going to die or break. Knowing where the heating element was is a great thing because now I know what to do when the dryer eventually stops heating the clothes. I don't want that to happen of course, but it's inevitable. Thankfully though, the heating elements are usually a pretty inexpensive part to replace! You can often get them for 40 or 50$ and you've got yourself almost a brand new dryer.

Of course I had my little buddy here with me along the whole way! He was a great help and made sure to get things back into place. I had him leave the room when I was flipping the dryer over on its side but I made sure to keep him around, show him the various parts of the dryer as I understood them and let him do as many things as I could.

I want to foster the same passion and curiosity that I've got. Sometimes it's difficult because I don't know what is going on with something and I have to figure it out, which makes it a little tricky for me to think and explain at the same time. I feel bad that I get a little short with him sometimes during these things, and I absolutely admit that. I'm not perfect but I am definitely trying to get better at keeping my cool and being understanding that he is doing as much as he can to learn about these things but also share in my interest of DIY.

Having the skills, knowledge and confidence to do these things is so important to teach our kids! I know that there is a pretty significant gap in basic household knowledge with a lot of people my age and years younger because the parents didn't know, were too busy or just simply didn't want to teach the kids these things. We now have the issues where people are sadly helpless and all of the negative consequences associated with that. By doing these things and involving my son as much as I can, in as positive of a way as I can, I am making sure that he grows up with the various pieces of knowledge and skill that I know are going to be absolutely crucial in so many ways for him as he gets older and eventually breaks out into the world.

One of the most important things it takes to do these things is confidence! I am confident in my ability and knowledge to give it my best shot at trying to figure out what is happening. I may not be able to fix everything, or it would be a waste of time to do some things compared to the cost but the best thing is to have confidence in our abilities and to share that with the kids. I know he's going to go far with these basic life skills, as they've served me pretty well so far!

^-CmplXty. _{Real human written content, never AI.}

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10 months ago in #hive-189641 by cmplxty

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nitsuga12 10 months ago

A veces la necesidad nos lleva a aventurarnos a intentar reparar alguno de nuestros electrodomésticos como bien dices lo primero es tener confianza pero tambien es importante tener cuidado jajaja lo digo por experiencia propia. No hay nada más satisfactorio que poder resolver algo por uno mismo.

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Indeed! Confidence is key but also being careful you don’t get cocky. It’s important to have balance in this! I’m glad you also have confidence in your skills!

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biyimi 10 months ago

It must really be fun but at the same time hope it will not have been stressful

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genesisledger 10 months ago

I love people who fix things themselves.

As you so rightly say, it takes a certain amount of self-confidence to start repairing something. But the good thing is that the more things you fix, the more confidence you'll gain.

I think that's one of the satisfying things about life. At least as far as I'm concerned.

When I bought my converted van, I had no mechanical knowledge whatsoever. I didn't even know how to change a battery or wiper blades. Today, I can do all that, and much more!

Knowing how to repair things is really useful in everyday life. It gives you a lot of autonomy and freedom. It's a good thing to share these values with our children!

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Couldn’t agree more with you! I started with my car years ago, changing the oil. That graduated to the brakes and then it went up from there. It’s so fun and interesting to do these things because we gain a little bit of knowledge and confidence each time we do it! I don’t think I can dismantle and rebuild an engine yet but I would love to try one day.

It’s so important to teach the kids these things! They are the most important aspect of doing this - so we don’t raise a bunch of people who have no confidence in their abilities. The more we can instill these values in them the better we can make that generation I think.

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1 vote

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genesisledger 10 months ago

I don't think I can take an engine apart either, to be honest. But already, knowing that we can do some repairs ourselves is a big step towards our freedom.

When it comes to children, we are entering a world where there are two paths:

Continue to consume, produce and throw away.
Become aware that everything produced with fossil energy is limited and therefore understand that these products are precious because they are limited and therefore take the time to repair them and stop buying constantly.

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precab 10 months ago

Hope the repair process wasn't stressful actually

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nery01 10 months ago

Nice work 3

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1 vote

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Thanks!

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rafzat 10 months ago

Hmm
You’re actually making me feel like getting a cloth dryer right now, lol
The only thing I do is to squeeze my cloth well in my washing machine after washing it and then spread it on a line
That’s what most of us do here too

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Yeah I remember that well, we did that for our sheets as a kid but clothes would go in the dryer. I do enjoy hanging things but we can't where we live right now sadly!

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livinguktaiwan 10 months ago

Great work in sorting out the issue yourself, I'm sure you save yourself tonnes of money by not having to call someone out, or to replace it with a brand new machine. Plus of courseit's s great learning and bonding time with your little one.

Personally I prefer to hang my washing outdoors, the smell of them afterwards is lovely in the summer.

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Thanks! I would love to hang our stuff outside as well but where we live we don’t have a great spot to do it. Outside on our deck has lots of bugs and my wife hates them so I can’t let them dry out there hahaha plus it’s the dead of winter. But! I do remember my parents hanging our stuff on the clothes line in the backyard that was great, it was mostly sheets but I love the smell of freshly air dried sheets, it’s so much different and refreshing!

I do enjoy showing this stuff to my son. My dad would show me all kinds of stuff as a kid but it was mostly related to fixing electrical stuff since he’s an electrician. I am trying to expand on that and do as many things as I can for the little man! Appreciate you stopping by :D

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ladyfoth 10 months ago

That was quite a big task you know, You really saved some money. Nice job 👍

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Thanks! It was a lot of fun and indeed saved a good amount of money fixing it instead of just buying a new one!

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ekavieka 10 months ago

Man, you are so awesome, to be able to find the culprit of the noise.
I think I would definitely call a technician to do the work. haha

but not every household here has a dryer, I only have a washing machine only. And the one that is being used in the Villa where I work use LPG to supply the heat for the dryer.

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Haha thanks man! It's a love of curiosity that drives me to do these things but it honestly started with YouTube years ago. We had a broken dryer and I looked it up and found a video on someone fixing it. It's just expanded from there! I had a rough idea of where I needed to look and just went with it. The most important thing is just to remember or take pictures of what you are doing so you can put it back the way it was, and you should be good from there!

I know most people in the world hang their clothes which is good anyway because it saves you money. We don't have that option where we are, we don't have space to hang them sadly. I would love to hang some of our stuff!

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1 vote

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ekavieka 10 months ago

I don't dare to fix things at some point, although I recently did some of my DIY projects myself.
But yeah, I think taking photos is a good measurement, so that we know where were the screw located or how it was installed at first. : )
I have to remember that tip next time. : ) thanks, man.

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cmplxty 10 months ago

It starts small and somewhere, I’ll tell you that! It then grows and prospers so keep that in mind my friend!

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abenad 10 months ago

This is my first time seeing a dismantled dryer.
Anyway you bring confident in your abilities is enough . I believe you can do greater things in life

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1 vote

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hivebuzz 10 months ago

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edeyglezsosa 10 months ago

It looks a bit complicated but you handled it very well.

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1 vote

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cmplxty 10 months ago

Thanks it wasn't too bad but it was fun and saved money!

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gewwe2 3 months ago

Deciding whether to repair or replace an appliance depends on several factors. If the appliance is relatively new and the repair cost is less than half the price of a new one, it’s generally worth repairing via https://gdoing.com/. Older appliances, especially those nearing the end of their typical lifespan, might be better off being replaced, as they could be more prone to breakdowns and less energy-efficient. Consider the cost of repairs, the age of the appliance, and the potential savings in energy costs when making your decision.

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