Dryer Motor On The Way Out?

Posted by Greg on July 26, 2005, 1:34 pm

All,

Just tried to dry a load of laundry in my '97 Whirpool dryer only to
discover that my dryer drum was not rotating. I heard a hum and shut
things down.

Upon investigation I found the following things:

1. Belt was not broken.
2. All wheels turned freely
3. Motor turned freely*

After vacuuming all of the lint/dust... I reconnected the door switch
to check if the motor would turn without a load (i.e. the belt
attached). Nogo... at first.

* I "helped" the motor turn and cleaned up a bit more lint. The motor
now seems to turn more freely. It is always rotating now (w/o a load)
when I start things up.

Question:

Can I get away with lubing things up and hope for the best or am I
looking at a motor and/or start capacitor replacement?

Many thanks!

Greg
v65rider@freeshell.org <- remove "rider" to respond directly

Posted by Appliance Repair Aid on July 27, 2005, 4:38 am

Hi,

Normally no capacitors in a dryer motor circuit. Certainly -sounds-
like a motor going sour! :(

jeff.
Appliance Repair Aid
http://www.applianceaid.com/

Posted by meirman on July 28, 2005, 9:42 pm

In alt.home.repair on Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:34:09 -0500 Greg

>All,
>Just tried to dry a load of laundry in my '97 Whirpool dryer only to
>discover that my dryer drum was not rotating. I heard a hum and shut
>things down.
>Upon investigation I found the following things:
>1. Belt was not broken.
>2. All wheels turned freely
>3. Motor turned freely*
>After vacuuming all of the lint/dust... I reconnected the door switch
>to check if the motor would turn without a load (i.e. the belt
>attached). Nogo... at first.
>* I "helped" the motor turn and cleaned up a bit more lint. The motor
>now seems to turn more freely. It is always rotating now (w/o a load)
>when I start things up.
>Question:
>Can I get away with lubing things up and hope for the best or am I
>looking at a motor and/or start capacitor replacement?
>Many thanks!
>Greg
>v65rider@freeshell.org <- remove "rider" to respond directly

Jeff knows far more than I, but I would put in some clothes and watch
it from behind. Is the motor turning while the belt isn't, for
instance? Use a flashlight. Don't touch it. (Well maybe with a twig,
but don't tell anyone I said that.)

One of the first "big" repairs I did, I was about 11 or 12 years old
and our electric dryer wasn't working. I did the diagnosis and my
mother was the muscle. It just needed a new belt. That one had
stretched, I guess.

Even though it was only 3 years old iirc. Went 10 more years on the
second belt, until she moved to a place it wouldn't fit and sold it.

Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

Posted by ~^Johnny^~ on July 28, 2005, 8:47 pm

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

wrote:

>In alt.home.repair on Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:34:09 -0500 Greg

>>All,
>>Just tried to dry a load of laundry in my '97 Whirpool dryer only
>>to discover that my dryer drum was not rotating. I heard a hum and
>>shut things down.
>>Upon investigation I found the following things:
>>1. Belt was not broken.
>>2. All wheels turned freely
>>3. Motor turned freely*
>>After vacuuming all of the lint/dust... I reconnected the door
>>switch to check if the motor would turn without a load (i.e. the
>>belt
>>attached). Nogo... at first.
>>* I "helped" the motor turn and cleaned up a bit more lint. The
>>motor now seems to turn more freely. It is always rotating now
>>(w/o a load) when I start things up.
>>Question:
>>Can I get away with lubing things up and hope for the best or am I
>>looking at a motor and/or start capacitor replacement?
>>Many thanks!
>>Greg
>>v65rider@freeshell.org <- remove "rider" to respond directly

>Jeff knows far more than I, but I would put in some clothes and
>watch it from behind. Is the motor turning while the belt isn't,
>for
>instance? Use a flashlight. Don't touch it. (Well maybe with a
>twig, but don't tell anyone I said that.)
>One of the first "big" repairs I did, I was about 11 or 12 years old
>and our electric dryer wasn't working. I did the diagnosis and my
>mother was the muscle. It just needed a new belt. That one had
>stretched, I guess.
>Even though it was only 3 years old iirc. Went 10 more years on the
>second belt, until she moved to a place it wouldn't fit and sold it.
>
>Meirman

It could have just been a stuck centrifugal mechanism in the motor.
The only trouble is, it can stick again. It activates the
centrifugal switch, which cuts power to the start winding while
applying power to the ignition/heating circuits.

The little springs and weights are usually integral with the motor
these days, making it nearly impossible to get in there and service
them. Lint can get in there, and prevent them from operating
freely.

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--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

Posted by Greg on July 31, 2005, 12:35 am

On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 20:47:10 -0700, ~^Johnny^~

-snip-

>The little springs and weights are usually integral with the motor
>these days, making it nearly impossible to get in there and service
>them. Lint can get in there, and prevent them from operating
>freely.

Thanks for the follow-ups. I believe the problem may have fixed
itself after using compressed air and vacuuming out everything. With
and without the drum (even with a load in the dryer) attached... I
can't get the motor to bind up again. Hopefully I bought myself a
little more time with this dryer. :-)

Best.

Greg

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