Old faithful just up and died!
Okay, what actually happened is it just stopped working. It was working fine yesterday, and today, it won’t “start” as some other posters have said.
It just hummms when you push the start button. The timer is working and the switch on the door appears functional from a continuity test.
I inspected inside the cabinet for broken parts on the drum, but saw nothing that looked amiss. Vac’d out the lint, but there really wasn’t much there.
On a hunch I opened the door, pushed the door switch in, then had my “helper” push the start button. At the same time, I spun the drum, and it worked. The drum spun and the heater began to heat. I turned it off and tried again without giving it any help, and this time, nothing, just a humming sound when the start button is depressed and the drum didn’t move.
I don’t hear any squealing from the support bearing, but the drum seems a bit heavy to turn. Of course that could be my imagination. Would the drum normally have any “play” in it? Or, should it be totally fixed and rigid?. (I can move the front of the drum vertically about a 1/2 inch or so.)
The only things I come up with are the motor, or the support bearing.
[QUOTE=Perry Vayo;398979]…On a hunch I opened the door, pushed the door switch in, then had my “helper” push the start button. At the same time, I spun the drum, and it worked. The drum spun and the heater began to heat. I turned it off and tried again without giving it any help, and this time, nothing, just a humming sound when the start button is depressed and the drum didn’t move…[/QUOTE]
Perry,
The motor is the culprit. No doubts about it. Your test proves it.
The model number you posted does not come up. The closest model number I found is DDE5900RAL but I believe the part number for the motor should be the same. It you would like to confirm it, call the APP customer service.
I’ve gotten a new motor. Its an upgrade by several generations and not shown on your site - though that is where I bought it. So, everything is a little off, but I’ve worked at out.
The thing is, the old motor had an external centrifugal switch, the new one does not.
The wiring diagram that came with the new kit only shows where the motor wires connect, not any of the others in the harness. So, since both the old switch and the new have numbered terminals, and the ones that are shown correspond with between both switches, can I assume the others correspond as well and just remove them from one terminal and attach them to the new terminal of the same number?
Thanks.
Perry
[QUOTE=Gene;400195]Perry,
The motor is the culprit. No doubts about it. Your test proves it.
The model number you posted does not come up. The closest model number I found is DDE5900RAL but I believe the part number for the motor should be the same. It you would like to confirm it, call the APP customer service.
So, I went ahead and connected the wires to the new terminals with the same numbers, and so far we seem to be good to go. The start button is working, the dryer stops with the timer, the only thing that I’m not sure of yet is if we have both heat ranges.
I’m not sure how to test that. “No heat” works fine. But the unit seemed to heat up pretty fast this time, and gave off a smell. This doesnt concern me at the moment, since I had the whole thing apart and resorted to some solvant on a couple rusted nuts.
One thing I will tell you is that the output shaft to the pulley was too short for this dryer. Even with the long pulley the idler was not aligned. I ended up cheating by flipping the idler pulley over, and adjusting the drive pulley a bit. I hope that works out. The only problem is the idler now rubs on the spring. Not bad, but you can hear it.