"Nick Danger" wrote in
:


"Uncle Monster" wrote in message
...
Nick Danger wrote:
I have a 20-year-old gas dryer that stopped rotating its drum, so I
opened it up to have a look. I found that the belt had apparently
stretched, as it had no traction. I bought a new one and found that
it was the same length as the old one. I installed it and the
problem was still there. There is no way the drum could have been
dislocated, and the motor is firmly bolted down. I finally concluded
that there was only one way to get everything to fit and operate
properly. I have to increase the diameter of the idler pulley a
little bit. I wrapped a lot of duct tape around it and now it works-
but with a lot of noise. The only explanation I can think of is that
the idler pulley has worn down. But when I look at pictures of one
online, it looks just like the one I have - not thicker. I don't see
a pile of white plastic sawdust inside the dryer. But I can't think
of any other explanation. Does anyone else have experience with
this? Do idler pulleys just wear down to the point that they belt
loses its tension? Is there some other explanation?

Was there no spring to apply tension to
the idler pulley? There is also a bearing
holding up the backside of the tub that
could be worn out allowing the tub to drop
down and make the belt too loose. If you
posted the model number I may be able to
look up the mechanical drawing and take a
look at what you have.

[8~{} Uncle Monster

The model is Maytag LDG412. I don't think I put the belt on wrong. I
have a new belt, and the package has an illustration showing how to
thread it, and I'm sure I'm doing it that way. Any other way would be
completely ineffective. The tension in the spring seems about right.
It doesn't look stretched or otherwise distorted. I've managed to get
it just barely working by wrapping lots of duct tape

My hero!

around the idler
pulley, but I can't imagine that that much plastic could have worn off
it. The roller wheel is plausible as possible culprit. It only needs a
fraction of an inch to get things back in place, and I don't see
anywhere else that I can make adjustments to get it to work. Also, I
see some skid marks on the drum. Given that a new roller wheel costs
$7.90 on eBay, including shipping, I've gone ahead and ordered it.