While gas dryers and electric dryers use different systems to produce heat, both rely on the rotation of the dryer drum to successfully dry your clothes. The continual rotation of the drum during operation tumbles the clothing, towels, or bedsheets therefore the heated air blowing through the drum will dry the load more evenly. The key component responsible for drum rotation is the dryer drum belt.
How Does a Dryer Drum Belt Work?
The dryer belt circles the outside of the drum and is looped onto a drive pulley connected to the dryer motor shaft which drives the belt, and around an idler pulley which applies tension towards the belt. This tension is what causes the belt to grip the exterior of the drum in order to rotate it. When the drum is overloaded, or if a drum roller, glide, bearing, or pulley fails, the belt can start to slip. Over time, the belt can fray and, eventually, break. When the belt breaks, you may still hear the motor running, however the drum will not rotate. On some dryer models, a broken belt will activate a belt switch which will prevent the motor from running.
Replacing the Dryer Drum Belt
Not all
dryer drum belts are the same; they will often vary depending on the model.
Popular brands include Maytag dryer belts, Kenmore dryer belts, Whirlpool dryer
belts, and GE dryer belts. You will want to make sure you purchase the specific
replacement drum belt that fits your model.
Replacing
the drum belt will need you to disassemble the dryer cabinet. This process
will be different for each model, but you can use these steps like a general guide.
- Unplug the appliance's power cord to prevent shock.
- Unthread the screws to remove the dryer's top panel or lift the panel up and support it (this might require detaching the dryer control panel first).
- Remove the dryer's front panel or panels. You will sometimes need to disconnect a door switch wire before you fully remove the front panel.
- Some dryer models have a bulkhead behind the front panel which assists the drum. Remove any braces and disconnect any sensor wire connecters then uninstall the bulkhead.
- You can now reach under the drum and depress the idler pulley to release the tension of the old belt (if still intact) then detach the belt in the idler pulley and motor drive pulley.
- Slide the old belt over the front of the drum to remove.
- Slide the new belt over the drum. Most dryer models require grooved-side of the belt to be facing inward to grip the drum.
- Loop the belt on the idler pulley and drive pulley in a zig-zag formation (Repair Clinic.com has some handy diagrams which illustrate how to do this for different dryer models).
- Rotate the drum by hand to help align the new belt.
- Reinstall the front bulkhead on the cabinet frame making sure the drum is properly positioned on the bulkhead. Reconnect any sensor wires and replace any braces or supports to secure the bulkhead.
- Reinstall the leading panel or panels, ensuring to reconnect the door switch wire connecter if necessary.
- Reinstall the top panel and control panel as required.
- With the reassembly complete, plug the power cord back in.
Find the Right Dryer Belt with Repair Clinic
To find the right dryer drum belt that fits your dryer, type the entire model number of the dryer in to the Repair Clinic.com search bar. The web site stocks Whirlpool dryer belts, Kenmore dryer belts, GE dryer belts, Maytag dryer belts, and much more, but you'll want to make sure you're acquiring the belt that is the exact match for your model.
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