Felt glide replacement question.

[teknikleespekng]

Hi everyone! Well, we decided to do the glides on the dryer ourselves. Easy peasy to get the door off. However, I had thought the bottom felt was in good shape - and it IS on one side at least, and only ordered the top glide. Well, its not. It needs to be replaced - its very worn.

My question is should we wait for the bottom felt to be sent before using the dryer again? Its worn about a foot in length from the top glide - which by the way the plastic fell off when we took the door off, LOL. DH is prepping the door for the new glide.

Also, the service guy that did it originally - how important is that top glide to be PERFECTLY centered. Its very slightly off (ha Virgo I am checked the symmetry). Would that make a difference?

Ive vacuumed and cleaned the inside of the dryer which did not have much link

The only thing killing me at this point is the damn shipping from Sears. DH went to the repair center right up the road and said it had to be ordered. If I had known I would have told him to order both parts cause between the two Im paying $20 in shipping costs. Yeah, I know there's other places on the web to order stuff (partsdirect) but I just want this DONE.

 

[whirlcool]

There should be a groove where the felt sits on the exterior of the drum. The method I used to put a new one on was to put glue on a 2 inch section, then press it on, add more glue to another 2 inch section, then press it on, etc. It took about 20 minutes to install the new felt. And it was in perfect alignment.

Remember to wait about 2 hours after installing the new felt to use it in the machine. It takes that long for the hi-temp adhesive to cure.

As for the nylon glides, they have little hooks on them that fit into holes and snap in. I have found that when replacing the felt or glides it's best to replace both at the same time.

Twenty dollars for shipping is outrageous. But the do like to ship the glides in a very long box, which jacks up the shipping cost.

 

[teknikleespekng]

Alignment

I didnt mean in the center of the groove - I mean looking at it straight on (the full circle of the opening) having the top glide at say 10 o'clock/2 o'clock.

The nylon glides on the felt was what came off - it was SO worn.

Box? Ha, it came in a jiffy bag. OUTRAGEOUS! But whatever, Im still saving the $ from having someone else do it. Yeah I had intended to pick up the one glide locally and then if I needed the other I could just pick it up. This is what happens though when I dont do things myself. DH just ordered the one instead of calling me and asking if he should just order both. SIGH. Oh well.

Thanks for the tip on the installation. I'll tell DH that when he puts on the new glide.

 

[whirlcool]

Is this a Kenmore/Frigidaire dryer?

I almost made that same mistake when ordering the glide for one side only. I was fortunate to have been able to inspect the dryer by taking it apart before I ordered the parts.

The dryer I worked on had a left side/right side nylon glide. With both installed it covered 100% of the surface of the door opening in the dryer. The glides will only snap in one way, the correct way. What model number is your dryer? You may have a slightly different setup.

The people I worked on the last dryer for had already called Sears to come out and look at it. They were told it needed a new motor, new drum, etc. The service guy just said to "Junk it and buy a new one. Did you know Sears is having a sale on dryers next week?". I overhauled the dryer by replacing the main bearing and plate, new nylon glides and felt and a new belt for $87.00 in parts alone. It'll last the people another 8 years or so. I have a thread on here somewhere with a big rant about Sears repair department.

 

[teknikleespekng]

Yes, its a Kenmore/Frigidaire dryer

Mine has a small upper glide and large lower felt. Its model #41791052000.

I tried to inspect the lower felt by trying to see it and feel around the gap. From the inside of the dryer it looked fine, but once we had the door off you could see there was still a lip of felt facing the inside but worn behind that only on one side. The other side is like brand new. The side that's worn - if you are looking at the door on, into the dryer, its the right side and the machine tumbles clockwise. Is that a normal wear pattern?

The nylon glides (3) are adhered to the upper felt. They were mostly worn away and fell when we took the door off. The machine is level, and I dont overload the dryer. I dont understand why Ive gone through 2 sets of them. Its just a pain that we couldnt walk in and just get the felt. We called and were told that it had to be ordered, there were no Sears Parts that had it in stock. It probably wouldnt be a good idea to run the machine replacing just the top and not the bottom until we get it, correct?

I guess I'll do the wash and then take the clothes to the laundromat to dry them. That should be an adventure, I havent gone in years! Curious to see what the dryers look like now.

 

[whirlcool]

The only way to truly inspect all the felt is to remove the drum from the dryer. You'll need to do this anyway to replace the felt. It's pretty easy to do. Just remove a few screws and clips and the front panel of the dryer will come off then just pull the drum out through the front of the dryer. You may need some help with the removal, not because the drum is heavy but because it's bulky to handle.

The repair manual will tell you to remove all traces of the old felt before installing the new, but one of our members here has said that step is unnecessary. I removed most of the old stuff and it was a bear to scrape off using a putty knife.
When I was done the dryer operated much more quietly than it ever did before.

 

[golittlesport]

I just happened to be researching this today as my seven year old Frigidaire dryer was squeaking. Found this youtube video about making the repair. The part kit is about $23. My dryer stopped squeaking by the time the video was over...ha

 

[whirlcool]

Good video about how to do this job. But I would still replace the upper and lower glides. I figure if one side is worn the other side can't be too far from replacing.

While you are in there you may also want to replace the dryer belt. They are inexpensive and while you are in there this replacement will save you later.

 

[teknikleespekng]

Rich: That's exactly the video we watched and knew we could do the repair ourselves. The only difference is mine has a rear control deck - so there was only one harness to disconnect.

Allen: You dont have to remove the drum to get to the felt. Im waiting for the lower felt to be delivered before putting the machine back together. The belt is in great shape. If it aint broke, dont fix it. Besides, Im not ready to plunk down more shipping charges.

On a side note, I went to a local laundromat this morning to dry 2 loads of wash. They had Huebsch dryers that were not well maintained. They did mostly dry my clothes on medium heat in about 1/2 hour (8 min for 25cents). The washers they had were Wascomats. I cant believe how expensive it has gotten to do laundry! The small machine (I would guess a 2.0 cu.ft.) was $2.25, next size $4.50, next $5.75 and the giant $7.25. Some laundromats do offer free drying with washing (this one included) so I guess that's not too bad. You can easily spend $5 drying clothes.

 

[teknikleespekng]

Dryer fixed!

Got the lower felt today via UPS. All cleaned up and installed. Clamped lightly and set for about an hour. Put machine back together, beautiful seal and no play in the drum (concerned about back bearing). Time to do more wash tomorrow! Woohoo!

 

[whirlcool]

When I did the Kenmore dryer I found that Parts Select had a kit that included new bearings, belt and some other parts all in one bag for the price of about one part.
I replaced the rear bearing simply because I didn't want to have to come back and take the dryer apart again in the future.

The original bearing was still good, however all the original grease was gone. So I put a new bearing in and greased it liberally. With the new glides, nylon, belt and bearings the dryer was super quiet in operation. The owner said it wasn't that quiet when new.