Maytag DE606 Dryer - random, intermittent scraping sound

[jtfolden]

Hello all,

I have a Maytag DE606 dryer from the very early 70's I believe. I bought it used a couple of years ago in fine condition and only needed to change the belts to get it operating smoothly and very quietly.

The last couple of weeks I'm hearing an odd scraping sound on occasion, however. At first I thought it was something in the load of laundry that was making noise but then realized on a load of towels that it was coming from the dryer itself.

It doesn't happen every load and it will often stop as quickly as it came OR if I open the door and then restart the dryer the sound will disappear.

It sounds like loud metal on metal, a random scrape maybe once per turn of the drum for when it happens and then, as I said, it may go quite on it's own within 10 seconds if i don't stop/restart it.

The sound may be coming from the left side of the dryer, more toward the top than bottom but I can't quite tell that or if it's front or back.

I wanted to get some advice before I open it up again as I'm not at all remotely familiar with what to look for.

Thanks very much for any help!

John

 

[rp2813]

When we had a DG806 of similar vintage, such a scraping sound meant that one of Dave's daughter's bras had lost one of its curved metal reinforcements and it had worked its way through the gap up front and the drum was scraping against it.  Extraction was a battle. 

 

This happened more than once.  She would wash delicates in the same load with denims and they didn't stand a chance.

 

If there are no females in your household, never mind.

 

[washdaddy]

It does sound like you might have something that's loose and catch maybe along a seam making the scraping sound somewhere in the drum.

 

[turquoisedude]

It could be the fan... I briefly had a DE306 of the same vintage where one of the fins on the fan blower was ever so slightly catching the blower housing and it made a scraping noise when the dryer first started but which faded after a few minutes.   I tore the dryer down completely but perhaps just checking the position of the fan and making sure it's well-attached on the shaft may help.   Getting to the fan is a bit of a pain, though... You'll have to remove the pulley and about 25 screws on the blower housing... 

 

[jtfolden]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

I had wondered if perhaps a foreign object escaped the drum but until it was mentioned here I never realized how big of a gap there was at the front. The first time I heard this sound I was doing a large load of laundry for a friend and can't be sure if something wasn't in a pocket, etc...

I was also wondering if it could be anything to do with wiring to the sensor bars that are built into the baffles for the moisture sensing electronic control or the HOH heating element around the front but I assume if either were damaged then there would be an obvious issue beyond the sound. The dryer still performs fine.

Does the front of these models come off or is everything accessed through the rear of the unit?

Thanks again,
John