Rebuilding Maytag LDE 7500: Felt drum seals

[charbee]

Hello all, been awhile!

Our 20 year old Maytag dryer finally needs TLC, and after I tore it down it was obvious a rebuild was in order. So, after I'm done she'll have new drum rollers, roller axles, idler wheel, belt, blower seal, front "saddle" bearing pads and the front and rear felt drum seals. Once I'm done, she should last for another 20 years.

I'll be able to do most of this with no problem, but I've got a question on these two felt drum seals. The originals are creased or folded so that there's a "tab" or "lip" that slips under those metal tabs on the bulkheads. No adhesive in sight, except for a dot of it where the ends of the seal overlap a couple of inches. The NEW seals that I ordered are just plain flat strips of felt, with no folded lip to fit into the metal tabs.

My question is: Do I need to crease or fold the new seals before I put them in, or will they just naturally conform to the right shape as I install them? It occurred to me that possibly the fold in the old ones was just due to them being so worn out, but I don't know for sure. Any light y'all can shed would be much appreciated.

 

[charbee]

For anyone interested...

Here is a photo-essay/rebuild diary for this project. Learned a lot by doing this and I'm glad I was able to rebuild this dryer and keep it in service for (hopefully) another twenty years.

Maytags from Newton, Iowa rule.

Here's to ANOTHER 20 years!

 

[macboy91si]

Big Load Dryer

I think it's a very well written post, I can tell that you put a lot of work into that. I bookmarked it as all of the 76+ Maytag dryers through the 90's are similar.

Thanks for posting!

-Tim

 

[dnastrau]

Nice write-up!

Excellent write-up that will be helpful to other Maytag dryer owners. One question: Did the drum rollers require any oil (like turbine oil) when you installed the new ones on the new shafts, or do they just get installed dry?

Thanks,

Andrew S.

 

[charbee]

No oil necessary...

Tim: thanks, I appreciate your comments. I hope it DOES help someone else keep one of the pieces of Old American Ingenuity alive.

Andrew S.: Pretty sure there shouldn't be any need for oil from all the info I could gather...in fact, I think oil might be detrimental, as it could decompose and splatter onto the belt and cause it to slip. I'm hoping that the bearings in the new rollers will last as long as the originals. Time will tell!

And your comment also reminds me of something I left out: I took 91% Isopropyl Alcohol on a rag and cleaned the motor belt pulley. It was kinda gunky and sticky, and the alcohol did a good job of cleaning it up. Off to edit the page!

 

[macboy91si]

Drum Rollers

FYI, I didn't notice, but I have always been told that these need periodic lubrication with a light turbine oil. It makes sense since it's a bushing riding on a shaft, but I have no idea how long these would last without oil.

-Tim

 

[charbee]

re: oil

I'll look into it further, but everything I read (and the Repair Clinic video I watched on replacing the rollers) all indicated that they go on without oil.

btw: Repair Clinic has an excellent series of videos on this particular generation of Maytag Dryer on YouTube: just find their "channel" and there's a playlist for this type of Maytag Dryer...very good basic info to bookmark!

 

[pdub]

Wow

I'm really impressed with your write up and photos. Great job!

Patrick

 

[charbee]

Many thanks pdub! The main idea behind why I love vintage appliances is that if you know how to keep them going, they can last you your whole life. If I can help pass that on, I feel like I've done my bit to help.