Published: 2026-01-10
My dryer broke and we had a bunch of towels that were wet in the dryer and another load in the washer ready to go. Of course, when issues happen they always happen at inopportune times so I rushed in to fix it. I got my ratchet set out, screwdrivers, gloves (metal is sharp) and got to work taking it apart to see what was wrong.
The dryer belt was snapped. I had just replaced it a year ago, so I vaguely remembered how to fix it. I cleaned up the lint and rubber around the motor, ordered the right part and went about the rest of my evening. The next morning the belt arrived. I installed it, ran the dryer, and it was tumbling fine. Checked the airflow at the vent, air was pushing through good. "I fixed it", I thought. I felt useful. Put the towels in and walked around the basement putting things away in triumph.
CLUNK. That's usually not a good sound. Check the dryer and it's no longer tumbling. "I suspect the belt may have snapped" and sure enough it had because I failed to recognize the problem. The problem wasn't "the belt snapped". The problem is that "something is causing the belt to snap".
Well, now I'm going into RCA mode. I start to think about "What questions did I not ask?". In the case of the dryer, I have several that come to mind:
* Are the drum rollers turning freely?
* Is the idler pulley aligned correctly?
* Is the motor turning freely?
* Are the towels too heavy/bulky?
* Is this worth my time to fix?
* Are there better dryers that I can buy?
Asking all these questions is leading to what I hope is the right solution. The mechanic in me wants to take a second shot at this, but the pragmatist just wants to find a better dryer. For example, another issue we have with bulky items is they don't dry in the alotted time. Newer dryers have better sensors and technology for handling larger items.
I don't know what the solution is yet, but I know that next time I have a problem, I'm going to consider asking all the right questions to understand the problem first. Thinking about the problem sparked in me a desire to write and share about it.
The dryer belt was snapped. I had just replaced it a year ago, so I vaguely remembered how to fix it. I cleaned up the lint and rubber around the motor, ordered the right part and went about the rest of my evening. The next morning the belt arrived. I installed it, ran the dryer, and it was tumbling fine. Checked the airflow at the vent, air was pushing through good. "I fixed it", I thought. I felt useful. Put the towels in and walked around the basement putting things away in triumph.
CLUNK. That's usually not a good sound. Check the dryer and it's no longer tumbling. "I suspect the belt may have snapped" and sure enough it had because I failed to recognize the problem. The problem wasn't "the belt snapped". The problem is that "something is causing the belt to snap".
Well, now I'm going into RCA mode. I start to think about "What questions did I not ask?". In the case of the dryer, I have several that come to mind:
* Are the drum rollers turning freely?
* Is the idler pulley aligned correctly?
* Is the motor turning freely?
* Are the towels too heavy/bulky?
* Is this worth my time to fix?
* Are there better dryers that I can buy?
Asking all these questions is leading to what I hope is the right solution. The mechanic in me wants to take a second shot at this, but the pragmatist just wants to find a better dryer. For example, another issue we have with bulky items is they don't dry in the alotted time. Newer dryers have better sensors and technology for handling larger items.
I don't know what the solution is yet, but I know that next time I have a problem, I'm going to consider asking all the right questions to understand the problem first. Thinking about the problem sparked in me a desire to write and share about it.