Checking the Drum Baffles

It is not necessary to feed coins into your dryer to operate it but occasionally they find their way into your machine anyway. They will clink, clank and slap along once per drum revolution. Sometimes you will find them on the bottom of the drum when you take the clothes out. Other times you can hear them clanking away but when you stop the dryer to remove the clothes and coins, they are nowhere to be seen! Thats because they are in the coin box - the drum baffle.

The drum baffle is the large plastic paddle inside the drum that lifts and tumbles your clothes. The baffle in a new dryer may fit tightly against the inside of the drum but a space soon forms that is wide enough for a dime, and later; quarters, pennies and nickels to slide through. Once they are in the hollow baffle, they don't slide back out. A hole slightly larger in diameter than a quarter has been strategically placed in the drum under the baffle to allow coins, jewelry, paper clips and other items flat enough to slide under the baffle to drop onto the floor of the dryer cabinet. Trajectories have to be just right for the objects to fall through the single hole and escape the baffle. Until they do escape, they will rattle and clack along for several weeks.

Unloading the Drum Baffles

UNPLUG THE DRYER.
Remove the lint filter and the two screws that were under it.
Pull the dryer away from the wall.
Get a putty knife and slide it in between the top and the cabinet about 2.5" in from each corner to release the clips holding the top down. Push in and pull up on the knife to release the clips. Don't use a screwdriver for this step or you will damage the dryer finish.

Slide the dryer away from wall far enough so that you can tilt the top firmly against the wall without it falling on you.
Grasp the front edge of the drum and turn it until you see the hole under the baffle and the two screws holding it in place. Remove the screws.
Make sure that everything is out of the baffle and reinstall it inside the drum. If you think that a lot of coins and jewelry made their way to the bottom, it may be worth your time to take the drum out and remove everything from the bottom of the dryer cabinet.
Lock the top down and replace the screws that were under the lint filter.
Replace the lint filter and check the dryer for proper, quiet operation.

All of the information in these Appliance Clinicprocedures is provided FREE OF CHARGE. No liability is assumed by theauthor for the accuracy of the contents or damages caused by the use ofthese procedures. By Oron Schmidt.