Replacing the Blower Wheel

The heater is located in the lower right hand corner down under the drum. The heater element is composed of a coils of resistance wire suspended by ceramic insulators (see drawing). Air is drawn into the front of the heater enclosure, past the heater elements and into the the back of the drum.

The blower wheel will talk to you when it is failing. It will start with a high frequency vibration that will become a low frequency rumble when it has become a serious problem. The blower resides at the front of the dryer in the lower left hand corner. The best way to confirm a suspect blower wheel is to inspect it. First unplug the dryer. The front panel of this dryer can be easily removed by unscrewing the two screws located in each of the lower corners. After the screws are out, pull the front panel out from the bottom until you can release the two cabinet clips at the top. Carefully swing the panel to the left and prop it up. The door switch wires are still attached. Locate the beige colored plastic blower wheel down in the lower left corner.

Grasp the outer edge of the wheel inside the shroud and determine if it is loose on the shaft.

What causes the hub to wallow out and wobble on the shaft? Small articles of clothing or lint that gets by the lint filter will impinge on the blower wheel blades. Lint will continue to collect on previous lint or the clothing like a rolling snowball until a substantual clump of lint is pinned up against the inside of the blower wheel by centrifugal force. This collection of debris causes the wheel to be severely out of balance. This results in some complex forces of the soft plastic hub against the hard steel shaft. The plastic gives first and soon the hub is wallowed out and the wheel is wobbling on the shaft and making lots of noise. In extreme cases the wheel will start to disintegrate! If the wheel is loose on the shaft the blower wheel should be replaced.

After the dryer front panel is removed, the front shroud of the blower housing must be removed. The screws holding the plastic shroud on are inside the drum. Remove these screws and the shroud will come off. You now have full access to the blower wheel. Remove the C clip from the motor shaft using a C clip pliers or a small screwdriver. Slide the old wheel off the shaft and reverse this process to install the new one.