Washing Machine Help Forum

by **wideawakewesley** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:40 pm

The jockey pulley for my IS70c recently cracked causing the belt to fall off. I managed to put a new pulley in place (correct for the model) and reattached the belt. All looked to be going well, but when I tested the dryer with the sides off, the drum doesn't seem to be being pulled properly by the belt when motor is spinning. The belt occasionally slips against the drum, causing quite a wide variation in speed and even when going as fast as seems now possible the drum doesn't move at the sort of speed I envisaged it should (albeit I have no frame of reference here). If I then put wet clothes in the dryer, the belt fails to pull the drum round at all.

When I attached the belt to the left side of the pulley, it was difficult to attach (i.e. tight), but I didn't need anything to lever it on. So I'm wondering if either the belt has got stretched just enough to prevent enough tension being generated to grip the drum properly or if it's actually the motor that isn't pulling at the speed it normally would.

Any ideas on things I can do to diagnose the problem?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

put the belt on properley!!!

unfortunately, this is quite common

beleive it or not, the belt pulls OVER the pulley (as hard as that is)..

its tight, too tight really, but the belts never stretch and it isnt the motor!

failing that, its worth taking the small acess panel off and checking the back of the drum hasnt dropped off

all too common, on a poorly built dryer

by **wideawakewesley** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:28 am

As far as I can tell the belt is on properly. It's over the drum, feeds around the grooves in the motor spindle and has been pulled over the left side of the pulley, which was hard (but not that hard and didn't required any leverage other than my fingers). There really isn't anywhere else I can see it could go to be any tighter than it is.

I've included a very basic cutaway diagram to show you where the belt runs currently.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/859mq.jpg[/img]

As I'm seeing the belt slip on the drum as it's being pulled around, I assume there's either there's too much resistance from the drum (or a part connected to it), the belt has too much slack in it or there's not enough power coming from the motor. Is it really impossible for belts to stretch even slight amounts?

Also, where is the small access panel?

by **iadom** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:13 am

Its on the back, dead centre. If you take if off and a lot of black dust falls out then its almost certain your drum shaft has worn right through.

by **helo_75** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:20 am

if that diagram is from the front of the machine, then the belts on wrong!

both sides of the belt should be to the right of the pulley, the left side running on it!!

and yes its unbelievably tight to get on

by **wideawakewesley** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:34 pm

iadom wrote:Its on the back, dead centre. If you take if off and a lot of black dust falls out then its almost certain your drum shaft has worn right through.

Ok, I know the bit you mean. I took the cover off the other day but don't recall a large amount of black dust in there. I couldn't actually get the piece it was covering up off.

helo_75 wrote:if that diagram is from the front of the machine, then the belts on wrong!

both sides of the belt should be to the right of the pulley, the left side running on it!!

and yes its unbelievably tight to get on

That diagram is from the front. Not sure what you mean by both sides of the belt though? Do you mean this?

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ZYcC5.jpg[/img]

If so, do both sides of the belt not touch the pulley? I assume not and the angle from the drum to the motor spindle is enough to keep the other side away from the pulley?

by **helo_75** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:48 pm

thats exactly how it should be

good luck putting it on, i use an old belt to drag the belt over the pulley, it really seems too tight, but trust me when i say its right

thats the reason the pulleys and drum bearings fail so quickly.. far too much tension

by **wideawakewesley** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:06 pm

Thanks for the help. I'll give it a go tonight and report back. Better keep the kids out of the kitchen as I expect I'll be dropping a few f-bombs

by **wideawakewesley** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:35 pm

helo_75 wrote:thats exactly how it should be

good luck putting it on, i use an old belt to drag the belt over the pulley, it really seems too tight, but trust me when i say its right

thats the reason the pulleys and drum bearings fail so quickly.. far too much tension

Bloody hell you were right about it being tight. I've had a quick go and realised I need something akin to the belt you're using and some extra muscles. Hmmm...

by **wideawakewesley** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:58 pm

A friend and a ratchet seemed to do the job very easily. We'd have never got it on by hand, but it seems to be working properly now. Thanks for the help!

by **quickwash** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:48 pm

Hi wideawakewesley, (that confused me for a bit, mind you i am easily

)

Well done :tup:

Always glad when people post the outcome

all the best

quickwash :plug:

by **Sashford** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:12 pm

Hi,
We have replaced the belt (Correctly as per the diagram) but the drum still needs help (by giving it a slight push) if it is to start turning. You hear the motor trying to get it started and then a couple of clicks from the dial as it resets the direction, but unless you assist it, it wont start to turn. Once its started, it's fine, but it means you need to stay with it, with the top off, if it is to work. Can you advise what we should check next.

Many thanks