I'm Back With Some Appliance Repair

So I have owned this for about 20 years and have had to replace the dryer belt maybe twice.  Both times I had someone else do it.  When it broke again at the beginning of summer I didn't have the money to have a repairman fix it, so I turned to the internet, of course!

Most of the YouTube videos out there on dryer repair are either crap or not detailed enough to get a good idea of what you're up against.  After reading quite a few of them, and hearing that it was not too difficult, I went and bought a new dryer belt.

Since the weather has been relatively nice all summer, I put it off and just line dried my clothes.  It makes for some interesting wrinkles and boardy jeans, but they smell so good.

Today, my day off and day to do laundry, it rained, so I had to do this.

First, I removed the screws from the top of the machine at the corners, to take the front panel off.  I discovered that it was fastened behind the black control dashboard, so off came the slanted panel and the metal cover under it.  Then I removed the screws from the control dashboard and lifted it up and out, like one of the videos said.  By the way, this one was the most helpful.

Finally I was able to remove the door unit, which was not too easy owing to the huge plastic tube on the lower left that all the videos managed to avoid mentioning.  Then I unclipped the electrical wires on the left. 

 This thing was unwieldy and heavy!

Just ignore all the girly laundry.

Here is the new belt.

I slipped the belt over the dryer drum and pushed it way to the back, making sure it was flat and free of obstructions.  I took off the access door on the back of the dryer to expose the idler pulleys.  I had already pulled out the remnants of my old belt.

This has a spring tension on it.

The belt is installed.

Now to get this thing back together.  No matter how I tried, I couldn't accomplish pushing, pulling, shoving, and lifting at the same time to get the door unit back on.  I had to remove the door, because it was too heavy, and I couldn't see what I was doing.

I was still having trouble aligning the drum with the opening on the door unit and the screws on the sides, so I used a bit of female ingenuity and propped up the drum with some pieces of wood.  I was finally able to position the door with only two hands and my shoulder and get one screw in.  The rest was relatively easy.

Got the dashboard back on.  The dents are from years ago in February when a pipe burst on the 2nd floor and water went through all the floors and the dryer was covered in ice, which I was trying to remove in frustration.

Metal panel back on.

Put the slanted panel back on and plugged it in, holding my breath. . . . . .Success!!!!  I have a dryer!