By Introduction
While dryers are louder than other home appliances, a significantly noisy dryer calls for an alarm. You may have one or two or several components worn out or damaged. You can search for “dryer repair near me” and hire professionals to fix it for you. Let’s check out the common causes of a noisy dryer and how you can fix it.
The Causes
- Worn-out drum axles and rollers – Worn-out rollers are the most common causes of a noisy dryer. Most technicians report the failure of this component when they get a call for fixing a noisy dryer. It’s a common point of failure since rollers are mechanical components that are used vigorously. You may also have worn-out axles that the rollers spin on.
The roller mainly serves as a support for the drum when it spins to dry your clothes. Some dryer models have a couple of rollers at the front and the back while others have them just at the back. As these rollers keep spinning with the drum, their bearings wear out and the axles also get a lot of wear and tear over time.
While you check the rollers, make sure that they spin freely with a small amount of force and without any wobbling or bobbing. If the rollers are worn out completely, then the axles are definitely damaged and need to be replaced along with the rollers. To identify wear and tear with sound, you need to access the back panel and spin the dryer drum manually. If the rollers or axles are making a squeaky noise, then they are damaged and need to be replaced.
- Frayed or damaged drive belt – Drive belts are the second most common mechanical component of dryers that get worn out quicker than the rest. Whether you have an electric or gas dryer, both have drive belts in them. The belt is made of a heat-resistant, flexible material and wraps around the dryer drum. It connects the drum with the drive motor via a loop on a tension pulley system. When the motor drives the pulley, it makes the drive belt loop around and spins the dryer.
When your dryer gets old after a few years of use, the drive belt gets frayed and worn out and later on becomes unusable. If you hear a lot of thumping noise instead of squeaking noise from the dryer, then it’s probably due to a worn-out drive belt. After you disassemble the dryer, check for frayed pieces of rubber or other material that the drive belt is made from.
Worn-out pieces of rubber from the drive belt tell you that it’s in dire condition and needs to be replaced immediately. You can also feel the drive belt with your hands for frayed sections. If you replace the dryer belt, make sure to lube the pulley as well. Use lubricants recommended by the manufacturer so that the viscosity is just right and helps the pulley and motor work optimally.
- Dirty or faulty blower wheel – A blower wheel has a very important role inside the dryer. It pushes air from the heating chamber into the dryer drum and then further pushes it out through the exhaust. However, small pieces of lint, fabric and other types of tiny debris sometimes make their way through the lint filter and get stuck to the blower wheel. This can create a loud noise.
If the problem is just due to some dirt and debris stuck in the blower wheel, cleaning it up will fix the problem. While you’re at it, you can also clean the lint filter and check that the blower wheel is connected to the shaft or clamp properly. Tighten a few screws if necessary. A loose blower wheel can also make loud noises. You should also clean out the lint filter after drying every load to avoid this problem.
On the other hand, if there’s nothing stuck to the blower wheel, the noise may be caused by a worn-out blower wheel that is not able to spin properly. Check the airflow created by the blower wheel by removing the vent. If the airflow is weak, then you may have a faulty blower that needs to be replaced.
- Worn-out drum bearing – While most manufacturers rely on rollers to support their dryer drums, some even add bearings to take some of the load off. These kinds of dryers require less frequent repairs since the rollers last longer. The drum bearing used in these types of dryers is set up differently across models. They may range from a ball and socket type to a shaft with sleeve brushing and more. So, if rollers aren’t causing the squeaky noise, you may have worn-out drum bearings that need to be replaced.
- Damaged idler pulley – As mentioned above, the drive belt is connected to a pulley system that is further connected to a motor to spin the drum. However, there’s also an idler pulley that delivers tension to the drive belt. If you tend to overload your dryer quite often, then this pulley has to withstand a lot of stress and gets worn out faster. When the idler pulley gets damaged, it will create a loud scraping noise. You’ll need to replace it to fix the problem.
- Faulty drive motor – The drive motor is the heart of the dryer that turns the drum and rotates the blower. When the drive motor has aged and developed faults, it will create a loud humming, rattling, or high-pitched noise. Unfortunately, you can’t fix a complex drive motor with DIY skills. For this, you’ll need to hire a technician.
Conclusion
To diagnose the noisy dryer, you’ll need to access the dryer cabinet and do the basic disassembly. Some of the causes behind a noisy dryer are easy to identify and fix while the rest are very complicated. If it gets too overwhelming, you can search for “dryer repair near me” and hire pros to fix it for you.
