LEW0050PQ LHW005PQ - Stop Dryer from Screeching, the Dryer Belt, and Make Them Easy to Move

These are my blessed and beautifully flawed washer and dryer. I'm posting here because I would have to pay to start a thread on any of the appliance repair websites. I've gone through more trouble than you can think of with these babies. I looked online for any scrap of information I could but there was very little on this model. This didn't make me an expert but I hope whoever in the same shoes as me can sniff your way here and find my experience helpful.

My washer and dryer are located in a tiny closet. It's such a tight fit that it is impossible to get behind the machines. You can see from the picture below. The engineer of this pair must have overlooked one crucial fact: When you want a stackable, it often means that you don't have space enough to access it from the behind. And so is my case.


Remember to unplug and if necessary, turn off the water valves...


Mobilizing the Washer

After searching everywhere on the internet, I found a thread saying you can put the combo on some wheels, something called "appliance rollers" like this:


I bought a pair of rollers from Home Depot for less than 15 dollars. It was a hell of job lifting the combo to put the wheels beneath them. It would be helpful if you could get your dryer off the washer. I can hardly lift 50 pounds myself so I hired someone to do it. However, the washer inevitably vibrates and tries to free itself from gravity. Now the tiny space helps. I initially tried to wedge a door stopper under the wheels but the floor was too smooth to hold. Then I put my books to use. Adam Smith is presently squeezed in between the wall and the washer quite snuggedly, with some other literary names. And it works!

Other things you may need are longer hoses, a longer vent pipe, and possibly some power extension. I got 6" hoses for the washer, but the store-bought hose connectors were not the right size for the washer. I almost gave up before I tried putting an extra rubber ring in each and tightened them. It worked like a miracle. The power cord on the dryer is quite short actually. I'm small enough to squeeze in with the machines turned to an angle so I decided to leave it.

The Screaming Dryer
Having no experience nor proper tools, I called the appliance service company to do it. I looked on while he worked the machine. You will need the cross and the star shaped screw drivers for these machines.

Now there are two little doors you can open in the back of the dryer toward the bottom. The one on the right is for the motor and the drum belt. The one of the left is for the vent I guess. He examined both and found nothing. So it was not the drum belt, nor the pulley (There was actually no pulley in this model). There was also a little plastic square thing in the middle of the back panel. He unscrewed this and checked whether there was enough grease. There was. Then he unscrewed the two star shaped screws right below the top panel of the dryer and lifted up the top panel easily, turned the drum and the screeching was still there.

Then he said he would have to take the back panel off as well. There were a couple of star-shaped screws on both sides and he took those off. The back panel fell with the weight of the drum. He started checking the felt at the edge of the drum. I heard something drop and picked it up - it was a tiny black plastic bit - and he said that might have been the cause. It surely was. Putting everything back was not so much trouble for him but it turned out to be hellish for me a couple of days later. It's not a weak person's job...

The Dryer Belt
I did something stupid after Jim the service guy left. I imagined the dryer was louder than it should be so I turned the drum with my hand. I heard something snap or click and the drum turned freely. I pushed the power button. The heating was ok but the drum was not moving. That's when I decided to get my power screw driver in the posting below.

Armed with my new toy, I opened those two little doors at the bottom. Sure enough, I could see the drum belt hanging. It came loose. I saw there were two places where I could put the belt, one of the left and one on the right. The one on the left was an easy fit and the one on the right looked impossible. Obviously the impossible one was what I was supposed to do. Still, I wasn't sure. But after poring over the internet in vain, I decided to give it a try anyway.

I did it eventually, but with a couple of wrong moves and a few lessons:
1) I opened the back panel, which was a mistake. It was impossible to put it back with the unstretchable belt in place. I don't know how the service guy did it. Maybe he was just stronger.
2) Pull real hard at the belt to fit it on the motor thing. I think that's why other models have pulleys. It's extremely hard to slide the belt on the motor. I put back only the one screw on the top on each side and pushed the back panel with the drum hard to the right. My right hand went through the bottom right door and with much effort I put it back in place.
3) Putting back that white plastic square thingy was harder than I thought. I had to use a hammer handle as lever to lift the drum to the upper left in order that the square thing was in the right place for the screw holes. You really have to be strong to do a thing like this. Or you have to think your head off and use a lever.
4) There was an obvious mark on the drum surface where the belt was. So I got my confirmation that I did the right thing.

I went through more trouble than described actually. And I'm still not 100% sure about the correctness. They are working fine now. That gives me comfort.

不免觉得我点背，我认识的男的大部分还不如我。比如我的新欢，空有一身蛮力气，胸肌比我那啥还大，唉，不说了。。。奶奶的，恨不生身为男儿。。。我要是男的，那蓝精灵的歌不就完全是给我写的。。。