for those of you in a rush, the answer is yes, indeed, if you can get the part or parts required for lower that £7, and - let me make this clear, and - you have the requisite skills to do the work.
should it be the case, look you see, that one of the two points above are lacking, then the answer, alas, is no.
just which category do i fit in to, from the above? as in, i mean, the "yes" or "no" answer? well, perhaps it would be kind to say that i was in a third category, which is to say "i tried". but as that attempt did not end in that which some would consider victory, i suppose i had better settle for "no".
where to begin with this adventure? i suppose with why, or how come, i came to know so much of the vagaries and ways of tumble dryer repair concerns. this all commenced, or kicked off, when my (considerably) better half notified me that she heard a loud cracking noise off of the tumble dryer, and then noted that the drum within it - the one where wet garments are transformed to dry - had stopped spinning.
our understanding of the wizardry of a tumble dryer relates very much to the spinning part. should it not spin, then no magical drying. as, on the whole, both i and my entire family really do rather prefer wearing clothes what are dry as opposed to those what are wet, we took a decision to investigate costs of a new belt to put on it.
much delight, merriment, happiness and joy was had when we discovered that a new belt for our particular form or if you like brand of tumble dryer was south of £10. a decent amount south of £10, as it happens, for the cost seemed to be also 1p south of £7. so, pooling our resources and efforts, we bought a new belt.
the belt, to be sure, arrived. it looked identical, or if you like exact, to the remnants of the one which was broken, except of course that the replacement one was a looped, perfectly formed belt, rather than having a jagged edge snap in it.
indeed, we referenced the internet, specifically some of them you tube video things, for instruction and guidance as to how we may go about adding this new belt. all such videos, documents and so forth said that, in essence, a tumble dryer is a "fairly simple" piece of technology, and quite straightforward to amend, repair or get up and running.
after several hours of toil, hard labour and discernible harm suffered, i can say quite categorically that all statements which suggest or state that it is an easy task are not as avoiding of being misleading as they could be.
one of the more interesting things i became aware of after watching the videos and then trying what i saw was how skilfully edited the videos are. commentary such as "then you just loosen the back" sounds so easy that you are distracted from the fact that the video fades out, not revealing exactly how the loosened back, say, lets you get the belt over the drum.
i am not necessarily saying the creators of these videos are deliberately misleading simple folk such as me. perhaps they just assume that all and sundry "will know" what they meant, and so elected to shave a few moments off the running length of the video but getting rid of these parts.
this is something i have said before, and shall no doubt be called on to say again. much of, indeed many of, the problems in this world stem from one person assuming that another, or group of others, knows something or other in relation to their own actions and words. if we could all get away from that self centred approach to thinking, my this whole planet would be a better place to live.
of the 7 or so hours my (considerably) better half and i spent trying to get the tumble dryer sorted it was, i think, some 3 which were spent on working out how to slide the belt over the drum in the first instance. the thing kept getting stuck or trapped on some form of lip or catch. this was not an element discussed, mentioned or raised in any of the videos what we saw.
it was around half time of trying to slide the belt over that we heard a distinct, sharp, crisp (hello, Faye) and most unwelcome "crack" sound. we knew that it was a sound which should not have happened. and yet we carried on, determined that the belt was not going to get the better of us, despite deep down knowing that our endeavours had probably rendered the machine now impossible to get up and running correctly.
we have had, or better still had, this tumble dryer for around four years. if you look at it from an activity based costing perspective, the deprecation factor of costs meant that our investment was around £50 per year to have it, excluding energy or power costs. in terms of previous maintenance or wear and tear, indeed yes our model was one of them branded a fire risk, so the manufacturer came and replaced a part on it just slightly north of a year ago.
our era is one in which we are conditioned, or encouraged, to think in terms of the above. all and everything is seen as being disposable, or easily replaced. quite a shame, i think, hence me having a go at a repair. no, they do not seem to "build things like they used to", but i suppose they are also cheaper and safer.
that picture above? some spare screws what i now have, which appeared to serve no purpose being in the tumble dryer. well, they probably did, but i did not put them back. some of them were not returned because, frankly, i could not remember nor work out where i took them out of. not bad going, when you consider how many pictures i took as i went about the business of trying to repair it.
anyway, with the belt on we progressed to the final stage. this was futile, i suppose, since we were fairly confident that the machine was knacked anyway. perhaps we had just engaged in that "keep calm and carry on" approach, despite the saying now apparently being out of fashion. or maybe we thought that whatever had cracked, possibly snapped, would magically fix itself once we had the belt on over the pulley system and the machine back together.
warning, then, as the next picture features some blood. not much, and just a tiny scratch, but blood all the same.
yeah, that was the harm inflicted on me. the belt, no matter how many times we "gave it a good pull" to "loosen it" was having none of being flexible enough to stretch over the pulley. this was clear some 30 or so minutes into trying, but it did not stop me spending two or so hours having a good go at it.
did i utter any, or many, profanities and vulgarities with each failed attempt? oh, dear reader, yes. quite a formidable tour of the lexicon of expletives was undertaken with me as the guide.
eventually, exhausted, deflated, defeated and on the brink of tears, i just gave up on the whole thing. we are resigned to the fact that a new tumble dryer must now be purchased, for the climate in which we live does not offer quite so many outdoor drying opportunities as you might have thought.
i patched it all up, then, save for the spare screws. the bits which i could not or could not be bothered to add back to the machine were just shoved in the drum. rather interestingly, the parts all fitted in that perfectly. it is like the designers and manufacturers knew that many who tried to carry out a "simple" repair or replacement on the machine would have this precise need.
off it went, then, to the nearest "recycling centre", a place once known as the local tip or the local dump. some solace - not a great deal, but some all the same - was taken when i saw just how many other tumble dryers were left there. evidently i was not alone, then, in being led down the path which said "yeah, sure, of course you can replace the belt yourself, no problem".
anyway, on to the next adventure, then.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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