DDG7188PE General Electric Dryer - Instructions

Removed the top, front and lower rear section of the dryer. This being my first experience replacing a dryer belt I naturally missed the tensioner pulley first try, then installed the belt on the wrong side of the pulley and found I didn't have enough tension. After some thought and a long hard look I realized my mistake and the third time was the charm. Next time I need to replace a dryer belt it should be a snap and go a lot faster.

Unplugged machine and turned off the gas. Removed top panel,4 screws along inside top edge of door opening. Used a wooden shim to pry the drum away from the surrounding "lip with felt padding. Slipped belt through.the trick is getting the belto around the entire drum. First I got it over the top of the drum, and fed it around the bottom by turning the drum and pushing the belt through the opening made by the shim between the bottom of drum and the lip with felt. It was kind of like feeding a bicycle chain onto a sprocket as you turn the wheel..
Removed back panel and vent hose, removed old belt laying on floor of machine, fed the belt onto the motor pulley and the tension pulley. Tension pulley presses on top side of belt. Belt should be in same position on drum as old belt, you can see a friction mark all around the drum from the old belt.
Replaced panels and vent hose. Put felt padding back into place wherever it slipped out. Very important because if you don't it scrapes the drum when turned on and makes a loud sound.
Dryer works perfectly again.

First I checked on-line "how to change a dryer belt" and followed the instructions. Remove front panel and slide belt over drum, in the back, put belt around pulley and hand trun the drum. on-line instructions had pictures to ensure proper install. It was easy.

open the front of the dryer, open the back access panel, remove the old belt fragment, pull front cover away from bushing surface at the front of drum, drape new belt around the face of drum, match location visible as the track of old belt, reroute belt at the motor and install tensioner in the proper way, reattach front cover, install back panel, done.

The repair was simple with my mechanic relative handling the tools. Total time about 25 minutes.

Previous repairs to the venerable machine with parts obtained freom Part Select and shipped to Germany: new drive motor and drum bearings.

Pulled the top of dryer off. Separated the door from the drum seal or gasket, slipped the belt through, put the drive belt on the motor and then put it all back together.

Checked out problem found belt broke and order part from part select and when it got in I replaced the belt and then found pully bad too. so I order that part from ya'll and it tok less than 5 mint to install. everything went very well and I and my wife are very happy with everything.
Thank's Partselect,
John& Roxanna

unplugged dryer,removed air duct,,remove( top of dryer) by removing the two back screws.... removed two screws under (fornt top lid),laid top to the side. ...Now remove ( front of dryer) remove,two screws near the( top on the inside)...lean dryer back, and remove outsidescrews at the bottom)..the front should come off. ..located small square opening in the back of the dryer release clamp from drum ,...put belt around drum... put drum and dryer back together...(relace any electrical wires removed if any..remove (rear bottom plug panel)..you can now see the lower inside of dryer....make sure belt is level on drum by rotating...place belt on lower pully,... lift tension(spring pully) on to belt.. replace cover..

The job is simple once you know how to remove the front panel. The steps are as follows:
1. disconnect the power cord.
2. remove 4 Phillips-head screws under the lip of the front panel that secure it to the top panel (#1 point Phillips-head screw driver)
3. swing the top panel up, it is hinged in the rear.
4. making note of the connection points of the color-coded wires, disconnect the wires to the lamp socket and door switch (I used a felt-tipped pen on the inside of the front panel to mark the connection points, "R" for red, etc.)
5. remove the upper 2 hex-head screws from inside of the front panel (5/16" nut-driver)
6. loosen the lower 2 hex-head screws (5/16" nut-driver) accessible from outside the panel (you only have to loosen them since the bottom mounting tabs are slotted)
7. slightly lift (to clear above mentioned lower tabs) and tilt the front panel toward you. Swing the front panel to the right as though you were opening a door and position so it does not fall.
8. remove 10 hex-head screws from the black lower rear access panel (5/16" nut-driver) and remove the broken drive belt. Note that the narrow black panel securing the power cable can remain in place.
9. at this point take advantage of the situation and vacuum out the years of lint and dust you could not reach before.
10. stand in front of the dryer, lift the dryer drum slightly and slip the new belt (rib side down) around the drum. Position the belt near the rear of the drum along the wear-mark left by the old belt.
11. go to the back and place the belt in the motor's drive-belt pulley, making sure the ribbed side of the belt mates with the ribs in the pulley.
12. position the tension wheel so that the it takes up the slack in the drive belt. Note the flat side of the drive belt will mate with the flat of the tension wheel.
13. spin the dryer drum a few turns by hand to make sure the drive belt lines up properly with the pulley.
14. reassemble the dryer by reversing the above steps, starting at step 8.

The repair for the average untrained mechanicslly inclined " first off google directions/instruction picture step by step " we took off the wrong part which made this job difficult there is a part on the back that was removed prior to guided directions, called parts select they are awesome"our belt was delivered the next day on a 3 day weekend I was suprised second correct part sent anyone who took on this job , they will appreciatte all this . the belt was fairly easy to repair just do as directed follow guidelines. difficulty detaching a part that never should be"pain in the a" order your part from this company they rock" and picture guide and specific direction guideline @ this dryer has well outlived the money spent still kicking strong after several years of use hotpoint dryer

I was disappointed that there were No Instructions included with the part. So I found a you-tube video that wlked me through it...Took off back of dryer, then the top, then the front to get to the igniter...could not pull out the part, so I had to reach in and replace it while it was in the dryer. It Works!

I didn't know what was wrong at first, only that the dryer would not start. I bought it used so had no fear of taking it apart to diagnose. Found the broken belt inside, ordered a replacement, installed the new belt, then crossed my fingers. Was pleasantly surprised that was all that was wrong and that for less than $20, including shipping, a few hours of my time, and a little help from YouTube videos the dryer is working again!

Researching on the web I thought the trouble might be lint buildup or trouble w/ one of the parts involved in spinning the drum. However I cleaned out all the lint and replaced the belt and idler pulley and this didn't improve the smell (drum bearing was fine). I then concluded the trouble was the motor. Running the motor w/o the drum in place confirmed this was where the noise/smell was coming from. Replacing the motor was fiddly--I had to remove the clip holding the motor (pried the top w/ a screwdriver), wires (made a diagram so as to put back in same order, they were hard to get off--a pliers did the job), clamps holding the motor on the duct, the motor mount, the duct, the fan. Putting all this back together took a while (not hard just fiddly). Tested the motor w/out the drum in place and it sounded fine. Put the drum and back/front/top panels back and the dryer runs fine now. All parts came quickly and exactly matched the parts in my 1993 Hotpoint dryer. As others have said the pulley kit is not needed--these are included w/ the motor. BTW I am a 53-year-old lady. Thanks to all who took the time to write up their experiences--big help!!

disassembled chassis of dryer, unbolted top, lifted top to expose drum. bolted top back on. resumed repair next morning. unbolted top. lifted drum (it moved up and down about 1 inch) and got new belt around it. rebolted top down. tipped dryer to its back. unbolted and removed panel at bottom, exposing drive motor and tensioner spring. positioned belt around drive motor spindle and tensioner spring. replaced panel. reconnected dryer to electricity. reconnected gas using new flexible connector.

What to do if you have a load of wet laundry at 23:00, the dryer won’t start, and you have no spare start switch.
Removed rear access panel and discovered the wire from terminal #2 (goes to heater coils) on the start switch had melted and disconnected. The start switch showed signs of overheating but not melted. Removed the switch and found the switch’s actuator button was jammed in the ‘in’ position (dryer won't start). The switch was a friendly one in that it was possible to disassemble it. Most switches today are molded/glued together, but this one could be pried apart. The contacts inside were still in fair condition and, after dressing them, the switch was reassembled. The actuator button had a burr that was filed off and the switch action worked fine. All of the 1/4" male QC contacts on the switch were cleaned with a wire brush. The burned wire was cut back about 6” and a new piece of 14ga wire was spliced in with a wire nut. A new 1/4” QC terminal was crimped to the wire and all wires were re-attached to the switch.
This fix would probably last for a long time to come, but I bought a new switch and installed it and will keep the old switch as a backup.
p.s. The load of laundry was dry by 02:00.