# frigidaire dryer has excessive vibration



## gmoliver

I have a frigidaire FERB5700DS0 electric dryer. This is a rather basic front loading dryer. It was making a somewhat low noise while running.
Seems the dryer drys fine. This seems to be an intermittent problem that seems to crop up once the dryer has been running and drying for say 10 to 20 minutes. 
Check all the obvious thinks with lint buildup etc.

Called a recommended repair guy and said it was the idler pulley. It was not the fix. Guy came back and thought the drum bearing looked dry and changed the bearing and packed it with fresh grease. Not the fix. He came back and said the idler pully looked suspect to changed it again. Not the fix as every time the vibration returns as I said before. He came back and changed the idler pully shaft but yesterday it was doing the same damn thing.

The technician has not charged me but for the first call, first idler pulley, and the bearing part. He is baffled also. The location is in Baton Rouge where we own a house where my daughter lives while attending LSU. Yesterday I was there all day and witnessed the problem through outt the day as we washed and dryed clothes.

I asked about the belt, spring tensioner, etc. He said this is a basic machine and cannot understand why we cannot find the problem. He seems to know his stuff but again the problem is intermittent. Seems to run fine while he is there but problem starts again a while after he leaves. One thing he did say is that it could be the motor. I gathered that he was referring to the motor bearings which could be failing since it appeared yesterday that the vibration would start, go on for a while, then stop and was running without vibration and then start up again a while later.

I am handy and can trouble shoot pretty well overall but this too has me baffled. I am coming to the conclusion that it may well be the motor bearings failing.

Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Glenn


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## gregzoll

Drum out of round, roller going bad. It is really hard to tell, unless you are able to watch from the back or front while turning.


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## gmoliver

gregzoll said:


> Drum out of round, roller going bad. It is really hard to tell, unless you are able to watch from the back or front while turning.


It is really hard to tell. I don't think the drum is out of round. Several times I have watched the drum while turning from the front and it appears to be turning fine.

What roller are you speaking of? The idler pulley roller was replaced. Several times I have looked closely at a detailed diagram of the workings and it is a pretty basic mechanism that turns the drum. I am going to look at it from the back but have to wait until next weekend. I am starting to think it is the motor bearing(s) in the process of failing. Very frustrating. I'm at a quandary...
Thanks,
Glenn


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## gregzoll

There should be a set of rollers on the front that it will sit on. If the drum was not put back in place properly when it was put back together, you will get your problem of the thump, thump, thump. I always hated working on dryers by myself, because as a DIY project, they are a PITA to try to support while putting back together. Where as with a repair person, they do enough, it is easy. What I personally would do, is call another company for a second opinion, and when they show, show them the repair bill from the other company, and hope they do not try to fix something that was already done.


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## Jacques

this dryer doesn't have rollers. since this is a vibration problem; could be the motor. if the servicer hasn't given up, i would start a load while he's on his way over so he can hear the noise. may have a cracked blower that goes out of balance when hot. i assume he checked the front felt/plastic glides, these have a high failure rate.


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## Thurman

Some dryers do not have rollers on the front for the drum, as Jacques stated. The have a "wear block" made of a material (something like Teflon) which _should_ offer a slippery surface for the dryer drum to rotate (actually radially slide) on. IF you have a candle handy, rub the candle wax over the area of the drum which slides on these wear blocks. I have used this to tell if the wear blocks have become too dry for the drum to "radially slide" on. If this works, or helps, then maybe new wear blocks are in order. They are not expensive. Just a thought, David


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## boman47k

I would also suspect the drum glides. I would also check the felt seal around the bulkhead if it has one. The seal may have palces where the adhesive has turned loose or may have a build up of some sort between the seal and bulkhead. The bulkhead is the rear panel of the dryer that holds the drum. Also check for any glides that be around it. The drum should really be removed to check any surfaces it rides on. I think the problem will be found in that area. Ths is assumimg the dryer is level.

I don't seem to be getting reply notices from here, but I will check back and hope you let us know what you find out.


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## gmoliver

Thanks for all the advice. Dryer is level. First thing I checked. I noticed last Saturday that when the vibration came on that the loovers on the exhaust outside would close some and then reopen fully (sort of pulsate) etc. so possible the blower is cracked as the problem does seem to occur only after it heats up.

There is a glide and felt seals. The glide appears to be on the front of the drum and the felt seals (there are two which make up the full circumference of the drum) which are glued to the back of the front panel encircleing where the front of the drum rotates.

I am going to call the service guy again to again complain (nicely) that the problem is not corrected and point out a possible cracked blower, the guide and felt be checked (if he had not closely checked each). My problem is I am in New Orleans and the dryer is in Baton Rouge (60 miles) so have to rely on the tech. Like I said earlier the owner/tech has been very accomodating but the problem has not been found.
Thanks for all the assistance. It is greatly appreciated and I will let you know the result.
Glenn


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## boman47k

Definitely have the blower wheel and cage checked. Seems I remember seeing some coated with residue from dryer sheets, not to mention lint. I have also seen the wheels cracked where they are attached in t emiddle with snap rings or bolts. Do not try to put a clamp on it if the middle is cracked. Have it replaced. I completely forgot about the blower wheel.


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## david7268

gmoliver said:


> I have a frigidaire FERB5700DS0 electric dryer. This is a rather basic front loading dryer. It was making a somewhat low noise while running.
> Seems the dryer drys fine. This seems to be an intermittent problem that seems to crop up once the dryer has been running and drying for say 10 to 20 minutes.
> Check all the obvious thinks with lint buildup etc.
> 
> Called a recommended repair guy and said it was the idler pulley. It was not the fix. Guy came back and thought the drum bearing looked dry and changed the bearing and packed it with fresh grease. Not the fix. He came back and said the idler pully looked suspect to changed it again. Not the fix as every time the vibration returns as I said before. He came back and changed the idler pully shaft but yesterday it was doing the same damn thing.
> 
> The technician has not charged me but for the first call, first idler pulley, and the bearing part. He is baffled also. The location is in Baton Rouge where we own a house where my daughter lives while attending LSU. Yesterday I was there all day and witnessed the problem through outt the day as we washed and dryed clothes.
> 
> I asked about the belt, spring tensioner, etc. He said this is a basic machine and cannot understand why we cannot find the problem. He seems to know his stuff but again the problem is intermittent. Seems to run fine while he is there but problem starts again a while after he leaves. One thing he did say is that it could be the motor. I gathered that he was referring to the motor bearings which could be failing since it appeared yesterday that the vibration would start, go on for a while, then stop and was running without vibration and then start up again a while later.
> 
> I am handy and can trouble shoot pretty well overall but this too has me baffled. I am coming to the conclusion that it may well be the motor bearings failing.
> 
> Any help would be most appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Glenn


Hi, was this issue ever resolved? I was having problems with my old motor in a Frigidaire dryer. The new one came in and I installed it. Now the new motor is making a rattling sound. I took the thing apart, and took drum out along with belt and all. I let the motoe run under no load, and sure enough, the damn noise began after about 20 minutes. I'm baffled. Could the new motor be bad too? 

And I have replaced almost everything on it. (Belt, felt strips, rear bearing kit) It's getting frustrating!

Thanks for any help!!!


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## woodcat

*Dryer vibration*

These dryers are built very simply. I read all the post and was afraid to even look into my vibration problem. It's not the idler pully or the motor bearings or the felt strips. If you have a phillips screwdriver and can methodically take a few screws out, you will be amazed at how simple the fix is. Take the top off, then pull the front panel off from the top only......no need to disconeect it from the bottom. After pulling the front panel out a bit, you will see the blower cage. I found the foam rubber seal around the cage front to be out of place. I also found a clump of lint the size of a grilled cheese sandwich in the blower cage. I removed the lint with one hand, no handyman degree required, and started the dryer. The vibration was totally, 100%, gone. I re-applied the foam rubber seal and put the phillips screws back where they came from. A little patience and a small amount of mechanical ability and common sense fixed the problem. This machine is very well built because the design is extremely simple. Simple is good. Rocket scientist are not needed to repair. If repair men were baffled, they were looking for repeat income. You could take the idler pulley out and run the belt around a stick. If the felt were actually bad, sparks would fly, the motor bearings are sealed and cannot be re-packed. This was one of the easiest, ever, honey-do repairs I have ever done in my 27 years of marriage. Put down your game boy and get off the blogs. Has common mechanical sense become a thing of the past? Sorry.....rant over. Get out your screwdrivers America and DIY. It's all easier than you think.:wink:


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## stinems42

Just want to give a +1 to Woodcat's remedy (not so much his rant). I had initially wondered if it was a problem on the fan side after lint trap because the drive belt and idler/tensioner mechanism looked OK, and then I read Woodcat's post. 

I have a bit more upscale Frigidaire dryer; I had to take the entire top and front off (and door for ease) to get at the fan. At first everything looked normal, but then I looked between each fan vane and there was a sick amount of lint buildup. One side of the fan more than the other, hence the crazy vibration. Took about two fistfuls of lint out in total and screwed everything back together (two screws leftover...hmmm).

Smooth and quiet again  

We religiously clean the lint trap between each load, but I suppose anything is possible after 5 yrs of use. Took me about half an hour and a bloodied knuckle (sheet metal...blargh!). Learned something and didn't have to pay someone to make a house call. May not be the solution to everyone's problem, but Woodcat is right, this stuff isn't rocket surgery. Give it a shot!

Cheers,
Sam


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## woodcat

*Reply about dryer rant.*

Sam,

Thanks for the response. I tend to go into rant mode when I think about how how un-handy most folks are. Then I hear about how un-handy so many of the "professionals" are. When it comes to electronics, I'm defenseless. So many repairs around the house result from the ability to run a screwdriver and a box of band aids. I also had two screws left over. I went back in and found their homes. Blood....yes....that's half the fun. Kinda like red meat and beer in the mind of a man. To you women folk out there, you too have the ability to be a handy person....you'll probably fix the problem with no blood shed.

Thanks and keep the common mechanical sense and abilities alive!
-Woodcat


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## MrWrongsalive

Ok, here is what I had I hope this helps someone. I bought a used dryer from a guy on Craigslist for $30. This is a Frigidaire Gallery Dryer (GLER341AS2). The guy said that the unit was getting unusually hot, so much so that he bought a new dryer. When I got it the lint filter was completely clogged, having cleaned the vent out very well the overheating problem went away. But I was left with a new problem. When the dryer was on air dry it would run fine, but as soon as any setting involving heat was chosen after approximately 20 seconds the dryer motor would become louder and louder until it would buzz very loudly and I would shut it off. I replaced the rear drum bearing, upper glide strip and the motor in an attempt to fix the problem (yes, I should have bought a new dryer!). Anyway, after all that didn't fix the problem I was left with one basic fact, heat was the problem or more accurately the venting of heat. So as a test I removed the drum all together and ran the dryer with heat, no noise, then I put the drum back in with the belt removed and the noise returned, a little more quiet but definately still there. Finally I realized two things: whenever heat is blown the noise is present and this dryer had been overheated. Upon close inspection I noticed small cracks around the metal nut at the center of the plastic blower fan. After replacing the fan the noise went away. Hope someone finds this useful, I know I would have.


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## Jacques

Woodcat made some good points but the prob with DIY'er's is; some don't know when they're in over their head. like all pro's, compenent servicers follow safe practices and see the 'big picture' on a unit [plus no extra screws]. things a diy' might not see or know. throw enough parts and spend enough time anybody should be able to get a unit back on line. but is it safe! these appl can be dangerous and life threatening if not serviced correctly-just sayin'...Baffled servicers aren't looking for extra income-they're just baffled. a servicers income, due to low [relativly speaking] cost of repair, is based on productivity-get in/get out-on to the next one. don't get baffled and tied up on one job. if happens alot= ya work for someone else-you'll get fired. ya work for yourself you'll go broke.


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## boman47k

Glad you found the solution to the problem.


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## SheDIY

*Thank you!*

Just wanted to thank everyone here who posted their discoveries regarding the very loud vibrating noise coming from their dryer, especially *MrWrongsAlive.* After reading all the post, I knew what to look for when I opened up my Frigidaire dryer. And sure enough, there were two cracks in the blower wheel right were it screws onto the motor shaft. With the aide of a how to video put out by "Repairclinic" I was able to remove the old blower wheel housing and install a new one. Also, greased the bearing and cleaned it up real good while I had it open. Put it all back together, and it runs smooth and quiet just like new! Thanks again guys!! You were an answer to prayer!!:thumbsup:


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## kudzu63

woodcat said:


> Sam,
> 
> Thanks for the response. I tend to go into rant mode when I think about how how un-handy most folks are. Then I hear about how un-handy so many of the "professionals" are. When it comes to electronics, I'm defenseless. So many repairs around the house result from the ability to run a screwdriver and a box of band aids. I also had two screws left over. I went back in and found their homes. Blood....yes....that's half the fun. Kinda like red meat and beer in the mind of a man. To you women folk out there, you too have the ability to be a handy person....you'll probably fix the problem with no blood shed.
> 
> Thanks and keep the common mechanical sense and abilities alive!
> -Woodcat


I thought I was the only one that felt like this. I've had people over the years ask how I know how to fix so much stuff. I tell them that I've never been able to afford to pay anyone to fix it and can't afford to replace it so you learn ti fix it. And I always tell my son, If you get blood, it's gonna turn out alright. No blood and you just as well do it over.:vs_cool:


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## kbergsma

My dryer was having the same issues and after lots of research and replacing my rear bearing, belt, pulley and motor, the vibration noise was still there and I was almost to the point of giving up and buying a new dryer, until I came across this site and MRWrongsalove's post. Your post was perfect and saved me a lot of money! $75 for a new blower wheel assembly and I was up and running just like new! Thanks for all of your help!


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## michaelcyr1989

I know it may sound stupid but was the dryer level?


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