FIXED DPSB620GC1WW GE Profile Dryer, drum slide/guides gone, and worse!

[Chicago Al]

Model Number

DPSB620GC1WW

Brand

GE

Age

6-10 years

Hi all, esp Jake who is always helpful here.

A neighbor was giving away this GE Profile dryer; they said it was noisy and they'd already bought a new one. I thought it might just be the glides, told them it was probably an easy repair, but they said it's yours if you want it. Ours is a 35 y o Speed Queen that was in our house when we bought it so I thought a 'newer' one might be an improvement.

So i went to pick it up and found that it WAS the glides, but worse than that, the drum had actually eaten away most of one side of the Front Support Bearing and into the door frame! Only one of the four glides was still there and there were piles of find metallic dust around the rim of the door opening! It must have been 'noisy' for years!

I couldn't find a model number anywhere on the dryer and figure the sticker must be gone, but found Jake's post from 8 years ago to someone with a similar issue, and I think the dryer in that post is the same as mine, or close enough. A pic of mine is attached.

I've now got a new support bearing, all four glides (2 and 2) and the rear bearing sleeve as well and will be installing. I wouldn't have thought of the rear bearing without Jake's suggestion in that earlier thread, and I bet it's shot, from the drum being so out of whack.

Will post back with any complications, but as usual, thanks a lot, Jake!

 

[jeff1]

Hi,

It must have been 'noisy' for years!

Yupper!
You gotta wonder!

LINK> http://www.applianceaid.com/noisy-dryer.php
LINK> http://www.applianceaid.com/repairing-my-own-dryer.php

jeff.

 

[Chicago Al]

Hope to get the dryer fixed and hooked up this weekend. Hopefully it won't need more parts.

The neighbors are likely getting rid of the matching washer they have. They say its automatic functions haven't worked for some time (probably the board) so they've used it manually. I am kinda interested in it (it'd be cheap, maybe free) but looking online I see pretty negative reviews for this model (I think it's WPRB9220 or 9250). Neighbor says though that she feels it may have gotten her clothes cleaner than their new front-loader. I know the board would be an expensive part to replace if it's even available.

Maybe I'm better off sticking with the ancient Maytag washer (c early 80s) that came with our house?! (I've gotten good advice about fixing it here before.) I have kinda been waiting for that one to die and I'm so stubborn (and cheap) that I am reluctant to replace it until it does so. It lost all its transmission oil a couple of years ago but it seems these things can toddle along on their 'last legs' for a long time.

 

[jeff1]

Maybe I'm better off sticking with the ancient Maytag washer (c early 80s) that came with our house?!

Yes! YES! Yes!!

jeff.

 

[Chicago Al]

i'm running into another problem. Maybe it's not that serious. I did order a new rear bearing as well, and a good thing as the old one appears trashed. However the O ring back there was only half there, long since deteriorated. I don't even see that as a part I can order. I tried putting a regular plumbing-type O ring in its place, but it was thicker than the bearing, which I figured might cause a problem with fitting into the flange in the rear of the dryer case. So I shaved the O ring down, but of course it tore.

i've tried putting the drum back on without the O-ring, and it'll go, but the shaft slips right out of the bearing unless I hold it in place, which I can't do while also putting the belt back on, etc.

Is this O-ring a standard one, a given diameter but *thin*, so I can find it at a hardware store?

PS: quite a pain to get the drum shaft back into that flange in any case!

Is the O-ring just a standard size.

 

[jeff1]

I have no clue, I have not tried to get one anywhere except our parts depots.

It sometimes/often comes with the rear bearing kit or you can also get it separate...

LINK> O ring

LINK> Rear drum bearing kit

[video=youtube_share;MPXu-Ya8CBY]https://youtu.be/MPXu-Ya8CBY[/video]

jeff.

 

[Chicago Al]

I easily found an O-ring that fits; it's 1/2" OD x 3/8" ID X 1/16" thick. It holds the rear bearing on but is not so thick as to interfere with the shaft going into the flange in the rear.

I have another problem with this damn dryer though, and this one is fatal I think.

As shown in the pics, with the drum mounted and the front screwed into the sides, the whole thing is still out of whack. On the L side it fits okay but on the R it is barely on the glides. When I turn the dryer on it turns but makes a rubbing sound I don't like. The sound is not metal-on-metal, but may be the drum rubbing against the lower bearing or something.

The whole case of the dryer is off square; I suspect it may have taken a hard fall at some point. Maybe when it was first installed! If so, likely that caused its problem in the first place, the drum rubbing hard on one side and not so much on the other. I cleaned a TON of fine dust, plastic and metal, out of it, from the damn thing rubbing and grinding for what must have been years.

I'm not sure whether the back panel is out of square, or the flange itself, or...whatever.

In any case, not real interested in investing more time and effort, or $ in parts.

Unfortunately I didn't buy the parts from RepairClinic.com this time so can't return them. (Lesson learned!) However I may be able to sell the bearings and glides as a package on eBay and recoup some of the $40 or so I spent.

If you have more advice Jeff, I'm all ears, but I think this is a rare defeat for ol' Chicago Al, DIYer till I die.

At least I've still got the old Speed Queen!

 

[jeff1]

with the drum mounted and the front screwed into the sides, the whole thing is still out of whack. On the L side it fits okay but on the R it is barely on the glides

Neither look good....a more of an happy medium would be better.

Lay the top panal back against something so you can see the front, adjust the dryers legs until the dryer cabinet is more square. Lower the top panal and install the front/top screws to help hold the dryer squareness in place.
I usually screw the legs all the way in before starting.

jeff.

 

[Chicago Al]

Good point, I have not checked the legs, and having it all level may help. Then maybe the top will finish the job. I'll give it a look tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Chicago Al]

EDIT WITH MORE INFO:

My post last night was in error. This dryer evidently did have a problem with the drum being somehow out of whack, for a long time, but that wasn't due to the whole case being out of square.

When I put the top back on today the problem was obvious, it wouldn't fit on, even close, and the dryer obviously wasn't like that before.

That was my bad, I'd shifted it over a bit with the top off and that must have 'racked' the case, also I should have thought of it.

I used a special re-alignment tool, pictured below, to get the sides back into alignment and now the top fits on just fine.

Further, the drum now lines up MUCH better with the bearing, as you can see from the pics. I had taken out the felt strip from the bottom as it was too long on one side, re-installed it making it more even.

The drum rotates and sounds normal with the case being square.

BUT when I put the top on, even without screwing it in, there's a knock, a slight one, coming from the front, right around the door hinges, once per turn. So the mere fact of having the top on and that much tighter is causing something to hit. Obviously I can't see it with the top on and with the top off it's hard to see what's happening!

I'll update with any more news; I always figure for every person who posts a query on a site like this there are 5 or 10 who have a similar question and find their answer without having to post again.

Thanks, Jeff!

 

[Chicago Al]

Adjusting the felt fixed that slight knocking sound I was getting, it may have been the end of the felt strip.

I've been running it on the 'timed dry' cycle a few times, figuring that eliminates any complication from the sensors since there's nothing in there and obviously no heat.

The one potential problem now is that I keep getting the 'clean lint filter' message. That filter is CLEAN. I took it out and washed it with a brush. The vent path past it is as clean as I could get it with a shopvac. Right now the vent is not hooked up to anything, it's just pushing air out the back, so I doubt that back pressure is the issue (if it even works that way).

So I am a little stumped by this, and don't want to move it into position, hook up gas, etc if it means there's another fault in it.

Any suggestions welcome as usual! =:- \

 

[jeff1]

The one potential problem now is that I keep getting the 'clean lint filter' message.

I found no use and care manual to check....but this might come up on every cycle as as reminder to the home owner to clean out the filter before starting a new load.

jeff.

 

[Chicago Al]

Thanks for looking Jeff! I don't see it in the manual I found online either, not as something happening randomly. I don't think it is happening every cycle either. Last couple it did not.

It's sounding pretty good so I'm about to move it into position, hook up gas and vent and give it a whirl. I got the darn thing free and put less than $50 of parts into it but quite a bit of time. If it doesn't ignite or dry the clothes due to some other issue I'm going to be a bit peeved. ;- )

 

[Chicago Al]

Hooked it up and ran the first few loads through last night. The dryer seems to be working fine. 'Clean lint filter' light comes on sometimes, but only at end of cycles as far as I can tell. And not every cycle. Maybe it's designed to light up every two or three cycles, as a reminder.

From what I can tell, this dryer is from the early to mid 2000s, meaning it's pretty old, but it's still twenty years newer than the Speed Queen. Will it get clothes dry faster and be more energy efficient? I kinda think so; the Speed Queen actually has a pilot light.

Thanks as always for the help here!

btw: here's a link to the manual for this dryer and the fancier 650. https://products.geappliances.com/MarketingObjectRetrieval/Dispatcher?RequestType=PDF&Name=49-90266.pdf

 

[Chicago Al]

One of these days I will really learn how to RTFM (read the .... manual).

Right there it says, about the 'clean lint filter' light:

This light is a reminder to clean the lint filter. It comes on at the end of a cycle and goes off when the door is opened.

 

[Wx4usa]

I love your special re-alignment tool...

 

[jeff1]

Right there it says, about the 'clean lint filter' light:
This light is a reminder to clean the lint filter. It comes on at the end of a cycle and goes off when the door is opened

Glad that is all it was, thankx for the update

jeff.