FIXED Maytag Dryer MEDB835DW4 Spins too fast / Doesn't tumble right

[JohnnyGFX]

Model Number

MEDB835DW4

Brand

Maytag

Age

1-5 years

From day one this dryer has been spinning too fast, causing the clothes to clump up and ride the drum rather than tumble. I took a 10 second video and counted the revolutions and it is spinning at roughly 60 RPM. I have read that 40 RPM is more the ideal tumbling speed, meaning our drying is spinning 150% faster than it should.

There is nothing wrong with the pully or idler pully from what I can see. Both seem in perfect shape still. The pully itself is quite small already too, so I can't just put on a smaller pully to correct for the spin speed of the motor. I tried calling and emailing with Whirlpool/Maytag but they have been useless. Any suggestions about how to fix this?

 

[Jake]

Another member was having this exact same problem, here's his thread:

MGDB835DW1 Maytag dryer spins too fast, clothes clumping

Hello, I've owned this dryer for almost 6 years (bought new end of 2015) and I've noticed the past couple of months that the clothes are clumping during the cycle and not drying. After watching a cycle I've determined that the drum is spinning too fast and the clothes are not able to turn over...

www.applianceblog.com

You may want to ask him what he did to fix it. I have never heard or seen this happening before myself on any of my service calls.

If you post a reply in his thread, he will get a email and hopefully he will come back to tell us what fixed his.

Jake

 

[Jake]

Possibly the motor pulley, your model uses the exact same one:

Whirlpool W10669447 Pulley-Mtr (AP5954188) - AppliancePartsPros.com

PULLEY-MTR W10669447 / AP5954188 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

Look at this thread here:

Dryer drum spins too fast - Appliance Repair Forum - Free Service from Appliance Parts Pros

Dryer drum spins too fast, causing clothes to cling to the inside surface of the drum rather than tumble, resulting in wrinkling and inadequate drying.

click.linksynergy.com

3 members said the new motor pulley fixed theirs.

Jake

 

[JohnnyGFX]

I had found that thread previously before posting here, took the back off, removed the belt from the motor pulley and couldn't find anything wrong with the motor pulley at all. I was originally hoping that I could get a different (smaller) motor pulley and slow it down a bit, but the threaded part where the belt sits is only slightly bigger than the motor shaft itself.

 

[MikeNColo]

I had this exact problem with my dryer - a Maytag MEDB835DW4. It was running so fast the clothes were piling up behind the tall paddles in the drum and not tumbling.
What had happened was this;
The belt is grooved lengthwise, and it runs in grooves on the motor pulley.
When I opened up the dryer and felt the belt on the motor pulley, it had climbed out of the grooves and was sitting on top of the grooves and a tiny bit up the slanted side of the motor pulley. This caused the speed of the drum to increase just fast enough to cause the above problem.
When I messed with it, the pulley snapped back down into the grooves. When I put the dryer back together and started it, it was back to the slower speed. It’s been fine now for about 8 months.
I have no idea as to what caused the belt to jump out of the grooves after about 3 years of use, but it did. The older maytags had a different motor pulley with steeper sides so I chalk it up to a design change.
Hope this helps someone out.
Mike

 

[Jake]

Thanks Mike for letting us know that, I've not run into that problem as of yet on these newer Maytag Dryers, that is good to know, that will help others too.

Jake

 

[Beez Nutz]

From day one this dryer has been spinning too fast, causing the clothes to clump up and ride the drum rather than tumble. I took a 10 second video and counted the revolutions and it is spinning at roughly 60 RPM. I have read that 40 RPM is more the ideal tumbling speed, meaning our drying is spinning 150% faster than it should.

There is nothing wrong with the pully or idler pully from what I can see. Both seem in perfect shape still. The pully itself is quite small already too, so I can't just put on a smaller pully to correct for the spin speed of the motor. I tried calling and emailing with Whirlpool/Maytag but they have been useless. Any suggestions about how to fix this?

Did you ever figure out the cause? I have the same issue on the same model number dryer and tried checking the drive belt and pulley and both are fine on mine. Would be nice if there was a variable resistor on the main board that could be adjusted to decrease the speed of the motor to allow the clothes to fall when they tumble. Seems like such an easy fix but I'm sure the main board is all fixed parameters that can't be adjusted.

 

[ApplianceBCS]

So on this particular issue I feel the hyper focus is in the wrong arena. I am 100% certain this has nothing to do with dryer speed of the drum itself. It sounds more than likely it is having to do with load sizes is a factor and what I see most commonly is taking clothes straight from the washer and placing them in the dryer. When the washer spins out the clothes they are "clumped up and do not break up very easily and can cause this affect. Also ventilation is ABSOLUTLY key. Sensor functions will enhance this with poor ventilation going outside. If you have a dryer vent going to the roof your vent needs to be cleaned once a year at least. Its really all on preparation / load size / vent quality. Also periodically you need to clean the dryer internally. I see all the time where the dryer blower wheel has lint on the fins itself as well as the air cabin that restrict flow which needs to be clear to allow proper performance. Time dry myself just to note is more accurate on getting the same result consistently with the heat you desire. Hope this helps. Also dryer boards do not have potentiometers that adjust resistant to the dryer motor speed. This would be a poor design on them which they are designed to perform the airflow they are designed for or in this case if you adjusted the speed of the drum this would reduce airflow and could harm the element getting the element to hot in its manufactured design.

 

[Beez Nutz]

Thanks for the reply. I have cleaned out the dryer vent from inside the dryer all the way to the vent outside (I took the dryer apart to check the pulley and belt and cleaned the vent inside the dryer along with the rest of the inside of the dryer). I shake out clothes individually before putting them in the dryer, and I use the timed setting on high heat. This dryer has a window on the front and I observed the drying cycle, and as the drum spins the centrifugal force is pinning the clothes to the drum, not allowing them to fall when they reach the top of the spin. The clothes are all wrinkled from being pinned against the drum, and the exposed clothing is dry while the underside is damp. I'm getting good heat as the clothes are very hot if I stop the dryer after 20-30 mins to check dryness. I believe it's an issue with the speed, as a slower speed of the drum would allow the clothes to fall as they reach the top which would allow for even drying and less wrinkles. I'm not surprised that there wouldn't be a variable resistor, as a proper setting would suffice. I've read other people who have the same issue and someone even posted a video on Youtube showing the dryer drum speed and how the clothes are pinned to the drum and not dropping at the top.

 

[ApplianceBCS]

Other thank what I have mentioned in the above topic if you are further having this issue besides being a design issue I would also recommend 2 things that help in my personal load performance Fabric Softener (Do not put directly in your wash loads) if you do not have a middle distributor for fabric softener Downy makes a fabric softener ball that distributes the softener during the loads. I also use 1/2 couple of distilled vinegar which personally helps with these efforts as well.

 

[ApplianceBCS]

So one note the drive motor that is in the dryer is almost the same identical drive motor inside mine only your motor draws .4 amps lower than mine. This dryer style has been around for YEARS the only thing that has changed is more energy efficient and electronics have elaborated slightly. Hope these things help God bless!

 

[Beez Nutz]

Other thank what I have mentioned in the above topic if you are further having this issue besides being a design issue I would also recommend 2 things that help in my personal load performance Fabric Softener (Do not put directly in your wash loads) if you do not have a middle distributor for fabric softener Downy makes a fabric softener ball that distributes the softener during the loads. I also use 1/2 couple of distilled vinegar which personally helps with these efforts as well.

Ok, I will give that a try, thanks for the tips!

 

[JeffG1]

Hello. I have had a Maytag Bravos XL with Maytag Commercial Technology (model number MEDB835DC4) for a number of years, and as with the dryers of several others whom have replied to this thread and similar threads elsewhere, my dryer has spun too fast from day 1. This is a real and aggravating issue with this machine ... the rate of rotation of the dryer drum is simply too fast, and the force of gravity acting on the clothes at the top of the spin cycle is insufficient to overcome the force acting on the clothes due to their their mass and angular velocity.

Clothes are incompletely dried and wrinkled. I compensate for this, when I can, by stopping the dry cycle every 10 or 20 minutes and rearranging the clothes ... this is exhausting , and doesn't guarantee the clothes will be dry and not excessively wrinkled at the end of the cycle. I also shake out my clothes before transferring from washer to dryer. I have checked the motor pulley, the belt ... they appear fine. I have cleaned the inside of the dryer and the ventilation pathway on a number of occasions ... no change in the performance of the dryer, and in fact my Air Flow indicator always is green. And so I'm convinced that, at least for my machine, this is simply poor engineering.

There are only 2 requirements that an appliance maker needs to get right when designing, engineering and manufacturing a dryer ... the dryer has to produce warm air that is circulated in the drum, and the drum must rotate at a speed that allows the clothes to tumble and not be stuck against the sides of the drum. Everything else is bells and whistles. Unfortunately for me, Maytag didn't get the second requirement right. I'm 64 and have had many dryers during my life. Never have I had a problem like this with a dryer. I will probably just throw in the towel and buy another dryer in 2023.