I finally got a stubborn dryer drum to spin again with a zip tie

The belt was fine, but the idler pulley spring had lost just enough tension. I looped a heavy duty zip tie around the spring's hook to shorten it by about a quarter inch, and it actually held! Has anyone else tried a temporary fix like that on a Whirlpool model?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameron7241mo ago

That's the kind of temporary fix that becomes a permanent part of the machine's history. I give that zip tie six months before it becomes a brittle plastic memory. Honestly, if it works for a Whirlpool, it would probably work on half the dryers in my neighborhood. Just don't be surprised when you hear a weird snap during the next heavy blanket cycle.

troyjackson1mo ago

Remember my buddy's dryer that had a zip tie holding the drum? That thing lasted almost two years before it finally gave out with a loud pop. He found little plastic bits all over the inside when he opened it up.

ben43629d agoMost Upvoted

The real surprise is that zip tie didn't melt sooner with all that heat. Those things are meant for bundling cables, not holding spinning metal. His buddy basically ran a two-year experiment on plastic limits lol.