How to Replace a Tumble Dryer Belt

The belt in your tumble dryer goes all around your drum, and then over the motor on one side, allowing the motor to then turn the drum. If the drum is failing to turn, then there could be an issue with the drive belt. Firstly, just to check you are on the right path, here are the warning signs that your belt needs to be replaced:

• If you hear the motor spinning - but the drum itself won’t turn
• If you get your hand inside the drum and you are able to move it far too easily.

Whatever the reason though, if you need to replace the belt for your tumble dryer, then you will be pleased to know that you have come to the right place!

If you are unsure where to start there’s no need to panic. We’ll talk you through how to successfully replace the belt without damaging your tumble dryer.

This video shows an example on how to remove or replace the part on a typical machine, some models may be different but the procedure should be similar.

• Drive Belt
• Torx Head Screwdriver
• Pliers
• Device to take photos on (i.e. camera)

Safety First! Please make sure that you have switched your appliance off at the mains before starting your repair.

Well as obvious as it sounds, we need to be able to get to that elusive belt don’t we...start by taking off the two side panels and also the top panel. The belt on this model goes over the tension pulley, which is on a spring - and that in itself is driven by another smaller belt from the motor (you may find that your drum belt goes over the spindle end of the motor itself) - either way you will be putting the new belt over the front of the drum, and to do that on this machine you need to remove the whole of the front off.

Ok, let’s make it a little bit easier for you to remove the door…if you can get the water reservoir out the way, then the fascia should just click off. Next, simply uncouple the connectors from the control module. Time for an eSpares Top Tip now - before you uncouple the connectors, take a quick photo, and you will be able to refer to it when connecting them back to the control module. We now have the fascia, control panel and the cables out of our way.

The time has come to get the front part of the chassis off now! With the front part of the door now off you can get the wires out of the way and remove the door interlock. At this point, wedge something under the drum so the whole weight of the drum isn’t resting on the bearings at the back (it could be a piece of wood or a box etc). You can now remove the front part of the chassis, by removing the screws, and then pulling it away from the top - and lifting it away from the bottom.

You can now place the new belt onto the drum and put the front part of the chassis back on again - because that’s going to be better at supporting the drum than whatever you have decided to use. Get the belt to go over the pulley end, uncouple the tension spring and slip the belt into place. Pull the tension spring back down again (you can use a pair of pliers), and slot it into place. Finally make sure that the belt is sitting nice and true to where it needs to be, and give the drum a good spin.

Please Note: If your machine has the belt going over the spindle end of the motor itself, it might be a little more difficult to get into place than the one in this video - we have a little eSpares Top Tip for this though: Use the old belt, couple it through the new belt and use that to pull down and get some real tension into the new belt that you’re putting on.

There you have it - you have now successfully been able to replace the belt on your tumble dryer! You can now get back to quickly drying your clothes again, in the knowledge that you have fixed the belt all by yourself (with a little help from eSpares of course!)

Fancy Giving Your Tumble Dryer Some Loving Care & Attention?

If you really want to get the best performance from your tumble dryer, and better results for your clothes, then look no further than these energy saving tumble dryer balls - providing a natural, eco-friendly alternative to fabric softeners (ideal for delicate or sensitive skin). When placed in your tumble dryer their square tips compress and soften fabrics, reducing drying time by up to 25%

Need To Locate The Correct Belt For Your Tumble Dryer?

Here at eSpares, we have a wide-range of replacement tumble dryer belts for you to select from - so you can soon be on your way to repairing it yourself.

If you need any other help for your appliances you can find more videos from Mat and the team at eSpares, who are always on hand with appliance repair advice in your time of need.