Fixin's

Warning!!  The following pictures may be disturbing.  You will get to see some of my very messy and not too clean basement.  For those afraid of clutter and mess, please avert your eyes and scroll on down...!

Our dryer broke last week.  This is the dryer I was so happy to get for free back... uh... only 4 months ago.  I was torn between wanting that cherry red front loader or looking for another free one, knowing that I'd probably be taking on someone else's problem again.  Ohhhhh.  What to do??  I felt like my right arm was cut off as the dirty laundry started piling up.  My teenage son was miserable that he had to wear something virtually spotless, but not having been through a recent wash meant it was hideous and gauche - Yikes!  Unfortunately, we really don't have that super flush savings account to buy new appliances - nor would that be our first choice (all in the effort to be mindful and such), but I really didn't want to add to my appliance cemetery in the basement (this dryer would join the one that died in January that I just haven't moved yet - I have a really big basement that has tons of space) and get another 'free' one - to have that break down in a few months as well.  So I had to do some research and find some courage to fix the darn thing myself.  

First, I had to take off the front cover (after unplugging it, of course):

Yes, folks.  That's what the inside of your dryer may look like.  You too can get the gumption up to fix your dryer - even with clothes still inside!  It sure does get dirty in there!

And this is the part I though needed fixing - the blower wheel:

As you can see, it looks pretty worn and dirty - but what did I know?  I started getting nervous with my hands in the belly of my dryer, so I called in my husband for moral support when going to the appliance repair place.  The guy behind the counter - very knowledgeable -only talked to my husband even though I was the one asking the questions.  I hate that.  But anyway, we replaced the blower wheel, and started putting things back together.  Here, my husband is putting the face guard back on - because I was taking pictures:

And here it is all back together - and oh my.  It works.  Like a charm.  And so quiet, too.

Don't throw that old dryer away!  I encourage you to look your model up online when it breaks down - there is so much information for repairs.  One posting said - do these 6 things and your dryer will run for another 20 years!  Imagine that.  All this just in time to begin line drying for the summer.  But it will be ready for the colder weather!

But... I just received notice that our tenant's washer is broken.  Something tells me I need to change my line of work...!