This week, I did my part to keep the Maytag Repairman lonely.

My circa 1990 Maytag dryer started squealing and chattering like a deranged ferret. Not a quiet machine during the best of times, this sock eater reached a new, annoyingly loud level. So, do you call a repairman? Do you buy a new dryer? As my friend, Jeff would say, “It’s just a paperweight now.” A chance to practice the art of handiness with nothing to lose.

With Jeff’s help, we pulled the dryer out in the very tight laundry space and, from the comfort of lying on a linoleum floor, I learned what the inside of a dryer looks like.

Not much.

Well, of course, it is just a hot air machine.

There is a rotating drum (removed), a motor, a heater, and a blower (bottom left and important later).

Handyman Rule
The most likely thing to wear out is a moving part.

The drive belt was frayed, but an unlikely source of the noise. We removed the belt and the drum to find that the drum rests on two rotating pulleys, one of which was frozen stiff.

Handyman Rule
If it doesn’t turn and it should,
replace it and any matching parts.

Handyman Rule
Handymen look for excuses to buy new tools.

So where do you get parts for a thirty-year-old dryer? As it turns out, Maytag dryers deserve their reputation for durability, and people repair rather than replace them—many dryers are made by the same manufacturer, use the same parts, but are sold under different brand names. For example, my Maytag has Whirlpool parts.

We went to Home Depot but they don’t sell appliance parts. We turned to our go-to favorite, the Sears Outlet on Tomlyn St., but it is out of business. We now recommend Cashwell Appliance Parts, Commonwealth and Broad, where we bought two pulleys (might as well replace both) and a dryer belt.

So far so good. Keep reading there is a moral coming.

Replaced the pulleys, installed the new belt, and mounted the drum. Turned it on and the ferret was gone but there was the clunking death knell of another moving part.

Rats.

Jeff suggested, correctly, that the blower wheel was also bad. Another moving part.

Ok, no job is ever really finished. We went online, found the parts diagram, called Cashwell and they said it was in stock at a different store and would be in the next day. OK, $69, a bit pricey but I ordered it.

The next day comes, I picked it up, came home, and opened the box. The part we ordered had threads for a screw-on-mount while the old part had a clamp. Wrong part. Another trip across town but at least the new part was $13 instead of $69. I should have taken the old part with me when I picked it up for comparison.

Handyman Rule
Every repair requires at least three trips to a store.

Handyman Rule
Take the old part with you when you go to the store.

Here is the moral.

I looked at the old part and for the first time saw the embossed part number, a much better reference than trying to read a parts diagram. As it turned out, the Cashwell person had to use a Maytag database and the old part number to find a newer part with a different part number.

Handyman Rule
A good salesperson is invaluable for
helping you solve your problem.
Support your local stores.

Handyman Rule
Always look for the part number rather than
reading a complicated parts diagram.