Amana Dryer stops after a few minutes

Dryer Repair
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1

Hello,
I have an Amana Dryer model ALE331RAW, and it has a problem stopping after only a few minutes of running. The problem began a few weeks ago with a gradually worsening squealing noise. When the noise got obnoxiously bad, I decided to try and repair it by replacing the drum rollers, the slide/guides and pads, and the idler pulley. The belt seemed to be in good shape, so I did not replace it. After replacing all the above parts, the noise still occurred, even though it didn’t seem to be as bad. However, once the dryer runs for a few minutes, it shuts off (the timer is still going, but the motor/drum stops). Only after it sits for a few minutes can I restart it, and then it repeats the cycle. I checked that the drum rolls fairly freely without the belt on it, which makes me think it is not a binding problem somewhere with the drum. The fact that the dryer runs fine for a few minutes leads me to believe it is a problem with the motor (i.e. if it was a binding problem, it probably wouldn’t run at all, right?).
Does that sound like the likely problem: a worn out motor? If you have any other suggestions, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

David

3

Here are your parts
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/partsearch/modelsearch.aspx?model=ALE331RAW

It does sound like a motor problem.
I would try the following.

Re-check that you have the belt/idler installed correctly.

Spin the motor shaft it should free wheel easily.

Try rotating the drum with the belt on so that the drum has some downward force on it. It should turn fairly easily. You may want to try this on a couple other units to get a feel for it.

Try an air only cycle. Just to be sure that hot air is not blowing back onto the motor and overheating it.

4

Thanks, denman. Yes, the idler and belt is installed correctly. I wasn’t able to compare the spinning of the drum with the belt on it to another unit, but I did run the dryer with air only – no heat – and it ran for 10 minutes and then stopped.

I still think it’s probably the motor, even though the drum doesn’t rotate as freely with the belt on it as I thought it should (again, without comparing it to another unit, yet).

Make sense to you?

5

Yes, you are on the right track.