White Knight Tumble Dryer Repair

We’ve have a White Knight 38 AW Tumble Dryer for the last three years.  Last week during a cycle it began to make the most horrendous rasping noise, as if the drum metal was rubbing against the outer casing.

 

White Knight 38 AW - ready for it's operation... (Cam C902)

It turns out that the dryer drum rests on some felt padding attached to the casing.  The felt padding had completely warn away and the drum was indeed rubbing (metal to metal) against the casing.

 You can see the felt has completely gone! (Cam C902)

The felt must be replaceable as checking web-sites for replacement parts I found some replacement sticky-back felt strips for £2.80 so thought it was worth having a go at repairing it myself, £2.80 isn’t going to break the bank nor can I make the problem worse. I ordered two strips, thinking one would be a backup in case I made a mistake but as it turned out, I needed both to complete the repair.  My order came to £9.50 (inc delivery).

 Felt Strips... not very high tech  (C902)

Time to strip the dryer down… First job was to remove the lid, attached by the three screws at the top of the casing.

 The back ready to be stripped (Cam C902)

Next for removal is the fan and element protector panel, (screws) followed by the heating element itself (more screws).

Nothing difficult so far... (Cam C902)

To make sure I remember where to replace the wiring I always take pictures for reference, (very handy for writing the blog too).

  The wires need to be removed so it's important to replace them correctly (Cam C902)

 Then the back casing can be removed… but not completely.  The fan blades do not allow you to remove the back casing totally but for this job you don’t need to.  As long as the back casing is tilted on an angle so that the ridge for the drum is exposed that’s enough.

 Time to clean and repair (Cam C902)

I then gave the ridge a good clean and vacuum,  the cleaner the better so the sticky felt strips have more chance of adhering to the ridge surface.  Sticking the felt strips on couldn’t be easier, just take your time and align them well.

 Felt strips in place (Cam C902)

Getting the drum back on the rim might be a little tricky as it’s now padded with new felt, it may help if you have someone to take the weight of the drum from the front to allow you to position the back casing.

 Nice snug fit (Cam C902)

Fitting is the reversal of the removal, remember to check your wiring too.  Job done! A £10 repair and an hours labour at most.  That's got to be better than £129 to buy a new dryer.

It’s obvious that the replacement felt was not a direct replacement part, nor does it appear to be as thick as the original but it works.  I will no doubt keep my eyes out for some similar sticky-back felt as it’s sure to ware out again.

Hope you find this useful.