How To: Whirlpool/KitchenAid/Maytag Blower Wheel WP697772

[@Travis_125]

Just completed this repair using parts from Appliance Parts Pros. The parts came a day late and the repair was made more difficult because the fan housing had stripped from the insert which meant that I had to cut the damn thing out with a Dremel tool. In the end, the dryer is quiet again and I am happy to have completed this as a DIY project thanks to this video.

[@MikeSmith-hv9ny]

Fr

[@buckets_of_lead]

I know this is a super old post so fingers crossed...When you were trying to remove the wheel did it just spin? I assume min is stripped since that's what it's doing.

[@Travis_125]

@@buckets_of_lead yea from what I remember it just spun because the teeth were stripped. Finally grew tired of repairing that thing and bought a new one and then another because the first one sucked. Have a GE now and it’s awesome.

[@buckets_of_lead]

@Travis_125 i already trashed the matching washer so I'm trying to get as much as I can from this shitbox dryer. I was going to just cut it off then I read a few posts about other people with the same issue. So I think that's the way to go. Thanks.

[@gabehagston8813]

I truly believe that someone one day will see how talented

[@larrybud]

Just thought I'd give my 2 cents on the replacement experience. Getting to the parts is not a big deal. Total of about 20 screws to strip it all down. If you're going to replace the fan, it's worthwhile to get the other repair kit and replace the rollers, belt, and pulley wheel while you're in there. It's pretty cheap and for my 8 year old dryer, really reduced the vibration. My fan blade was making a hell of a noise, and it turned out the outer "ring" was cracked and would then expand and rub on the shroud of the fan blade. Sounded like it was going to blow up! If you look at the fan blade, it's some sort of composite material molded around an aluminum insert. This insert is what screws onto the motor shaft. Well, mine wouldn't budge, and in fact, between the aluminum insert and fan blade, it would just spin against each other. Thankfully the dryer is next to the garage and I have an air compressor and grinder so I was able to grind around the shaft and using a combo of pliers and a screw driver, I was able to break apart the blade material and ended up only with the aluminum insert. THEN I had to take some vice grips and finally get the insert to unscrew from the motor shaft. WHEW!! The whole thing was a 1/2 hour fix which turned into 1.5 hours because of the fan not spinning off.

[@ivofrench4978]

ty helped a lot. saved me taking the back off for the belt, only problem I had was the 7/16 wrench slipped so I had to use needle nose vise grips

[@appliancepartspros]

You're welcome!

[@counciousstream]

Unbelievable how clean the inside of that dryer is. I'm taking apart my 5 year old machine and spending as much time vacuuming as I am disassembling! I think that my blower cage is not damaged, just crusted with crust. Rather than spend $45 I'll give it a good cleaning and see if that fixes my rumbling problem. (Already checked the drum rollers and they seem fine).

[@larrybud]

My rollers "seemed" fine as well, but I replaced them anyway since it came in the kit. Made a huge difference in the vibration of the machine. Worth doing while you're already in there.

[@renadamTWELVE]

OMG it's Napoleon Dynamite meets Steven Wright. Dude... I love you man. Thanks for this vid.

[@appliancepartspros]

You're welcome!

[@NTF-zb9wi]

I'm scrounging "dead" appliances, for free or cheap parts for some alt-energy projects. These blowers look like a pretty cool place to mount some of my supply of hard drive (neo) magnets, for a couple of my projects. These plastic ones MIGHT work; but, do you know of any which are made out of either extruded aluminum or non-magnetic stainless? If so, what brands/models should I be on the look-out for???

[@larrybud]

BTW, if you want a real world experience, fit one of these things in a small laundry room where there's about 2' of space to move the dryer ;-)

[@HeatherDuffy1313]

Yup! Spend a day jumping over it and sitting behind it 😂

[@NathanJAdams]

@appliancepartspros Is the drum ambidextrous? When I pulled it out I didn't note the back and front, does it matter which way I put it back in? I don't see a difference. I need a drier, so I am just going to put the drum in and hope for the best.

[@SuzukiKid400]

It’s actually an 11mm wrench you should be using on the back side of the motor shaft behind the fan. (In the video you said 7/16” wrench but that is really sloppy and can round the flats.)

[@prebaned]

Don't put the drum belt on the motor shaft as Napoleon Dynamite did, unless you plan on changing it in a week. Good luck getting the blower wheel off without stripping the aluminum insert.

[@appliancepartspros]

Thank you for the feedback. If there is anything we can help you with please let us know.

[@skytrip5273]

Amazing how the camera could see through the drum.

[@appliancepartspros]

If there is anything we can help you with please let us know.

[@buckets_of_lead]

My blower wheel is just spinning when I hold the shaft with the wrench. What causes that?

[@appliancepartspros]

You will need to check the shaft and the blower wheel for any worn or damaged spots that could be causing this issue.

[@johnnyfigueroa4690]

Love the videos. Ty guys. Very helpful!

[@CNY_AP]

See older posts below. Came off pretty easily! TIP: I did not remove drum - instead of blindly trying to get wrench onto the shaft next to the fan, you can reach the nut on the very back end of the motor shaft (open the back panel) and at same time reach the wrench on the "blower wheel". I did not even remove the belt - can get end wrench onto the back nut w/o removing it (belt was a tad in the way though)... The back side of my blower fan is gouged! Pretty sure one of the screw heads is sticking out. Not 100% sure since I see no rub marks on the front case that is removed to access blower fan, but that screw head might be causing the blower wheel to be pushed towards front of unit, touching the front cover (only when hot it seems - it gets VERY loud when hot, near end of cycle). When I pulled the front case towards myself, the noise goes away (which is what got me to this point). Sounds like fan blades hitting the sharp round edges of the inner case opening but I can't prove it - no rub marks. One section of the "ring" that runs between the blades is missing (the "rings" that has the lettering on it, telling you which way to remove or tighten the fan wheel). I can't decide if a coin hit a blade and broke the "ring", or if the screw head not being screwed in all the way was the cause...also am unsure if my blower wheel needs replacing after I tighten the screw head. Need to get right socket size to tighten the loose screw and test it by hand for clearance/rubbing (before and after tightening the screw I suppose).

[@appliancepartspros]

Thanks for updating us on how it went! It sounds like you could try just tightening it to see if that fixes the problem.

[@CNY_AP]

​@@appliancepartspros Hopefully this will help someone, some day. BTW, my dryer is a Duet model 9150. Installed new fan wheel today (original was broken - one section of the "ring" (which says which way to loosen and tighten) which connects the front edges of the blades was missing and the whole "wheel" was warped!). I tightened the sheet metal screws behind the fan wheel extra tight, and ground down the 3 screw heads slightly with my Dremel to create more clearance behind the fan wheel. The other improvement I did (to add a tiny bit more clearance between front of fan blades and the cover/faceplate - the "lint duct") was to add insulation on the faceplate in its recessed area. BTW, I removed the faceplate/cover (you referred to it as the "duct") instead of removing the whole "bulk head" as you did. I guess my model is different. On mine, there is a 3rd screw holding the lint duct on the upper right side (the bare metal duct that has the big warning sticker on it). There is insulation between it and the unit to avoid air leaks (and I suppose to prevent rattles). Everywhere there was insulation, I added another layer. Got back on here to see where the idler spring goes - I installed the spring on the wrong side of the idler pulley arm, ooops. I replaced the idler arm and wheel because it was a tad loud and only cost $10. It's a bushing, not a bearing. I assume I'm not supposed to lubricate it. Replacement wheel is moderately larger than original - hopefully the belt is not much tighter than it was with the original wheel.

[@larrybud]

@@CNY_AP exactly like my problem on a whirlpool.

[@CNY_AP]

Our drier fan has always been loud near end of cycle when it's the hottest (literally when we bought it or not long after and got worse over time). Notice the noise abates if I pull on the front cover of the fan - rubbing perhaps but why does it get worse when hot. Going to take face off, wish me luck! I thought it was riveted together, only saw one screw with only the bottom face off. I hope it's not a fan or motor bearing issue. I wonder if the drier was dropped and the fan hosing is bent.

[@CNY_AP]

Wow, my fan is broken on the outer edge (that connects the blades on front side) where it says which direction to turn. No blades are missing but the 2 blades on either side of the broken "span" are a tad further apart. I am unsure which is the cause versus affect - did fan break (how would something get in there behind the screen?) and then rub, or did fan rub on something and then break. I see a shiny spot behind the fan blades where it's rubbing...looks like a screw perhaps and I see in your video, right as you lift off the blades, there are two or 3 screws behind the fan blades. I wonder if my screw was sticking out far enough for backside of fan to hit it...but the broken part of the fan is on front side, screws are behind the fan blades...argh, unsure and I can't work anymore tonight on it.

[@appliancepartspros]

Oh no! It's difficult to say which is the cause and effect at this point, but at least you know what you need to replace.

[@CNY_AP]

@@appliancepartspros Yes, I agree - impossible to know. Turned out I was right! One of the 3 screws behind the fan wheel was sticking out a tad (and was not screwed in perfectly straight). 180 degrees from that screw, there was rub marks on the paint behind the fan wheel. Screw was clearly pushing on the fan wheel. Fan wheel had a gouge which aligned with the screw. Fan wheel was warped/wobbling, so the gouge did not go all the way around the wheel. Maybe if the fan wheel was not warped, it would never have hit the screw head(s). When I pulled on the fan's face-plate ("lint duct"), the noise would go away, and would get worse when I pushed on it...that's why I took it apart to begin with.

[@howardgreene1425]

@@CNY_AP What happens is the plastic fan blade separates from its hub that attaches it to the motor shaft. When this happens the fan wheel is somewhat loose (which is why there is the noise, especially when the dryer is hot) and the wheel slips relative to the shaft, making the blower not work well. The problem is that you can't loosen the wheel to take it off. I had to cut the plastic wheel apart with a dremel to get it off (as others have said). However, the metal hub is absolutely frozen onto the motor shaft and I could not get it off, even with 2 pairs of vice grips (one holding the shaft from turning and the other on the hub). Very frustrating!! Not worth replacing the whole motor assembly...

[@frankhoward7645]

9:40. I don't think you got the belt ribs lined up with the ribs on the pulley.

[@doreenseyfried]

How dobi order the felt seal for my dryer

[@appliancepartspros]

What is your model number?

[@williamjones6451]

What would make a Whirlpool duet dryer viberate and it gets louder

[@gloiban]

Lint built up in blower wheel, bad rollers or worn out idler pulley.

[@samj1012]

Excellent video. thumbs up man

[@American_Made]

ya, my wheel is not coming off like that ar all. totally stuck. broke the plastic part on front part of the wheel where you hold it while I tried to undo it, reverse threads. now it's stuck and broke.

[@yessir99]

Noo lmao why am I laughing

[@dewayneh7291]

You make great videos!

[@ShawnWoo1]

the blower wheel is too tight to uncrew , any idea how to remove it ? thanks!

[@appliancepartspros]

If you need additional help with the repair outside of what's demonstrated in the video, you can give us a call at 1-877-477-7278 or you can chat us at our website: www.appliancepartspros.com/. We’re here to help 7 days a week.

[@davidsullivan3906]

No information about what to do when fan is stripped. This is probably the #1 reason to replace it. Come on guys!

[@aprilmayne8028]

Have the same problem. I ended up breaking the fan onto pieces and removing the motor. STILL trying to figure out how to get the metal off the motor shaft so I don't have to buy a whole new motor smh. Vice grips?? Or another motor and fan...idk.

[@mram7715]

Multi tool

[@paulgomez8612]

Thanks!!

[@appliancepartspros]

You're welcome!

[@DSki-mr9mh]

Whole bunch of uneccessary steps in here to pad his bill. No need to remove everything, just expose the wheel and stick your 7/16 wrench on the motor shaft and turn to the right as the arrow shows, and it is off. Now you can remove the fan housing and do a thorough vacuum job from the front.

[@kishenlala9714]

I tried to remove the wheel as per the video, but it just spins on the axle. Is there an alternative way to remove or force this wheel out?

[@Travis_125]

Same here. I had to use a Dremel tool to cut it out and then use pliers to remove the threaded portion.

[@Alan_Edwards]

Wow I am happy this is not my style of dryer cause that is a lot of work. It's like a complete tear down. Wow...not a user friendly design at all.

[@iccc3604]

Ok

[@celestraoceans5149]

Yeah that’s a lot

[@appliancepartspros]

If there is anything we can assist you with please let us know.

[@dragor6527]

They don't always come off easy. You guys should show how to remove one that's been in use for years not brand fuxking new