Anyone awake -- dryer thumping??

[Rajah]

I'm up late working on a project tonight and decided to do a load of laundry while I was up.

Wash, fine.

But when I put it (whites only) in the dryer, the dryer started thumping regularly (thump....thump...thump) as though something heavy were in the load. I checked and there's nothing but my lightweight clothes in there. It also smelled wrong when I opened the door (it was only on for a minute, 2 max...)

Any suggestions on what to check? I want to get my clothes dry, but I don't want to do it with the dryer smelling wrong and the thumping noise... DH is asleep or I'd ask him (not that he'd know any better than I do), and my parents are also both asleep (the other people I usually ask on things like this)

 

[Shutterbug]

We had the same sound on ours once. It turned out to be a broken belt.
We had to unscrew and take off the lid to get at it.

IMHO I wouldnt run it anymore till you check it out due to what ever maybe causing the problem could start a fire.

 

[Rajah]

I'm sure not starting it again until we can fix it, I was just hoping there might be something quick and easy to check.

*sigh*

Sounds like there'll be a set of wet clothes all night.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

If it smells funny it could be a broken belt but always check the duct. Lint can build up in there and that is a serious fire hazard.
BTW the aluminum duct is much safer than the plastic for that reason

 

[Shutterbug]

Sorry I didnt have a better answer for you.
Same thing happened to me I had to drive around to find an all night launderomat.

 

[Rajah]

I was wondering about that, but could the duct make it thump? I would expect the duct to just cause a smell? And it is a burnt smell in the form of a piece burning out as opposed to a fire-burn.

What's annoying is this thing isn't even a year old yet.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

The burning smell is far more likely coming from a belt when you add in the thumping sound.... I do agree with that. It's just a lint fire in a dryer duct can be so bad that I would check it just to be safe.

 

[Rajah]

Is the belt something we can replace easily by ourselves (or, more likely, with my dad's help since he's probably done that before...lol!), or are we going to have to have the repair guy come out and do it?

We'll check the duct while we're at it.

 

[Shutterbug]

Ours is really old so it was easy for us to fix it but all the new fangledwangdoodle electronics they have wired in there on todays models I'm not sure. But it should be easy to at least have look at it. The top lid on ours flips up. Although you said its not a year old yet? Is it still under any type of warranty? I know with some warranties if you try to do something yourself it voids the warranty.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I would definitely check on the warranty before doing anything. There is no way in heck that should be gone in less than a year, I almost wonder if there isn't something else wrong.

 

[Rajah]

I don't know -- I just know it smelled wrong and was making a wrong sound. :/

at least I noticed it. Who knows how long it's been doing this -- DH does his laundry 4 times more often than I do.

I *REALLY* don't want to have to wait for a week for a day to be wasted so some repair guy can come out to "fix it" I do not have *time* to take even an hour out of my week for the next... hmm... 6 months? So hopefully DH will be able to waste his time waiting and waiting and waiting. *mutter*

 

[Shutterbug]

Just for curiosity sake...what brand is it?

 

[Rajah]

GE -- came with the house.

 

[Shutterbug]

*digging through consumer reports looking for repair ratings*
According to consumer reports for clothes dryers GE is towards the bottom when it comes to reliabilty
If you do have the repairman come out, make sure he goes over everything and make sure everything else is okay.

 

[Rajah]

Yeah, that's what I've been hearing lately. *sigh*

 

[Rajah]

Well, I feel stupid now. We found out what the problem was -- there *was* something in the dryer besides my clothes. We have this little cup that you fill with the liquid laundry detergent and drop in the washer... I forgot about that, and it got tangled in some clothes, so didn't see it when I transferred everything to the dryer. *That* was making the thumping noise. And when we took that out and tested the dryer, it works just fine and doesn't smell wrong any more, and DH went out to check the air flow through the vent and that's fine.

So all that trouble over a little plastic cup.