Bulkhead

Bulkhead

Joseph from CO

Worn out rollers eventually caused the drum to lower itself and cut a sharp groove out of the upper left section of the bulkhead, approximately 10" x .25" along the curve. Neglected rollers were the cause of the bulkhead getting ruined. It's a hard lesson learned from ignoring a cheap and simple fix. Worst case, you ruin the bulkhead.

5/32" socket and one smaller - 1/4" drive. Big screwdriver to remove motor clips. Phillips screwdriver

It's a near-complete teardown of the unit, inhibited only by the motor. Check Youtube to see how to remove the motor and blower (you'll need a big, wide screwdriver). Take the old bulkhead out and replace it with the new one. Reinstall the motor and blower fan. Drink a beer; the worst is over. The rest is methodical reassembly.

Bulkhead

Mark from WA

Whirlpool dryer barrel sitting too low caused by a worn bulkhead from years of metal abrasion from worn felt seal.

Stand tools plus a vise grip to help remove the blower wheel that broke during removal.

I replaced the felt seal and drum support rollers about 6 months ago after 10 years of use since the clothes weren't really drying quick enough and it was very noisy. The new rollers wore out quickly making a black rubbery powdery mess that also started staining the cloths. Turns out the drum wasn't seated properly on the worn bulkhead and this bulkhead replacement fixed the problem. It took a total of 3 hours to repair. I ended up cracking the plastic dryer blower wheel when attempting to loosen from the drive motor as instructed by a manufacturer's repair video because I didn't use the right size wrench. This made removing the blower wheel a two-person task using vise grips to keep the fins from turning. Had to wait an extra day for a replacement blower wheel to arrive on Amazon. There are lots of screws and parts to keep track of and repairs included a new felt seal and drum support rollers too. It felt good to successfully repair this unit and not have to add to the landfill. Now it dries a full load in about 50 minutes instead of 80+ since there aren't any gaps between the bulkhead and drum for hot air to escape or for the black rubber from the drum support rollers to get in. I expect (and hope) to get many more years of life out of this dryer. The bulkhead looked slightly different from the original, but it still fit fine.