Clothes dryer: Cracked drum, fixable?

[iwannadie]

I have Maytag(I think Neptune) dryer I bought back in 2005 that started banging and clunking. I tore into it and found a crack on the drum right along the weld and right where the drum sits on the rollers, great. Out of warranty of course, google shows it is a common problem. The replacement drum is about $200 and likely to crack again. It seems I have gotten a lot of use out of mine and people claim it's more of a problem so I am hesitant to dump money into it right now. When replacing the drum I may as well replace the rollers and belt and that puts me around 400 bucks in parts that fast.

I would like to try and just fix the crack and see how it goes. I am thinking JB weld. It is really thin metal and I wouldn't want to try and actually weld it just yet. I figure a piece of metal to cover the crack with JB weld should be enough? Or, should I try for a piece of metal inside and outside of the drum to sandwich it? Would the JB weld hold up to the heat inside/outside of the drum? I've seen high temp stuff before maybe that would be a better route?

Just thought I would ask and maybe someone has dealt with this before or has some creative solutions.

 

[tbburg]

Never tried this myself, but it sounds like it should work. JB weld should hold up to 150deg. heat without breaking down. If you try the repair, put the doubler plate in the inside of the drum. if it's on the outside the drum support rollers will run over it(the crack is in the roller track, right?) and the dryer will make even more noise then it is now. I'd extend the doubler plate 3 or 4 inches on either side of the crack. Make sure the exposed surface of the doubler plate is sanded smooth, especially along the edge. Any burr sticking up will rip clothing.

 

[WB9YZU]

Replacing the belt and rollers shouldn't be that much. I replaced the belt and belt tensioner for abut $25 with shipping.

The drum doesn't sound like that big a deal. If it's not that big a crack, stop drill it and if you want, try a couple of tack welds to keep it from traveling. I'm not worried about the ability to stop the crack, but the coating in the drum.

 

[iwannadie]

Thanks for the input guys.

It does make sense to put the patch inside the drum, I was worried about having to shape the piece of metal to match the drum. It is sitting right on the roller track and has some bends in it. I don't want it to jump around when that patch hits the rollers so putting it inside seems like the way to go. I picked up some High temp JB weld just to try it, supposed to be good up to 450 degrees, better safe than sorry I guess.

The crack is maybe 2 inches and being right on the edge it cause a lot of flex, especially with any weight in the drum. With weight the crack opens up making a 1/2" gap. If the JB weld patch doesn't hold up I will try welding I guess.

I priced out the parts on a few appliances parts sites and all seem to be about the same. The rollers are $25 each x4(2 front 2 rear) and the belts started at 50-60 bucks I am pretty sure.

 

[5-90]

Problem with JB is you'll end up with a lump, and dressing it can be a pain.

Me? I'd solder or braze it - easier to dress, and you'd need to dress less anyhow. A bit more work, but less preparation and less work after.

Since a drum is mild steel, stamped, and not really stressed; the HAZ from using a gas torch isn't anything to worry about. Maybe use a knotted brush on the outside of the drum to strip about a 1/2" band, centered on the crack, before you solder or braze.

Stop drill with a small bit - I figure 1/16", tops. It's going to get intermittently wet, so you want to minimize exposure to prevent "cancer" of the drum.

 

[cdrake261]

duct tape fixes almost everything

 

[GSequoia]

JB plus a brace would throw it out of balance. I'd suggest removing the drum and taking it to a friend that's good at welding sheet.

 

[bigalpha]

JB plus a brace would throw it out of balance. I'd suggest removing the drum and taking it to a friend that's good at welding sheet.

Put some JB Weld on the direct opposite side.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Craigslist dryer, or new IMO.

 

[tbburg]

Don't worry about drum balance. They're not balanced to begin with. If you want to check this, set the uninstalled drum on a flat surface and watch it roll to "heavy side down" no matter where you set it.

Considering the drum is powder-coated, I'd try the JB-weld before brazing or welding.(Never had any luck welding to powder-coated metals myself - can't seem to strip the metal clean.)

 

[GSequoia]

They're not balanced perfectly, no, but I'd bet if you added a steel brace and a bunch of JB Weld it would get it a whole lot more imbalanced.

 

[GSequoia]

PS - O.P., shouldn't you change your user name to "iwannadry?"

 

[iwannadie]

Craigslist dryer, or new IMO.

It is a nice dryer, I don't see the need to just junk what I have because of a small crack on the drum if I can fix it. Buying a used dryer could bring me a whole new problem.

I have the drum sitting out ready to weld, trying to get a buddy who is better at welding than me to help out, I'll post pics of what we come up with when it's done. He is saying to put a piece of copper on the inside...

I didn't think balance was a huge deal with these, it's not really spinning that fast and with a load of clothes banging around inside.

I do wanna dry :yelclap: .

 

[ehall]

turn the TV up

 

[Johnnie Walker]

With a dryer, the balance is really not quite AS important as with a washer.

 

[iwannadie]

Got the welding done today, no pictures. My friend didn't do pretty welding but it seemed really strong, I tried flexing it to see if I could break it and it held fine. Got it back in the machine and it is a little 'thumpy', I think it is just a little out of round now. I may try and mess with it or just leave it and see, the thump is barely there and as long as it holds I am not worried about the sound.

Pretty cool playing with the insides of these things, if it happens again I can have the drum out in 5 minutes. Glad I didn't spend the 200 bucks on a new drum right away.

 

[kevconn]

A neighbor has one of these Neptune dryers and has a small crack/chip forming in the weld/seam of her dryer drum. Has anyone tried aluminum duct tape inside of the dryer? It would only take a piece about 1 1/2 inches to cover the spot.

 

[iwannadie]

The problem with using tape is strength. At least on mine anyways, the spot that cracked was where the drum sits on the rollers supporting the drum / clothes weight. Tape would not be able to support the weight not to mention the heat effecting the tape.

I actually just replaced the drum a few weeks ago for about the 200 after the weld broke free and left a good 2" square hole in the drum.

It seems like this issue is a real defect from maytag and sadly they will not offer any type of support or recall to solve the issue. Makes me not want to buy maytag again.

 

[xcm]

JB Weld wont work for long, nor tape. Its not the heat that your problems, its the constant movement of thin welded sheet metal.

Ask yourself, why did it crack to begin with? Pull it, re-weld it, paint, reinstall. If its a pain in the butt to remove it, add a reinforcement plate so you dont have to do it again.

 

[D.I.T.A]

Surprised no one mentioned using rivets, drill both ends of the crack get some thin gauge sheet metal and rivet it maybe a little jb weld in between the two for good measure.