Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

[admin]

I have a Zanussi Condenser Dryer which recently broke down.
On closer exam – it appeared that the belt had snapped and the drum was not turning.
I have now purchased a new belt and tried to fit however the tension does not appear to be tight enough to spin the drum.
I bought a 1975mm belt – the same model etc as was taken off.
I’m sure it is something really simple – can anyone help?

thanks

[Martin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

What is the model number of the dryer David?

Martin

[Penguin45]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

Have you rotated the motor against the spring to put tension on the belt?

Penguin45.

[admin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

Think It’s a TC481W
Yes – we can get tension on the motor but the motor swings back and the tension’s lost.

The motor will move to allow tension on the belt but the motor won’t stay to where it’s been moved to.

Is there a tightening mechanism or bolt or something similar that we are missing?

Thanks

[admin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

The motor has to be free moving, and swing with the belt under tension.

look again at the way the belt is routed, there HAS to be a different way.

The belt sounds like the correct length, but you can double check it against the size printed on the old belt. 1975.

[Martin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

As previously implied, you must be routing the belt around the tensioner pulley incorrectly (‘cos the belt you have got is correct) :con:

From memory as you look from the back the belt comes from the L/H/side of the drum, down and around the motor pulley, up over the tensioner pulley( clockwise) and away to the drum again on the other side…..??

Martin

[admin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

dont know if this will be much help, but i also tried replacing my fan belt on the same dryer. it took 5 hours (being inexperienced of course) i had seemed to try it every way possible. ifi am not mistaken the spring attached to the motor seemed to have been in the wrong position ( maybe had somehow gotten loose when the fan belt broke) i took off the spring and reattached it with a lot of tension and that seemed to place the fan belt in the right position. i hope i maake a little sense, it is from memory of 1 very long night 6 months ago.

[admin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

I have just discovered that the drive belt on my Zanussi TC481W has broken. What is the easiest way to get the new belt on the drum? Can anyone point me to an illustration?

Thanks

[Penguin45]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

Basically the back has to come off to allow the belt to be passed round the drum, then in through the cover at the bottom for the motor end of things.

Good luck, it’s a real s@d of a job.
:plug:
Regards,
Penguin45.

[kpf]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

Thanks Penguin. Do you mean the entire back, or just the funny shaped bit to which the bearing is attached?

[clivejameson]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

…that would be the whole of the back panel kpf…you will need to take that little cover off first to remove a clip to allow the drum out of the bearing.

[kpf]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

For the benefit of someone looking at this forum at a later date, I have now just replaced the belt on my Zanussi TC481W Tumble Dryer. The symptoms were that the machine sounded like it was working normally and was still blowing hot air but the clothes were remaining damp and creased. Subsequently dawned on me that the drum was not rotating.

The back of the dryer had to be removed in order to get the new belt around the drum. By lying the dryer on it’s front, the drum was supported by the front bearing, allowing the retaining clip on the rear bearing to be removed, and the back lifted far enough up to reach in and place the new belt around the drum. Then, the back can be refitted, and the dryer stood upright, but the plastic cover in the bottom right hand corner – which protects the secondary drive belt to the fan – has to be off. The belt needs to come from the under side of the drum (LHS) across to the guide wheel, route clockwise around it and then down to the ribbed drive rotor, anti-clockwise around that and the up the RHS of the drum. In order to achieve that, the motor casing (DON’T FORGET TO UNPLUG THE DRYER!) needs to be rotated anti-clockwise against the spring tension putting the guide wheel in about the 10 o’clock position, rather than the 12 o’clock position that it naturally sits in.

Thanks to the information gained from this and other websites, it took a couple of hours, works like new now, and saved me a small fortune! 😀

[admin]

I had exactly the same problem of the loose belt and was convinced I had the wrong replacement belt until I followed the advice above. I wish I had bought the belt from your link. I paid £25 for it at espares.co.uk.

[admin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

I have replaced the belt (drum drive) on the 481W dryer using the excellent instructions but it keeps falling off. Watching the machine operating, I can see that when the machine goes into reverse, the belt tends to move out (ie away from the grooved section) of the motor drive shaft. Normally it moves back to position when the machine goes back into forward cycle. However, sometimes it moves too far out and can’t go back. The belt then moves right to the edge of the drum and falls off.

The replacement belt was wider (a generic 1975h7 belt) than the original which only seemed to have 5 ribs. Not sure if this is the problem. It seems odd to me that the jockey wheel can move so far out on its shaft. I had a thought of putting a packing on its shaft (a number of washers) to restrict its movement and so hopefully keep the belt in position.

Any thoughts most welcome.

Thanks William

[Martin]

Re: Fitting belt on Zanussi Dryer

Anonymous wrote:I had a thought of putting a packing on its shaft (a number of washers) to restrict its movement and so hopefully keep the belt in position.

No don’t do that!

A 7 rib belt is perfectly OK to use and in fact will be a little more durable 😉 .

What I suspect is your problem, is that the front drum bearers are clogged with fluff making the drum stiff to turn. Also the rear phosphor bronze bearing may be worn or need greasing? So if when the belt is disconnected, the drum takes more than one finger strength to turn, then the drum needs removing to sort 🙂

[Author]

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