How to remove the back panel of AEG Lavatherm 61275AC to fit a new belt on the drum?

[Dark Horse]

Hi,

The belt on our AEG Lavatherm 61275AC dryer has snapped. I’ve bought a replacement and can easily fit it around the pulley next to the motor but can’t figure out how to remove the back panel so the belt can be fitted on the drum.

Here’s a picture of the back with the dryer plastic cover already removed. The screws highlighted in red are the ones I removed but the panel was still fixed. Do I also need to remove the scews in green too? What about the whole of the bottom plastic panel marked in blue, does that need unscrewing as well?
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”1365″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/ydSX6Q0/AEG-back-panel.jpg”}[/IMG2]

In the meantime, here’s pictures of how to fit the belt over the pulley.

1. Take off the top panel to get access to remove the right side panel. Unclip the tensioner spring, remove the two screws to access the fan and then unclip the fan cover:
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/gDPP5Q6/AEG-prep.jpg”}[/IMG2]

[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/HBPDDB5/AEG-access.jpg”}[/IMG2]

Pass the new belt over the front of the fan and through the spindle towards the motor. You’ll need to wiggle it a bit to work it around but you can move the small grommet thing behind the fan to get the belt through the narrow point of the spindle (small red area marked):
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/xHp8BkP/AEG-pulley.jpg”}[/IMG2]

Probably best to fit the belt onto the pulley after you have the belt fitted over the drum.

If anyone can please help advise how to remove / access the back panel so the belt can be fitted around the drum, that’d be hugely appreciated.

Thanks for any help.

Dark Horse

[electrofix]

listed lik this

you may find it easier to get the belt over the drum first and the motor second. you can take the othe fan cover off and remove motor to get the belt over

Dave

[Dark Horse]

Thank you very much for the reply Dave, I’ll try this and be sure to post back in a few weeks time with the results (currently away now until after Easter).

Just wondering if these instructions are to fully remove the back panel or just gain access to the drum? Don’t the bottom screws (marked red in my original post) also need removing to fully remove the panel?

Yes, I was already going to put the belt on the drum first but because I couldn’t figure out how to remove the back, I thought let me try the pulley in the meantime 🙂

[electrofix]

the manufacturers way is always different than how you do it in the field

in practice all you need is enough room to tease the belt round the drum

Dave

[Dark Horse]

I’ve now managed to get the belt on but unfortunately have another part to replace 🙁

More on that at the bottom of this post but first, as promised, here’s how I fitted the belt. Quite a few of the screws on the back panel need to be removed so there’s enough space to work the belt through and around the drum. Here are some pictures and instructions:

Prerequisites
Remove the top and side panels.
Using pliers, unclip the red hose from the plastic pipe at the top.
Remove the plastic soundproofing panel on the back panel which is secured by 5 screws.

Instructions
1. Remove the screws indicated to loosen (but not remove) the back panel. I’ve colour coded the screws for reference:

Green x5 – top crossbars
Red x10 – panel to access heating element (note that the bottom screw with a double red border is a different size to the others)
Blue x5 – bottom panel (note that the screws are crosshead and different from the others)
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”1366″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/X40j6zM/aeg-back-panel-remove-1.jpg”}[/IMG2]

2. With the 10 red screws removed, you can see the filter and heating element. To make it easier to fit the belt around the drum, we can remove the filter (in red) so the back panel is looser.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/JxmNV22/aeg-back-panel-remove-2.jpg”}[/IMG2]

3. The heating element prevents you from removing the filter so we must first remove the heating element which is secured by two screws underneath.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/bL2vXzF/aeg-back-panel-remove-3.jpg”}[/IMG2]

4. Next, remove the two screws for the filter and then lift this out. This will allow the bottom part of the back panel to be loosened further which makes it much easier to fit the belt around the drum. Whilst the filter is out, give it a good clean to get rid of any lint.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/Gs593Ww/aeg-back-panel-remove-4.jpg”}[/IMG2]

5. With the back panel sufficiently loosened, you can now work the new belt around the drum. It’s easier still if you can also remove the grey water tank housing at the top so you can see the whole drum but it seems to be secured with a screw behind the front control panel and I couldn’t figure out how to remove it even when the front panel was removed.

Started by fitting the belt from the right hand side (above the motor) and then just work it around towards the other side from the top. You can gently rotate the drum to help feed it through. I used some masking tape to bind the old snapped belt and used that first to test and make sure there were no other obstructions.

6. With the belt around the drum, the only thing left is to get it around the tension roller. The gap between the left side fan and cover is barely 5mm and I don’t have any tools that will fit so the other option is to pass it around the other side of the motor. For this, unclip the connections, capacitors (only one clip needs to be removed) and release the tension spring (marked in green), use a socket set to remove the two screws holding the brackets that secure the motor (marked in red) and remove the grey housing on the right (marked in blue) so the motor can be lifted to fit the belt around it.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/Jy2yKPy/aeg-back-panel-remove-5.jpg”}[/IMG2]

7. With the belt around the motor, you just need to secure it around the spindle and in front of the pulley. Reassemble using instructions above.

HOWEVER.

After I fitted the belt, I noticed that the plastic tension roller is actually broken 😡 Didn’t notice this before but reckon that the broken roller caused the belt to snap in the first place.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/rsH6zLF/pulley-1.jpg”}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/pfBTZL6/pulley-2.jpg”}[/IMG2]

Seems like the plastic has just melted away, here are the bits that were rattling around at the back. Is this just wear and tear or a more serious issue if the roller is melting?
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/ZMGhJXd/pulley-3.jpg”}[/IMG2]

The problem is that to take the tension roller off, you have to remove the fan and as mentioned above, I don’t have a tool that will fit in the tiny gap to loosen the screw in the fan.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/kX35X1x/pulley-4.jpg”}[/IMG2]

There doesn’t seem to be easy access from the front either without removing the whole front panel.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/tMtdzc4/pulley-5.jpg”}[/IMG2]

So ultimately, I have the belt on but now also need to replace the tension roller too. Part is easy enough to find but impossible to fit without removing that fan. The collar for the spindle that holds the roller doesn’t have enough space to just slide off the end as it hits the fan impellers.

If anyone can please help advise how to remove / access the fan, that’d be hugely appreciated.

Regards,

Dark Horse

[electrofix]

lift the motor out again

a small socket set will get the nut off to remove the fan

Dave

[Dark Horse]

Finally managed to finally sort this out by removing the motor to access the fan. It was actually much easier than I thought, certainly a lot easier than fitting the belt around the drum.

1. With the top and side panel removed, remove the grey fan housing on the left via the three screws (marked in red). You can optionally remove the sensor from the housing too (marked in blue) by gently pulling it out from the top but there’s enough cable to not have to do this.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/19j5y1g/fan-assembly.jpg”}[/IMG2]

2. Remove the motor assembly (same image as step 6 in my previous post).

– Unclip the connections, capacitors and release the tension spring (marked in green)
– Use a socket set to remove the two screws holding the brackets that secure the motor (marked in red) and remove the brackets completing by tilting them
– Remove the grey fan housing on the right (marked in blue)
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/Jy2yKPy/aeg-back-panel-remove-5.jpg”}[/IMG2]

3. Lift the motor housing out completely. If you have a working belt, just tilt the assembly first around the left side fan so the motor assembly can be removed.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/F38dXVr/motor-removed.jpg”}[/IMG2]

4. Use a socket set to remove the left side fan by loosening the nut. I thought the nut would need a squirt of WD40 as it looked jammed but it was very easy to unscrew without any effort.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/y81bsvB/motor-removed-fan-removed.jpg”}[/IMG2]

5. With the fan removed, use a pair of pliers to remove the collar from the tension pulley. This needs quite a bit of force and I found it easier to grab the tension pulley wheel and use that to push off the steel collar. A couple of washers will also come off with the tension pulley.

6. Here’s the new tension pulley (on the left) and the old one (on the right) that’s been removed. The new pulley is a genuine AEG part which supecedes the original part number but has a slightly different design that includes the collar.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/z22wn7G/tension-pulley-1.jpg”}[/IMG2]

And here’s the other side showing the remains of the destroyed tension pulley that was removed. An image of the destroyed bits are in my previous post.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/cTQq4fH/tension-pulley-2.jpg”}[/IMG2]

For comparison, here’s the same pictures but with the collar inserted into the old tension pulley. If you get an OEM part that’s not genuine AEG, you may need to use the existing collar with the new tension pulley.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/GFpsvLC/tension-pulley-3.jpg”}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/WPHNVYZ/tension-pulley-4.jpg”}[/IMG2]

Hope this helps and thanks again Dave for your guidance, it’s very much appreciated.

Regards,

Dark Horse

[electrofix]

collar is always part of the pulley. thats the bearing so it has to be locked to the wheel otherwise the plastic would fail in days

glad you sorted it

Dave

[Dark Horse]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply. One thing I forgot to menton is that the old pulley had a retaining clip to keep the pulley on the spindle although the clip had broken:
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”768″,”width”:”1024″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/ZMGhJXd/pulley-3.jpg”}[/IMG2]
The replacement didn’t come with any retainer clip but once the belt is under tension, I don’t think the pulley is going anywhere. There’s also a lip at the end of the spindle so the pulley can’t just pop off even without the retaining clip.

Also, the collar that was removed is longer than the one that came with the replacement.

Cheers,

Dark Horse

[AlShack]

I know this thread is ages old, but I just wanted to thank [USER=”58687″]Dark Horse[/USER] for the above – absolute life saver. I’ve just repaired my machine using the above – absolutely brilliant. Saved a fortune! £10 for the belt and no call-out fee (whatever that might have been).
Thanks again (and to the other contributors) – superstars all.

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