[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

[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

[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

[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 🙂

[Dark Horse]

A quick update; did three normal drying loads today on different settings and the dryer was good as gold. Each cycle completed properly and the dryer didn’t stop once or show any error codes; even the squealing noise has gone. Have also noticed the dryer starts quicker and sounds a little different, less tired if that makes sense. Hopefully all is good now.

Many thanks Dave for your replies and help

[Dark Horse]

Yeah, my multimeter doesn’t have capacitance. Other option is to charge the capacitor with a battery but I think it’ll just be easier to try it out on the dryer. Will post back with results hopefully sometime this weekend.

[Dark Horse]

Quick update on this, I received the new capacitor and tested both old and new on a digital multimeter (20k ohms) however I get the same result of 1.

Don’t know if this means the new one is a dud (it briefly changed numbers for half a second before returning to 1 the first time it was tested) but I have fitted it for now and will post back once we have enough washing for a normal load. Fingers crossed.

[Dark Horse]

Thanks.

Also found this post on the forum so just linking here as it seems to be the same problem for the exact same dryer:

https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/forums/forum/public-support-forums/help-and-support/tumble-dryer-help-forum/91832-aeg-tumbler-drum-intermittent-no-click-no-start

[Dark Horse]

Just took a quick look and there are two capacitors in there:

[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”height”:”960″,”width”:”1280″,”src”:”https://i.ibb.co/n7Fphgz/20210201-094305.jpg”}[/IMG2]

Would both need changing or just the larger one rated 7 F which is the one furthest away in the picture with two spade connectors?

Thanks again for the help, it’s much appreciated. There’s a YouTube video of someone who had a similar problem with the exact same dryer and he changed the larger 7F capacitor so hoping it’s just a quick and easy fix.

[video=youtube;86r-DclfXwU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86r-DclfXwU[/video]

[Dark Horse]

Thanks for the help, I’ll take a look and try this if possible.

Regards,

Dark Horse

[Dark Horse]

I put in a much smaller load of just one T-Shirt that needed drying and it went all the way through without stopping, finishing the cycle in 30 mins. Then I put in three damp towels and it stopped and started a few times but eventually finished the cycle without showing code E50. Waited 30 mins and then did a final test of damp bedsheets which is about the same volume as three towels but less heavy, and this one also completed without stopping and starting or showing any E50 codes. In all three cases, the dryer is no longer making the squealing noise either (or it’s much, much less). Looks like the dryer behaves with much lighter loads of less than a half.

Does this mean it’s the motor? Is it a problem that can be fixed?

[Dark Horse]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for the reply, it’s much appreciated. I’ll try a much smaller load tomorrow and post back although we rarely put in a full load anyway so the clothes have space to tumble and dry properly. With a half load, it still fails as described.

Does the noise of the dryer that I provided a link to sound like the motor failing?

Regards,

Dark Horse

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