Tumble Dryer - repair or replace?

[Easy-X]

I recently replaced the belt on my tumble dryer. The last belt lasted a good few years but this one just a few weeks

When I say repair I suppose I really mean refurb. I reckon it needs new bearings and guides if it's chewed through another belt so quickly. AFAIK the motor and heating element are good.

I have had this tumble dryer for a decade so I'm considering if it's worth £30 in parts and a few hours to rebuild it

<addendum>
A serious consideration has to be the energy efficiency. My old one's rated "B" however looking into the details it's borderline. An el cheapo dryer would be "C" but there's actually only a few Watts in it.

Being selective I could get "sensor drying" which might help. A couple of hundred quid gets "heat pump" >A+ efficiency - and tumble dryers do burn through the 'leccy - but I know nothing about these.
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[dave001]

depends if you can be bothered fixing its proberly not wothe the bother

unless you got nothing else better to do with your time depending how new it is may be worth fixing and floging old one but i doubt it

whats your time worth to you ?

i got a bosh condencer one with sensing and i cant say iv noticed it useing much

[blurredman]

My tumble has chewed through two belts in 5 years. I just keep replacing it as it is only 5 years old.

Fixed dish washer recently too (2nd hand one that was though). Some times the biggest expense is the time it takes to fix- so... how much is your time worth?

I myself can't afford a new dish washer, but I can afford to fix it...


EDIT: I see Dave has similar views.
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[Polarbear]

I'm getting to the point of having to replace my tumble drier as well. Like yours it's an electric muncher thats at least 15 years old, a Zanussi. I've repaired it a couple of times, door lock broke. Belt came off motor when pulleys undid them selves.

I'd probably carry on fixing it unless motor or element went as it's so simple but the electric bills are getting silly, Wifie is a wild swimmer, goes at least once a day and weekends more often so she chucks her stuff in there to dry quickly.

It's just forking out the best part of £500 for something that drys clothes when we have one that works sticks in my craw.
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[Easy-X]

£500 is at the steep end where the heat pump ones are. I'm reading they cost half the electric but take twice as long to dry stuff. Wife didn't seem so keen on that part!

A simple dryer with sensor dry is more around the £250 mark.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[A100man]

No wife? Get one of these ..

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/sJIAAOSwxxFjdiPJ/s-l400.jpg
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[CaNsA]

[stinkwheel]

I bouight a heat pump drier 10 years ago and it's fantastic. It takes longer but it doesn't take as long as a wash cycle. It also stops when your stuff is dry so the 2h55 cycle I usually use rarely lasts that long.

Doesn't add humidity to the room, and in fairness, not much heat escapes either. It's quiet. No need for a vent, just a drain pipe T-ed into the washer drain. Put stuff in, select how dry you want it (Iron dry, cupboard dry or storage dry, the latter is too much, tends to shrink stuff) and turn it on.

Uses about 1/3 of the energy of a vented one. When I got mine, I did the maths and worked out it would make up the extra cost in three years. That was based on energy prices 10 years ago.

It also has a condenser tank you can connect in place of the drain which you need to empty periodically. I sometimes connect that up and keep the effectively distilled water it produces for in my bike radiators.
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[WD Forte]

You lot,
you dont know you're born you lot

When I were a lad ..................................................

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[Polarbear]

[stinkwheel]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

My tumble dryer seemed to determine the majority of my electricity bill. In summertime I switched more to line-drying but I’ve just bought a DeLonghi dehumidifier and I have a spare bedroom and clothes-horses which allegedly will do the job cheaper, albeit a bit slower. Too early to tell.

[jeffyjeff]

I bought a Whirlpool dryer in 1995 (new). It is used nearly every day, and ran trouble-free for nineteen years. Then in 2014 it began to overheat. YouTube has been an excellent diagnostic resource for me over the years. I replaced the thermal cutoff fuse in 2014 and 2016, and the operating (cycling) thermostat in 2019. Given its recent history, it's probably due for another breakdown sometime soon. I'll just keep on fixing it until it becomes cost prohibitive. So far, every repair has cost me less than $10 US.

The hardest thing about working on the dryer is connecting it to the dryer duct. Christ! Docking the space shuttle must be easier than reconnecting my dryer back to the house after I've worked on it.
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[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]