Jen for Model Number LE7680XMW0 This is long and involved.so I apologize in advance.Pulled out the dryer to clean vent. Probably broke a leveling foot (and then the roller went bad?) because shortly after I put it back the dryer was making a thumping noise (rhythmic). Father and husband said it was okay to keep running it (I know better than to listen to them NOW). Eventually, the noise stopped being rhythmic and became random and loud. Then the seal came off and tangled in the clothes (and began screeching that lovely metal on metal sound). Okay so I needed to replace the rear drum seal. And rollers. Which also meant axle shafts.Took it apart, decided the belt and idler pulley also needed replacing. Ordered all the parts, they arrived, went to swap them out and realized the washers for the axle shafts were chewed up as well. Waited another week to get those (bc hardware stores don't have the same ones). I finally got it all back together (including a new leveling foot) last night, it hummed beautifully. There was a burning smell at first but that went away, assumed it was just the glue from the seal? Pushed it back against the wall and dried a load of towels. Today, I went to put a load of laundry into the wash and water began seeping everywhere. I turned off the water to the washer, pulled out the dryer and realized that the plastic hose from the washer had a hole melted into it. The wall stud had a charred mark. Obviously the dryer was pushed in too far (not a 4 inch clearance from those pieces bc I'm an idiot). But my question (FINALLLY!) is can it be more than that? Can my heating element also be way too hot now? Did I screw up something while replacing all those parts or can it really just be that the back of the dryer cant be touching the things it's been touching for the last ten years? When the dryer runs and I open the door I can see the red hot heating element immediately cool down thru the holes but I don't remember if it did that before? I never noticed the element being red like that, anyway. So help? Is this a clearance issue or is something else wrong?
Answer Jen, You will want to have at least a 4" clearance between the back of the unit and the wall. This issue does sound like the issue was caused by it being pushed all the way against the wall. With the unit pushed all the way against the wall it can cause the unit to get hotter than normal if the venting is being restricted. Read More... Answered by AppliancePartsPros.com | Tuesday, August 12, 2014