Ge WE9X105 Lower Felt OEM Part

After removing the top panel of the dryer, I removed 2 screws down inside (with unusual square head) to free the front panel then disconnected the wiring connecting the front panel to the dryer by gently pushing at the clips with a flathead screwdriver; this allowed me to fully remove the front panel. There is a large round lip on the front panel which holds the drum in place, and it was easy to see that the felt around this lip had degraded and turned completely orange and was the source of our rust stains (originally, I had thought the issue might have been a rusty drum). It was not easy to fully remove the degraded felt, but I was greatly aided by a razor scraper (one of the cheap plastic ones that is shaped like a razor you might shave with) and Goo Gone. After about an hour of scraping, I was ready for the repair. I bought both the "Lower Felt" and the "Slide, Drum" (this is really just the upper felt with some plastic squares attached). The directions were simple: I put the glue on the region i wanted to affix, waiting 1 minute for glue to become "tacky" then attached the felt and held pressure for a minute or two. Because the lower felt had to go all around, I glued it in stages (maybe 18'' at a time) and rotated the front panel so that the side I was gluing was always on top. There was enough glue in the Upper Felt kit alone to do both the upper and lower felt pieces with liberal application, and I still had some left in the tube. Shortly after I finished gluing, I reassembled the dryer, because I thought it would be good to have the pressure of the drum pushing against the newly glued felt. I waited a day or so before using the dryer, and everything worked great. Performance has been great so far (it's been a few weeks) and the rust stains seem to be gone.

Replaced rear bearing, upper and lower felts, drive belt. Have repaired dryer before for same problem years ago, knew what to do, on line diagrams helped to move memory. Cleaned all accumulated lint out of machine.Belt was changed only out of age.Looked good but thought to be on safe side.

Removed the front panel with the door and sprayed the old felt with alittle solvent being careful not to to get any on the plastic parts. This helped scrape off the old felt and remove most of the old glue. Applied new glue and let set for the time it asks for and reinstalled the new Drum slide on the top with the new lower felt on the bottom and the problem went away and was a pretty easy fix for an hour or so's worth of work from start to finish.

I fixed it in three hours. I'm not an expert but it is working now.

A local company replaced the rear bearing but not the front. The problem remained. I replaced the slide, drum and lower felt and this completely fixed the problem. When I replaced the front panel, the drum was held up by a book between the drum and the blower. This allowed me to install the front cover without help. Likewise, to connect the switch panel connectors before the switch panel is installed, the switch panel was supported by books and two pillows so I could install it without help. If you have someone to help, the front drum and later the switch panel can be supported by your helper, but it can be done without a helper.