Whirlpool W10612022 Felt Drum Seal OEM Part

Our 19 year old Whirlpool dryer quit heating. After checking the thermal fuse, I found the ignitor electrically open. I bought an ignitor at a local store as there was a national holiday the next day and I did not want the dryer inoperative waiting several days for shipping. I can say AppliancePartsPros is MUCH cheaper for the identical Whirlpool genuine part. While changing the ignitor, I noticed there was an excessive amount of lint in the dryer, which was caused by worn drum seals. I ordered drum seals, a new drive belt, the foam seals for the exhaust duct and new nylon drum bearing set. These were delivered promptly, but unfortunately the 2-piece nylon drum bearing set had only 1 piece. I went on line, used the chat function and was promptly taken care of. The new part arrived fairly quickly, was correct and I installed it. The most difficult part of the project was the rear drum seal which must be glued to the drum. I removed the old seal and sanded off the dried glue. I then set the drum up on a work table, blocked from rolling off with 2x4s, so I could rotate it in place. The new seal needs to be stretched to make it around the drum circumference, so I used small wood clamps to hold it in place around the drum. I then pushed back the fabric, applied a small bead of glue to the drum surface, gave it about a minute to air dry, then repositioned the seal. I worked my way around the drum, rotating it on my work table. The seal installed nicely. Pay attention when you position the drum during final assembly so that the rear support rollers are in place and the seal correctly circles the stationary back wall for the drum. You can check the seal for folding bouth outside and inside. 2 people are advised for this step. One last note, the installation of the drive belt is little tricky, so photograph the belt path through the tensioner and motor drive pulley before you remove the old belt.

Originally the dryer was squeaking a lot, so I purchased a new belt tensioner, but the original tensioner was an old-style no wheel tensioner, so that wasn't the source of the squeaking. I saw a lot of lint had built up inside the unit where there shouldn't have been that much. So I viewed a few videos on the Appliance Pros site and saw that the rear wheel guides were the cause of the squeaking and the rear felt drum and blower housing seal needed to be replaced. The rear blower housing was very easy (watch video), the new felt drum seal was another story. I saw a post where someone said they used clamps to hold the felt in place due to the fact that the felt needs to be stretched. I dry fitted the felt with clamps and saw just how tight it was. I removed the felt and applied the adhesive as shown in the video. The problem is you need to work fast so I had a little trouble with the last 12-18 inches since I was clamping sections so it wouldn't pull off as I stretched the felt into place. If I was to do it again I would not apply the adhesive to the last 12-18 inches until I got the felt in place and clamped, then apply adhesive to last section and stretch the felt in place. The adhesive sets up pretty quick. The replacement of the tensioner, rear roller guides, drum belt and light bulb were just as shown in the videos. If it wasn't for the Appliance Pros site I would have went out and purchased a new dryer. So for a little less the $100 the dryer is running like new and clothes are dry at the end of all runs so far.

Bottom line fix was the "SEAL" at the back of the drum. I also replaced the front "bearing ring" for the front support and the drum belt. The ring and seal were original, over 10 years old. The belt because I do not like to do the job more than once! CHANGE IT WHILE REPAIRING THE MACHINE! NOW! That said, the video was a GREAT HELP and the machine is nice and quiet like it was when it was new! However, scraping old glue is not fun. Being a retired Auto/Truck/Equipment Electrician/Mechanic, I've used "BRAKLEEN" to loosen glue and it worked today! Took less than 45 minutes to clean the drum. The "RED" can does a wonderful job. 2 things. 1. WEAR GLOVES! DO NOT LET IT TOUCH YOUR SKIN. You may be allergic to it. 2. DO NOT BREATHE THE VAPORS/SPRAY! Make sure it's used outside or in plenty of air flow where you're working. The application of the glue should be done according to the ambient temp. I followed the video, glued the entire drum and almost couldn't install the entire seal! It was 84 today. Should be, glue 1/3 to 1/2 the drum, install the seal, then continue the glue/install until done. Wait at least 30 minutes. WHAT'S THE RUSH ONLY WAITING 20 MINUTES?! Might need more time in colder weather. Other than that, the video was VERY HELPFUL! It was my first time replacing the seal, AND IT WORKS GREAT! Unfortunately, I didn't watch my time as I had one neighbor come by and one 55 minute phone call. Overall, it was a (BIG, EASY) piece of chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing! THANK YOU Mike Chiodetti

I replaced the felt drum seal and this once creaky, noisy, clothes-destroying, streak-leaving dryer animal is humming like a bird and I'm one happy customer. I was trying to decide whether to pay $400 or much more for a new dryer or fix this one. With the cost of the drum seal at $50, I decided to fix it myself. The hardest part was cleaning the old glue after removing the old seal. I used ammonia to soak the caked on glue and then a wire brush attached to a drill. Actually, it wasn't hard, it just took the most time. The process is very easy, especially with the video on this website. I think a lot of lint had been escaping through the old felt drum seal so it was VERY dusty dirty. Of course, I cleaned this up. Before lifting the dryer drum from the machine by the belt, I took a picture with my cellphone of how the belt was attached to the roller wheel. After replacing the felt drum seal, I found it easier to lay the dryer on its back to wrap the belt around the drum and re-attach the belt to the roller wheel. Luckily, my belt was in good shape but if you think yours might not be, this is a good time to order a belt and the felt drum seal. And when replacing don't forget the grooved side of the belt goes against the drum! I notice that my clothes are drying a lot quicker, so not only was lint escaping but so was the heat apparently. I am shaking my head at why I waited over a year to fix this. I guess I thought the only fix was a new dryer. This dryer has to be about 20 years old and I bought it used after replacing the heating element on a new dryer TWICE. So I'm not at all happy with these newer appliances or the thought of purchasing one. I'd rather have an old workhorse that works. The part arrived very quickly.

The video on the website was very helpful in opening up the dryer and removing the drum. The only thing I had any trouble with was installing the seal. It is pretty tight and the proper way to get it installed is to slip the whole thing over the end of the drum then slip it back so that the folded part covers the end of the drum.