The spendid Splendide

Back on November 27th (2015) I wrote about pulling our Splendide washer/dryer combo out of its cubbyhole to figure out why the dryer portion wasn't functioning properly.  As I reported, it appeared the blower fan was rubbing on the shroud.  It appeared that a bushing, or spacer had slipped allowing the fan blade to slip downward causing the rubbing of the fan against the shroud.  I attempted to fix it by moving the bushing back into position and that worked for about 2 weeks, then it slipped back and began to rub again......very irritating sound!  At any rate, I was back to square one once again.  

So that was November 27th, and Thursday was March 10th.....time to tackle the job once again and fix it again.  This is not a job to which I look forward.....it is a one person job for the most part and involves removing the doors, and door frame to the pantry, then wiggling the washer slowly out of its cubbyhole and into the middle of the kitchen.  Once it is out only TLE is skinny enough to get by it to use the bathroom, or get to the bedroom, so it is imperative that I am committed to getting the problem fixed in a few hours.....it is not a job that can be left overnight as the washer/dryer in the middle of the kitchen is slightly disruptive as one might imagine.......

......as you can see I place a few 4 X 4's on the ground to keep the Splendide off the ground.....there is a 3" lip that I must get it over to get it out of it's cubbyhole, and the 4 X 4's help a lot.

 The 'cubbyhole'......very, very tight!

Once the Splendide is out I take the top off by removing 4 sheet metal screws on the back and then it is just a matter of disconnecting all the wires (11 different connections) that run to the blower, then removing two more large screws to remove the blower assembly......

  The top of the blower motor

....I always take pictures off all the wires and where they connect before I disconnect them.....sure saves a lot of headaches when you go to reattach 11 different wires......

The blower

Once the blower assembly was removed it was obvious that there used to be a spacer/bushing there, but it was now gone, so it was just a matter of fabricating a small nylon spacer/bushing to replace the missing one.  I took the blower out to the workbench in my trailer and within 15 minutes had located, in my extensive supply of washers/bushings, etc., one that would work.  Then it was a matter of reinstalling the blower and reattaching all those wires.

I had everything reinstalled within 30 minutes and then turned on the dryer to be sure everything worked.  I noticed right off the bat that the air flow coming out the vent (where the vent hose attaches) seemed to be less than I expected.  When I took the blower assembly apart on the work bench a little metal flap fell out.  I deduced its purpose was to block moisture from flowing backward into the blower motor when the machine is in 'washer mode'.  I reinstalled it quickly, not realizing at the time I had done it backwards.  As I began to wonder why the air flow seemed restricted it suddenly occurred to me I had put the flap in backwards and now it was not opening to allow the hot air to flow freely into the drum......doh!   Now I had to completely remove the blower assembly once again, open it up and reverse the flap.......this is what I refer to often as the 'Hockwald Way'.....everything must take twice as long as necessary.  

All  told it took about 4 hours beginning to finish, but now it is really fixed.  Of course when you do something over and over again you begin to become an expert, and I am now definitely an expert at removing the Splendide, and removing that blower assembly.....:-/

Just as I was finishing putting the doors and door frame back on the pantry TLE arrived back home from the grocery store, and put everything back in the pantry just like she likes it.....good timing TLE!

Thursday was also our warmest day this week, and by the time I finished putting the Splendide back in its cubbyhole it was getting warm inside, so we turned on the A/C for about an hour to cool the coach and myself down.

By the time all was back together it was fast approaching 1500 hours, so I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, and then taking a longish hot shower.  Looks like more rain Friday afternoon, and early next week.....there are a number of storms lined up offshore and approaching SoCal......just what we need!

Thanks for stopping by!