# I'm Having problems with my clothes dryer. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756 "2008-01-24T01:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aluminumdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@aluminumdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aluminumdisc)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/1 "2008-01-24T01:58:47Z")
I have a Frigidaire heavy duty dryer and it just started making 2 noises at the same time. One sounds like my basset hound is thumping his tail against it. the other sound has a scrape like quality to it. It heats up just fine and it spins as it should but it is troubling and we haven’t used it. Do you have any idea what the problem might be? I don’t see a model number but it is about four years old and the matching washer is a front loading machine. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/2 "2008-01-24T02:30:09Z")
Most likely the idler roller bearing is worn out. Dryers are really simple, and only have a few moving parts. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/3 "2008-01-24T03:23:04Z")
Make sure your basset hound isn’t actually thumping his tail against it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/4 "2008-01-24T05:16:17Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Most likely the idler roller bearing is worn out. Dryers are really simple, and only have a few moving parts. [/QUOTE] I second this. One or more of the roller bearings has gone south. It won’t keep running much longer and you’re putting a strain on the dryer belt and the motor, so it needs to be corrected soon. If you’re at all handy, it’s an easy fix and the parts are \< $30. I highly recommend replacing the dryer belt at the same time. FWIW, my dryer is over 23 years old and I have done this repair 4 or 5 times. ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/5 "2008-01-25T00:24:15Z")
I get these calls from my Mother and the one time it was making terrible noises. I took everything apart and somehow an 8" artists brush had gotten through the system part of the way and lodged. Who knows how? The next time was a bad timer and I was able to buy the exact same dryer (the whole dryer!) on Ebay for $20. Its been working great for over a year. ---
**Author:** ![aluminumdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@aluminumdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aluminumdisc)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/6 "2008-01-25T01:38:18Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] Make sure your basset hound isn’t actually thumping his tail against it. [/QUOTE] I asked him straight up and he denied it but he is a poker faced lying som’ bitch. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-having-problems-with-my-clothes-dryer/434756/7 "2008-01-25T03:01:15Z")
I was going to answer this last night, but saw that **beowulff** had posted what I was gonna say. Is the idler wheel bad, or is there a basset hound with an artist’s brush in there making noise?