How do i tighten a drive belt...

vanilla

My washing machine broke at the weekend and after looking up here ,what could be wrong with it, it turned out to be the drive belt was off and no matter how many times i put it on it kept coming off. So went this morning and got a new belt, tried to put it on but of course it is to tight to put on. I know i can loosen the spin thing but i don't know how.
I've tryed looking on the internet for a diagram but had no look.
The machine is a tricity bendix 1000 model aw1053w. Any help would be great as the washing is piling up.
I opened 2 screws on the spin thing (i thought it would loosen it ) but took them off and it's not moving at all.

andrew-b

This happened to me too on the 1100 model tricity bendix. The old drive belt frayed and then tangled itself up on the drive shaft, stretched itself and fell off.

Like you i pulled my hair out at trying to get the seemingly too-tight new belt to fit. Well the good news is there is a really simple tip that makes fitting the new belt so simple you'll kick yourself. Get a cable tie (or just use string like i did if you don't have any cable ties) and tie the new belt in place to the top of the drum. Stretch the belt over the pulley on the drive shaft of the motor. Then simply turn the drum with your hand and youll find the belt fits itself around the drum. Once it's on cut the cable tie and your done.

Andy

ormus

dont know about your model, but usually you can adjust the motor by loosening 2 or 3 bolts. the motor then slides up and down.
very similar to an alternator/fan belt on a car.

kwatt

I grew up working on Candy and Zanussi machines, repairing 10 or more a day normally and the first thing they teach you is that if the belt fails, there's usually always a reason for it failing. It doesn't happen by magic. Belts don't stretch either, old myth.

Most belts will last beyond the rest of the machine these days.

So, with that in mind, look for bearing play, pulleys mis-aligned (although this is rare) and other such things.

HTH

K.

roswell

If you have strong thumbs you should be able to put it on the motor and turn the drum holding the belt in place, failing that the table tie suggestion will work great, you shouldnt need to adjust anything.

andrew-b

kwatt wrote: »

Belts don't stretch either, old myth.

Indeed a rubber one shouldn't . But the sort i had previously had a fabric on the outside of it that i think kept the shape and size of the belt. The other side was a hardish sort of rubber with grooves around the circumference of the belt. It was the fabric that frayed and got caught up in the drive shaft. It had definitely stretched though as when i struggled to fit the new belt i compared it with the old one...there was over an inch difference in circumference. So it's not totally myth. Although to be fair i doubt the fabric backed belt would have stretched if it hadnt got caught up! The belt i replaced it with was 100% rubber one though so shouldn't be prone to the same sort of problem.

Andy

kwatt

Rubber is not used in modern belt construction, it's synthetics.

The best belts are produced in the UK, I can't recall the manufacturer, but they just don't fail. Most all are of a fabric construction then covered with a synthetic rubber looking material. You replacement will not be made from rubber.

Many are now stretch belts, designed to stretch so that OOB sensors in the module work and that they don't slip.

Trust me, I know a little about washing machine design given that I am involved in developing my own machines.

K.