A dryer belt snapped on me in the middle of a job in a tight apartment laundry closet

I was replacing the rollers on a ten year old dryer in a downtown high rise, and the belt just gave way when I was putting the drum back. It was a real tight spot, maybe two feet of room to work. I didn't have a spare belt in my van, so I had to call the shop and have a runner bring one over, which took an hour. Has anyone else had a part fail on you right when you thought you were almost done?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliviabennett4d ago

My first year as an apprentice, I was sure a pro could avoid those surprise breakdowns. Then I watched my lead tech snap a belt on a Whirlpool dryer in a mobile home, same exact situation. The drum was halfway on and everything. Now I keep a universal belt in my bottom toolbox no matter what the work order says. It taught me you can't plan for everything, but you can at least try to be ready for the common stuff.

sage_rodriguez4d ago

That exact thing happened to me with a washing machine pump in a basement last year. It feels like a law of the universe, you know? You get everything apart, you're putting it back together, and the one part you didn't touch just quits. It's like when you fix a leaky faucet and then the toilet starts running. The machine knows you're there and decides to show you one more problem.