I was telling this story to a friend the other day and it made me realize that I should probably share this very blushing tale about a very stupid non-mechanic move I made a couple months ago. As you read this story, please keep in mind and consider this my disclaimer, that I quickly realized in technical school that I ain't so good at fix'n things which is why I pursued a job that required only a pen and stapler in my tool box.
I was home alone (I know, it already sounds like trouble) a couple of months ago and I decided that I wanted to clean the lint out of my dryer. I try to do this at least every six months, but I have heard that you should do it much more often. So, I took apart the little access panel where the lint screen typically sits and I began to use my handy dryer cleaning tools to scrape, suck, and sweep out all of the packed lint, dust, and god knows what else that was in there. After I got everything cleaned in my normal cleaning area, I noticed that behind the drum that rotates the clothes around, there seemed to be some more lint packed in behind, between the drum and back wall of the dryer. When I see a challenge like this, there is still a part of my psyche that requires investigation and analysis as to how I can fix and conquer, which I proceeded to do.
No matter what anyone says, a typical mechanic will proceed to take something apart prior to spending quality research reading directions time. The thought is that once everything is apart, we will of course remember how we took it apart and therefore can reassemble just like new. This was the exact approach I took in order to remove the lint stuck behind the dryer drum (or what ever the big round rotating thing is called). I proceeded to remove the entire outer case of the dryer and set it aside. I still couldn't figure out how to get to the lint, so I decided that I would remove the drum entirely so that I could give it a good cleaning. There were only 3 bolts holding it together so I figured it should go right back together with no problem.
When I removed the last of the three bolts, the drum dropped down and made a very familiar noise when it hit the bottom of the dryer where the motor was sitting. This was a noise I have heard many times before and the only way to describe it would be WHOOPS!
In just 15 minutes I had that whole sucker torn apart and finally got to the lint; at which point I proceeded to cleaned the hell out of that lint. And....then...it came time to putting the thing back together. Well, when the drum dropped it actually broke the pulley that was holding the belt which turned the drum and I had no idea how to fix that. Plus there were several other things that I broke, which I won't mention, plus, I had no idea how to put the thing back together. The mechanic repair method had let me down again.
When my wife came home and saw her dryer in pieces, I had to give her the only explanation that I could and it was the truth; because I can't lie to my wife. I told her: "Sweetie, I saw that there was lint packed in an area that it shouldn't be which was a fire hazard and I care to much about my family to let us burn to death in a horrible dryer fire so I decided to take the thing apart in attempt to clean and make safe for us again. While I had it apart I noticed another faulty part which could have further aided to this thing burning us up; so I decided it would be best for us to just get rid of this thing and get you a brand new dryer."
I never really new how well this explanation worked, but $400 later, I had a new dryer that doesn't match my washer. Oh yeah, I am also constantly reminded on how much better our old dryer was than this brand new one. This my friends, is why I don't fix cars anymore.