Alice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 2, 2024
I finally figured out what's wrong with my dryer!
There's no drum to put the clothes in. This is a rookie mistake, Samsung.
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️
It's fun, I looked up the possible issues this dryer has: there's five wheels that can break, one belt, and four sensors.
I haven't gotten to the sensors yet but all five wheels are bad and the belt is gone
Jun 2, 2024 at 10:28pmWeb
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
Supposedly there's a bolt in here somewhere
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
I'm not an expert but I don't think this wheel is in functioning condition.
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
Honestly the hardest part of repairing my dryer is that it's got a computer in it, and I gotta resist trying to run Doom on it
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024

I promised my roommates I wouldn't run Doom on it, but here's an idea:
The dryer has a moisture sensor, right? So it can tell how long it takes to dry a given set of clothes...

What if I made this into a keyboard?

Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
I just need to bin the different possible drying times and use them as input for a function that converts it to letters
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
So like, doing a load that takes 10 minutes to dry then a load that takes 30 minutes to dry: that's an A
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
Anyway back to slightly serious things: a few people asked how old this thing was but I didn't know at the time.
The answer is apparently 8 years old.
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 4, 2024
my spouse and I usually sleep while listening to letsplays, but somehow the playlist got messed up this morning and I got woken up early by it playing a video on how to repair dryers.
I was tossing and turning and they were like CAREFULLY REMOVE THE BELT FROM THE TENSONING WHEEL and I was like THIS IS THE WORST NIGHTMARE, I AM FIXING DRYERS IN MY DREAMS!
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 4, 2024
it's still not fixed: it turns out I had to replace the dryer felt seal too, as it had partially come off.
That took a day to get here, and then the glue takes 24 hours to cure.
but maybe tonight, I'll finally finish the job?
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
I'm not an expert, but wheels are supposed to be round, right?
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
It's all back together and currently supposedly drying some towels. Hopefully it's working, I won't know until they come out
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024

The final tally, btw:

This dryer has the following items that are the main failure points that will need to be replaced if any of them break:
4 barrel wheels
1 tensioning wheel
1 belt
4 sensors
2 felt drum belts.

Of those, how many were broken?
Well, it's easier to list which weren't:
1 felt drum belt
0-4 sensors (replaced anyway as they be bad)

Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
So if one more felt belt had died, this dryer would have had basically every major breakable part replaced. This isn't even the same dryer anymore, really.
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
It is the dryer of theseus!
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 6, 2024
and it works! better than before it "broke", because it was probably at least partially broken before we even moved into this house
Show threaddan 💾Jun 6, 2024
@foone the magic of finally getting the scsi termination right!
Show threadlp0 on fire Jun 5, 2024
@foone, that or Trigger's dryer.
Show threadUpLateGeekJun 6, 2024
@foone you could say you put Schrödinger's towels in the dryer of Theseus.
Show threadJos DingjanJun 6, 2024
@foone My grandfather had one of those…
Show threadMatt PalmerJun 5, 2024
@foone "this here's great grandpa's dryer"
Show threadKevin Boyd (he/him) 🇨🇦Jun 5, 2024

@foone is it one of those ones that plays a cute song when a load is finished?

If so, would it be within the parameters of your arrangement to make it play the DOOM theme?

Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
@kboyd good question! If I hacked in it more, maybe. But if I make this repair project take any longer just for Foone reasons, I risk my roommates murdering me
Show threadCaptain | 🏳️‍🌈 🇨🇦 Jun 5, 2024
@foone Dryer of Theseus, Locke's dryer
Show threadThe cat who walks thru wallsJun 6, 2024
@foone So if it is not the same dryer, then it is not even your dryer any more? As in, it is not the same dryer that you promised not to run Doom on?...
Show threadHugo MillsJun 5, 2024

@foone Weeeeeell... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_triangle

(OK, more of a roller than a wheel, but...)

Reuleaux triangle - Wikipedia

Show threadWilliam D. JonesJun 5, 2024
@foone Generally, yes, being round is a desirable trait of a wheel :o...
Show threadtschuuulsJun 5, 2024
@foone Impressive wear for 8 years tbh. Just refurbed a 2011 and 2015 heat pump drier because they were super cheap secondhand (and <2kWh is amazing for one washing machine worth of clothes). And all the rollers were still in usable shape surprisingly.
Show threadNickJun 5, 2024
@foone That will buff right out.
Show threadBee O'Problem Jun 5, 2024

@foone I'm left wondering just how much of a racket the dryer was making before it gave up the ghost.

That wheel's been jammed solid for a while

Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
@beeoproblem very much, because it wasn't just this wheel that was bad, It was all of them!
Show threadFrostyFoxTeals! Jun 5, 2024
@foone @beeoproblem Lint'nt
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 5, 2024
@FrostyFoxTeals @beeoproblem I did have a bunch of NT boxes nearby when I was fixing it. Maybe some of the Windows NT got into the dryer?
Show threadMichal NemecekJun 6, 2024

@foone I mean, not necessarily. A square wheel will roll smoothly on a road made up of catenary curve segments. Morphocular has a video on how to calculate a "perfect" road for any mathematically describable wheel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGxSTzaID3k

(note that just because their method yields a road shape for some wheel doesn't mean said wheel will roll smoothly, as some wheel shapes may have to clip into their respective road somewhere other than the contact point in order to roll smoothly)

The Perfect Road for a Square Wheel and How to Design It

YouTube
Show thread@stevewfoldsJun 3, 2024
@foone Maintain a 40 year old Sears Kenmore washer & dryer because no modern equipment will fit the space built in 1963.
Show threadprokyonidJun 3, 2024
@stevewfolds @foone I maintain a 40yr old Maytag dryer because it came with the house and being purely electromechanical with no computers at all, will almost certainly outlive me, provided proper care.
Show threadDan Fixes Coin-OpsJun 4, 2024
@foone damn, what's your secret
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 4, 2024
@ifixcoinops I looked at the label?
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAJun 4, 2024
@foone dark magicks
@ifixcoinops
Show threadᴚ uɐᗡJun 3, 2024
@foone this sounds delightfully inefficient can we also somehow use a blockch^H^H^H
Show threadRobert "Anaerin" JohnstonJun 3, 2024
@foone I feel like you're getting a long way from "Keyboard". For instance: No key(s). Also, no board. Now, a bunch of computer case lock switches (for the key lock on older cases) mounted in a 2x4 would definitely count.
Show threadRobert "Anaerin" JohnstonJun 3, 2024
@foone Though I have a feeling you've already done this.
Show threadcreekJun 3, 2024
@foone solid use of Morse code right there.
Show thread  notorious rgbJun 3, 2024
@foone don’t be silly, doom is for pregnancy tests and atm machines not dryers
Show threadcliffordheathJun 3, 2024
@rgb @foone Should run a linter or a fuzzer on a dryer
Show threadAlex von KitchenJun 3, 2024
@rgb @foone Hexen then?
Show threadphi1997Jun 3, 2024
@foone
Embrace your destiny
Show threadMatt PalmerJun 3, 2024
@foone as the liquid helium said to the mercury, "resistance is futile".
Show threadKeith KaisershotJun 3, 2024
@foone I’m too young to dry
Show threadCovarrJun 3, 2024
@foone but what if you don't gotta? What if you run doom anyway?
Show thread📡 Daan Berg 🏍️Jun 2, 2024
@foone At this point, does it make a lot of sense to save it?
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 2, 2024
@db when you're as broke as I am? It definitely makes sense to keep trying
Show threadQCATOPR Jun 2, 2024
@db @foone Depends on the model. You can generally get a wheel and belt kit from Amazon for under $50
Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️Jun 3, 2024
@timjclevenger @db yeah. I got all the wheels + belt for 25$, plus another 10$ for the sensors
Show threadJoby (chaotic good)Jun 3, 2024
@db @foone if you're handy fixing stuff big appliances like this are shockingly often worth saving. They're mostly pretty simple machines, and even fairly modern ones tend to be surprisingly designed for repair. With a couple hours you can often save a ton of money and keep a veritable mountain of steel out of the landfill.
Show threadJoby (chaotic good)Jun 3, 2024
@db @foone Now where Whirlpool gets off charging almost as much for the timer assembly on my dryer as they do for the whole entire dryer, I cannot tell you. Luckily if it ever goes there are refurbs and knockoffs.
Show threaddan 💾Jun 2, 2024
@foone That's pretty good going!
Show threadDan PhifferJun 2, 2024
@foone I know this mountain goats song
Show threadchilortJun 2, 2024
@foone this oddly reminds me of recently fixing our litter robot. Nearly every single possible part that could fail that had electricity running to it had failed
Show threadI love this, so IJun 2, 2024
@foone and, being a quality* Samsung appliance, there’s also the not unlikely possibility that it’s on fire
Show threadMark EichinJun 2, 2024
@foone that looks a lot like the 25-year-old kenmore I have (torn down twice - the first one was an actually burned-through heating element (in that square-tube on the right), the second was three of the wheels no longer turned - hair burned in to a carbon layer on the bearing shafts.) For both of them, getting it to the stage you're at was the hard part; the parts are turned out to be pretty easy to get (the most recent repair was this year.)