Dryer Door Screws (No Rockets)

[JAL3]

My wife asked me to reverse the door on our fairly new clothes dryer. I looked at the instruction book and it seems simple enough.

Step 1 was trivial and involved removing some plastic inserts.

Step 2 is driving me nuts. There are four screws, two for each hinge, that hold the door to the dryer. Those screws are in TIGHT. I cannot seem to budge any of the 4. I broke the tips off of two phillips screw drivers in an attempt to turn the screws. I am worried that one of the screws shows the beginning of stripping the slot.

How do you deal with a situation like this?

[Mushtang]

Spray WD-40 on the screw and let it soak in for about 10 minutes, then spray again and let it soak some more. When you try the screws again it might work better.

[Mushtang]

When I was dating my wife she'd bought a washer/dryer for her apartment and for a long time delt with the dryer door opening towards the washer. She had no idea that it could even be changed! So I flipped it around one day without telling her and when she saw it later she was super excited and grateful.

[tightwad]

Spray WD-40 on the screw and let it soak in for about 10 minutes, then spray again and let it soak some more. When you try the screws again it might work better.

After soaking them with WD-40 as Mushtang said, try tighting the screws slightly this may free them up. This is a trick I was taught in the air force and it has worked 95 percent of the time. Good luck.

[troj]

And regardless of whether it works or not, when you're done, be sure to clean the dryer thoroughly -- leaving any traces of WD-40 on it is sure to land you in the doghouse!

-Kevin

[Zonie]

They may be Japanese JIS Screws, which look like phillips screws but in reality are not, and don't need a pointy screwdriver, but a more snub nosed tip. IF that is the case, you won't get enough bite on them.

Jensen / Stanley tools sells the drivers.

[fyrwrxz]

Guys- I hate to rain on the WD-40 parade but..no. The reason it's called "WD" is: water displacement! It has properties more suited to metal protection than lubrication. It was originally designed/formulated to protect the Atas ICBM skins during the storage/manufacturing process in the coastal sea air to prevent corrosion. Any number of other low viscosity products have the 'creep factor' (no jokes, now-come on!) that have penetrating capabilities, including transmission fluid. FWIW-my technique for frozen fasteners is pretty simple.
1st-heat the entire assembly beyond ambient. Hair dryer, pencil torch, bernz-o-matic, whatever. Your average flame thrower is a little overkill. Don't blacken the paint. While still warm, apply penetrant oil.
2nd-let cool, apply another small amount and let sit.
3rd-reapply heat to where surfaces feel warm/hot-do NOT cook your petroleum base into tar!
4th-while warm-invert a can of compressed air (canned air, any type) so you get the liquid coming out at very cold temps and spray your fasteners as closely as possible while keeping any other parts as warm as possible. Try to 'shock' with a rapid forceful turn on the fastener. This may involve putting a phillips bit in a socket and tapping it sharply.
The whole idea is to gain a little clearance by cooling/heating for thermal expansion and contraction and utilizing that to your advantage. Most fasteners in an assembly line process are installed with preset pneumatic guns dialed to torque snug. A bond can be made by this friction to any painted surface as the heat from the high speed torquing 'melts' a little of the paint. You are trying to break this seal. A few even taps with a (non-pointy!) punch can also prove effective. Don't use so much force you shear the head!
Just a little trick from an old tooling engineer- YMMV... good luck!

[troj]

BTW, before frustrating yourself further, and possibly making the situation worse, pop over to here and, using the proper forum, identify the brand/model of the dryer, and explain the problem.

Someone who knows that brand will answer.

I've used the forum for information on resolving issues with my dishwasher and my refrigerator.

-Kevin

[new2hpr]

Use a drop of thin CYA on the tip of the screwdriver and bond it to the screw. You'll only get one try per bond, but push hard while turning quickly. Basically be a human impact wrench.

[Evo666]

Use correct size screwdriver tip or use an impact driver.

[Pippen]

How do you deal with a situation like this?

Since you obviously can't remove it, I think the best way to handle this is to wait until she's out of the house one day and then spray paint it. Just go with your favorite color from your rocket paint box. She'll be really surprised.

[5x7]

flip the whole dryer upside down

[GDJ]

flip the whole dryer upside down

Okay, THAT is funny!

I'm thinking either JIS screws, stainless screws that galled upon assembly at the factory (happens quite a bit) or someone used locktite thread-locker on the threads.

Bottom line: if using the right screwdriver bit fails to remove the screws, the only way sure-fire and brutal way to do this is to drill out the heads, remove the door, and grab what's left of the threaded screw with a small pair of vise grips, or drill out the entire screw and replace it with one that has a more common TPI and head.
Altho' it's worth using penetrating oil, and if there is thread-locker on the threads, a bit of heat from a micro torch will probably destroy the locking compound and make things alot easier.


OR......forget the whole damn thing and tell the wife that she might as well get used to the door the way it is.



Personally, I'm voting for forgetting the whole damn thing and grabbing a beer.

[JAL3]

I've been in class all afternoon/evening and just got back to see this.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll let you know what happens.

[JAL3]

Since you obviously can't remove it, I think the best way to handle this is to wait until she's out of the house one day and then spray paint it. Just go with your favorite color from your rocket paint box. She'll be really surprised.

Do you work for the divorce attorney lobby or something?

You're trying to get me turned into fried kimchi!

[Mushtang]

Guys- I hate to rain on the WD-40 parade but..no. The reason it's called "WD" is: water displacement! It has properties more suited to metal protection than lubrication.

I read this about WD-40 in the past but the stuff does work for lubrication and it can't just be because I think it should. Whenever a door hinge squeaks, a shot of WD-40 makes the squeak go away for a long time.

I have a live trap that I'm currently using to try and get squirrels out of my attic and when I got it from a friend the door wouldn't fall closed all the way because it was getting stuck. A shot of WD-40 on each side and pushing it up and down a little, and the door slides closed quick and easy now.

Pretty much everything I've needed it to do, it's done great. It even makes a great flame thrower if you're going to try the heat method of un-sticking screws.

As long as it's working, I'll keep using it.

[qquake2k]

"If it moves but shouldn't, put duct tape on it. If it doesn't move but should, put WD-40 on it."

[shreadvector]

WD-40 is indeed water displacing and as such it can be very useful for coating a part that can get gunked up by water. But first the part should be clean. This included door hinges and launch rods.

Pentrating oil is better for unsticking things that are already gunked up or corroded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penetrating_oil

[JPVegh]

Dad used WD-40 for many things but stuck bolts always got a shot of 3n1 oil and were left to sit for a few minutes.

The best advice I saw above is to make sure you have the right driver for the job. Cheap tools (chinese junk) and stuck bolts don't mix, something is going to get boogered.

[Micromeister]

My wife asked me to reverse the door on our fairly new clothes dryer. I looked at the instruction book and it seems simple enough.

Step 1 was trivial and involved removing some plastic inserts.

Step 2 is driving me nuts. There are four screws, two for each hinge, that hold the door to the dryer. Those screws are in TIGHT. I cannot seem to budge any of the 4. I broke the tips off of two phillips screw drivers in an attempt to turn the screws. I am worried that one of the screws shows the beginning of stripping the slot.

How do you deal with a situation like this?

Where WD-40 doesn't work, Try CRC-56. Same procedure. usually a slight tightening twist will break them free. If that doesn't do it a small impact tool and 2lb sledge.... if that fails... turn the dryer over and tell her you did your best but it won... LOL!!!

[fyrwrxz]

+1 on teh inverted dryer..plus the lint trap is more accessible....

[Pippen]

Do you work for the divorce attorney lobby or something?

You're trying to get me turned into fried kimchi!

Nope, I have nothing to gain from divorce proceedings. I just thought I'd enjoy reading your report back to us more if you went the spray paint route.

[JAL3]

Nope, I have nothing to gain from divorce proceedings. I just thought I'd enjoy reading your report back to us more if you went the spray paint route.

I'm glad to hear it.

In any event, I told Gracie about your suggestion and at present I am banned from the utility room.

She'll probably relent by tomorrow and I can tackle it again.

[Sailorbill]

Just because it is a cross head or Cruciform type screw doesn't automaticaly make it a Phillips. There many different types so getting the correct driver is really important. Here are two places to look to see what drive it might be.
Wikipedia and PBTools.

[qquake2k]

I've had good results with both WD-40 and Kroil on stuck fasteners.

[Oldschool77]

After determining the proper tool,seated, a lite tap or so with a hammer on the end of handle may may break it loose. I have used this method with many stuck screws/bolts on mowers, cars, appliances and more. Or get a repairtech to do it. THAT will be expensive tho. But cheaper than getting it fixed after tearing it up. OR let it be!

[powderburner]

You guys have all hit the right points about factory torque settings, frozen screws, penetrating oil, and all the rest, but...

What do you do about the door closure latch, the one that has a bayonette fitting on the door that clicks through a spring-loaded clip to hold the dryer door closed, and requires a new hole in the other side of the door for the bayonette/clip?

Time for the drill? How do you drill a square hole?

[fyrwrxz]

You don't have a square drill bit??? Try Horror Fright, they have square, round, oblong, and a whole set labeled 'somewhere in the vicinity of' for those unknown sizes. I have found them exceptionally helpful in opening cereal boxes, bags of chips, and Pop-Tarts. YMMV.

[chadrog]

You might have to flip the front panel over, at which point you don't need to take the door off. Are you sure this unit's door is made to be reversible? Some are not.

[GDJ]

You guys have all hit the right points about factory torque settings, frozen screws, penetrating oil, and all the rest, but...

What do you do about the door closure latch, the one that has a bayonette fitting on the door that clicks through a spring-loaded clip to hold the dryer door closed, and requires a new hole in the other side of the door for the bayonette/clip?

Time for the drill? How do you drill a square hole?

Well, a regular square easy out makes nice square holes.