Washing Machine Woes

Complaints about excessive vibration when spinning.

Noticed the door seal was distorted, and also found dosing ball in the folds of the seal. Ordered new seal as I could not get the existing one to sit straight. Suspect the dosing ball had damaged the seal. Also the old one had become a bit grubby.

Continued to use the machine but vibration hadn't lessened. Noticed that although there wasn't any noticeable play in the drum, there was a bit of grinding noise when rotating it, so prepared to get new bearings. The machine is about 4 years old now, but I had to replace the drum bearings in its first year. I guess warranty would have covered it, but it is quite an easy job on these modern machines.

Went to fit them, but immediately found that the primary trouble was a broken spring on the tub suspension, causing the tub to sag. This was the explanation for the distortion of the door seal.

On further dismantling came to the conclusion that the drum bearing was fine. Definitely running smooth and no evidence of looseness.

So returned the unopened bearing kit and obtained a  new spring, and rebuilt machine. When I put the drive belt in place I was immediately aware of the grinding noise again. I thought then that the drum bearing was being noisy when under the tension of the drive belt, but on slipping the belt off again it was obvious the noise was coming from the motor bearing.

However the motor, despite making the noise, seemed to spin fairly freely. I decided that although the motor should be replaced, it might be an expensive mistake if the drive electronics were also faulty. (There was concern because the machine actually blew the plug fuse, which was the event that made me roll up my sleeves to sort out the problems.) So continued the rebuild and put on a test wash. This completed OK, even with 1600 rpm spins, albeit with excessive noise coming from the motor.

So now the hunt is on for a new motor. Having tried my local supplier who had no stock, I reverted to my usual online supplier. Pleased to find the required item available for delivery the next day, with not unreasonable extra charge for next day delivery. I can think about something else now while I await its arrival.

Next day comes, and a phone call from the supplier saying they had a problem in the warehouse, but the item would definitely be delivered tomorrow. Well at least I know I don't have to wait in for the delivery today. Meanwhile the dirty laundry piles up.

The new motor finally arrives. A few minutes to fit it, and then an hour or so to fully test. Finally all is well except there is a hint of a worrying squeak when the drum passes though one position. Are the drum bearings showing signs of old age?

Well a few more weeks gone by, and all is well. Backlog cleared. Job done, until the next time!