Replacing washing machine bearings.. or not..

[hotponyshoes]

Don't even know why I bothered to start this job...
Bit annoyed as I told her several times to register for the 10yr warranty....

Bearings been rumbling for ages and its finally chucked the belt off
Got the drum out but it's bonded/welded together so I think that's enough..
There is one enthusiastic chap on utube who's cut his open then glued/screwed it back together afterwards.

One question, is it only the bearing(s) at the rear of the drum supporting it? I was expecting to see something around the outside of the front end as well so now I'm tempted to cut it open just to have a look..

 

[johnik]

did one several years ago and there was only one bearing, it was an easyish job, a domestic appliance place did a kit of all the bits needed, i think you just tap the shaft out of the plastic bit in the pic

 

[JOEPRO]

I had a premium £500 ish Hotpoint some years back. Drum bearings went just outside of a 2 year warranty.

Drum had screw holes but was fully plastic welded to stop servicing. I did happen to get a call from Hotpoint for an extended warranty though

Had to get a whole drum in it. Just because of bearings. Failed again a while later and had to be dumped. Since then I get Beko etc.

Interestingly there is a new consumer points rating system coming into force for white goods.a scale of 1-10 for serviceability. That may assist in ruling out wasteful practice like this.

A new drum at £££ for a £5 bearing is criminally wasteful IMO.

 

[Blobber]

What make? The last engineer we had for a warranty claim left me a new complete drum assembly as he didn't want it! I did bung him £20 as he left a load of other bits!

 

[Mikes]

I've got the same problem with my AEG. Sealed drum prevents replacement of bearings so whole machine will be scrap. Progress? - I don't think so. Looking on-line appears to be a fairly common problem across many makes.

 

[hotponyshoes]

did one several years ago and there was only one bearing, it was an easyish job, a domestic appliance place did a kit of all the bits needed, i think you just tap the shaft out of the plastic bit in the pic

The shaft is free from the bearing but as the outer plastic bit is glued together I can't get the metal bit out of the front.
I could possibly get the visible bearing out from the back but there must be more than just that one bearing so can't see how I'd get the other out?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Quick look online finds a new drum for £245...
Or a complete new machine for £289...

 

[JOEPRO]

Quick look online finds a new drum for £245...
Or a complete new machine for £289...

Yep - Criminal. They inbuild redundancy

Hence why I just buy cheap white goods now.

 

[stuvy]

I've got the same problem with my AEG. Sealed drum prevents replacement of bearings so whole machine will be scrap. Progress? - I don't think so. Looking on-line appears to be a fairly common problem across many makes.

Same as my old one

Had to get a new machine and went for a decent branded one

 

[Neilj]

What make / model is it?

 

[joebog1]

Quote:
Drum bearings went just outside of a 2 year warranty.

I wish wish I was the bloke that invented that timer!!!!. Every single product the world over has them fitted.
The one that knows when warranty expires then activates two weeks later.
Slightly off topic, but I bought LG ( thats Lousy Garbage ) white goods, because of the ten year motor warranty.
The bearings and motors dont fail, the $350 digital control boards do. They replaced the $1300 washing machine with a $700 one.
I replaced the control board in the dishwasher with the upgraded version.
It was even more fun!!!. From the "fully sealed " box it fits into lots of blue lightning and smoke.
The replacement lasted about two years.

Joe

 

[Beanwood]

Threw mine out when I realised the drum was a sealed unit, and bought a 6 month old better machine for less than £100!

 

[hotponyshoes]

What make / model is it?

Indesit innex, nothing particularly special.
She wanted something with a 10kg capacity and that had the longest warranty (provided you bothered to fill in the form and register it..

Pulled the outer bearing out from the back.
There is an inner bearing as well. That one had disingrated..

The inner one needs to go in from the front and it would need a good clean up plus a new front seal..
I can't see any other way apart from cutting the drum apart.
Maybe an hour to cut and clean up. Plus an hour to fit the bearings and reassemble.
£20? for bearings and £20? for some glue..

Or I give up and sit on the sofa doing some invoices and pull in the money for a new one...

 

[visor_down]

Done ours twice, first time just the bearing and seal, spider was just on the limit of wear, second time did the spider and bearing as the shaft on the spider by that time was knackered. If you can do it it's a cheap repair, but it's the last repair ours will get as my enthusiasm with a hammer getting the new spider on warped the drum and was a bitch to get running true again, has lasted a while though it's 14years old now.
The manufacturer bearing kits often aren't up to scratch I've found, second time round I got the bits separately and an skf bearing that has lasted many times over the original and the replacement one in the Hotpoint kit together

 

[JOEPRO]

Indesit innex, nothing particularly special.
She wanted something with a 10kg capacity and that had the longest warranty (provided you bothered to fill in the form and register it..

Pulled the outer bearing out from the back.
There is an inner bearing as well. That one had disingrated..

The inner one needs to go in from the front and it would need a good clean up plus a new front seal..
I can't see any other way apart from cutting the drum apart.
Maybe an hour to cut and clean up. Plus an hour to fit the bearings and reassemble.
£20? for bearings and £20? for some glue..

Or I give up and sit on the sofa doing some invoices and pull in the money for a new one...

View attachment 390674

I don't know, for stuff like that I value my time more than the price to replace it. Aka you could spend hours faffing with it only for it to leak and you've wasted time and ££ on parts to boot.

Scrapie pile I think which is where the manufacturer intended it to be unfortunately.

Hopefully the new service rating scheme will stop this sort of thing

 

[not done it yet]

I've got the same problem with my AEG. Sealed drum prevents replacement of bearings so whole machine will be scrap. Progress? - I don't think so. Looking on-line appears to be a fairly common problem across many makes.

Our previous washing machine was an AEG. Was about 24 years old when we decided to change it. No drum bearings in that time. The drum was supported on a much fatter shaft than earlier machines. AEG are generally a cut above the average - but I suppose it depends on the model chosen.

Most long-lived was the 500 spin-speed Bendix, I think - but that was a better (as in pricier) machine than many of the day. The hotpoint was utter rubbish (was second hand from a good neighbour, due to motor control board unreliability) but it was low quality mechanically, too.

Most washing machines are/were built for 2000 cycles. Little point making some parts last ten times as long if the cheap, built-in obsolescence period has expired for most of the machine.

 

[Hitch]

I had the same problem.
Sent Hotpoint a snotty email, abou it being extremely poor engineering practice to enclose a wearing part like a bearing inside a non servicable casing.

They struck a deal, they'd supply a new drum and install it if I paid the call out fee. I was pretty happy with that.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I'm dragging it outside as we speak..
It was a bit too big and interfered with me opening a cupboard door anyway..
She can have a 9kg next time..

 

[vmaximus]

Don't repair or attempt to repair anything, just chuck it out for the scrap man then fetch another. I do not buy an expensive washer just reasonable load and spin speed and no fancy programmes. My last washer is a Beko £229.00 had it quite a few years now and it's been a good un but when it packs up it will land up same as the others, chucked on the back of the scrap waggon.

 

[PhillipM]

My Meile washer and dishwasher are nigh on 20 years old and still going strong, I'd spend the extra on them again without a second thought.