Replacing washing machine bearings.. or not..

[Mikes]

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.

Had bought AEG for a long while and always lasted well but this one when it arrived was showing a made in Italy badge

 

[hotponyshoes]

@hotponyshoes I see what you mean now. I've done a few Hotpoints (same manufacturer) and the plastic drum had a ring of bolts around the drum so it could be split, as you say the drum has to come out the front to get to the second bearing. What a crazy idea having a glued drum that can't be split.

That's what I was expecting to see.
The casework on this is one piece (spot welded) so I couldn't see the drum properly until I had taken it out.

Looks like the 2 halves of the drum have a recessed flange but I think it's been ultrasonic welded rather than glued.
Bits just snap off if you try and pry it apart.

I could spend an hour carefully cutting it open and then find that the inner bearing housing is wrecked anyway.
Even if I could replace the bearings the design is not great so I'd expect them to go again at some stage.
So I either do a silicone & screw job to put the drum back together and risk it leaking, or I bond & bolt and then face the same problem getting it apart next time..
I've given up.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Couple of questions:

Why design it so it's only supported at one end?
Surely a couple of bearings/rollers supporting the bottom front of the drum would help massively.
Noise reduction?

There is no water level sensor on the drum. How's it filled? Just on a timer?

The machine throws an "out of balance" error sometimes if its not loaded correctly.
How does it sense the balance? Via feedback from the motor somehow?

The motor looks like a decent quality thing, thought it might be good for a parts tumbler or vibratory tank but it's got 5 wires going into it so might not be simple enough to control..

 

[slim_boy_fat]

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

That's crazy, has the "save the planet" message not been communicated to these Companies?

 

[Seadog]

No, only the "We must make money at any cost, regardless of the consequences" message

 

[johnik]

the worst case of built in obsolescence has to be printer ink, i recently bought a new printer/scanner/coppier for £36, the ink carts were £33, i had been re filling the carts myself for a good couple of years but there is a timer on the system somewhere so a perfectly good printer is now going to landfill

 

[Superbad]

@hotponyshoes I bet once you sort the bearings out and everything is put back together,the PCB will pack up.

 

[hotponyshoes]

@hotponyshoes I bet once you sort the bearings out and everything is put back together,the PCB will pack up.

That's the issue, the rest of it looks ok but I'd imagine all of it is designed for the same sort of lifespan..

 

[bricol]

Couple of questions:

Why design it so it's only supported at one end?
Surely a couple of bearings/rollers supporting the bottom front of the drum would help massively.
Noise reduction?

There is no water level sensor on the drum. How's it filled? Just on a timer?

The machine throws an "out of balance" error sometimes if its not loaded correctly.
How does it sense the balance? Via feedback from the motor somehow?

The motor looks like a decent quality thing, thought it might be good for a parts tumbler or vibratory tank but it's got 5 wires going into it so might not be simple enough to control..

How do you keep those front bearings intact in the face of continual submersion and detergents? Then you've got to make sure they are actually in the right place so you don't misalign the rear bearings.

Nowt wrong with a bearing assembly at the back - as an industrial process plant designer (posh washing machines of all types) in a previous life, it works well, keeping it away from all the nasty stuff. But things do wear out, so ours were designed to be serviced.

The reason your domestic stuff isn't, is because you don't often pay the premium required for the expense of having something take time and care to be assembled - designed to meet a price bracket where customers spend money, so things are designed to go together as quick, easily and reliably consistently on a production line. Simple economics.

 

[bricol]

Best washing machine I ever had is the one I have now. Rusty front. Made by Hotpoint. Built in dryer (only ever used once when my friends little girl played with all the knobs and I only realised when I went to check why the half hour quick wash was taking a very long time . . .

Given to me by another mate after he got married - he had been his brides, had stood in their garden for several months, and prior to that, well used to wash a lot of kit - she was a PE teacher. Once dried out, it's not missed a beat for the 8 yrs I've abused it.

Meaning of course, it's going to flood the kitchen the next time I use it . . .

 

[lotus_esprit_s1]

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.

I did exactly the same, hotpoint bearings failed, welded drum although originally intended to be screwed together as lugs still present on moulding. Bought a new Miele with the hope it will last a very long time.

 

[EddyP]

An interesting article on designed in redundancy:

Phoebus cartel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Phillips, Osram and others back in the 20s teamed up to fix the cost and reduce the life of light bulbs...

 

[Pete.]

the worst case of built in obsolescence has to be printer ink, i recently bought a new printer/scanner/coppier for £36, the ink carts were £33, i had been re filling the carts myself for a good couple of years but there is a timer on the system somewhere so a perfectly good printer is now going to landfill

If it's a HP you can 9or used to) buy CD rom disks from ebay with the software to reset them.

 

[johnik]

If it's a HP you can 9or used to) buy CD rom disks from ebay with the software to reset them.

mine is a canon, good to know tho

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Our Bosch maxx was bought second hand...that was 12+ years ago. Still going strong but been thro a few pumps and motors.

It's a nice simple machine....and we have a spare machine to supply bits to keep it going.

Luckily the main machine operator loves the thing and I get begged to keep it going at all costs!

 

[chris y]

We had the same situation recently, I was angry to find that something so cheap and a bit of a pain, but replaceable in the past was now impossible.

We bought an Ebac.
British made......
7 year warranty as standard.
Replaceable bearings.

More expensive, but buying a quality british product meant we decided to go for it.
If you can I think you should.

 

[bricol]

An interesting article on designed in redundancy:

Phoebus cartel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Phillips, Osram and others back in the 20s teamed up to fix the cost and reduce the life of light bulbs...

They can't have done Avery good job. I can't remember replacing any bulbs as often as I seem to have to replace LED ones. Somewhere there's a bloke with a multimillion hour bulb, while I get the 48 hr life ones to keep the "lasts 50,000 hr on average" claim true

 

[Mikes]

We had the same situation recently, I was angry to find that something so cheap and a bit of a pain, but replaceable in the past was now impossible.

We bought an Ebac.
British made......
7 year warranty as standard.
Replaceable bearings.

More expensive, but buying a quality british product meant we decided to go for it.
If you can I think you should.

That's interesting as I saw their machines on a google search but they have very few dealers down this way. Without derailing the original post, could you let us know how long you've had it and any problems.

 

[BarrieJ]

Had bought AEG for a long while and always lasted well but this one when it arrived was showing a made in Italy badge

We too have had an AEG for, maybe 25 plus years? One control board in that time. Sadly AEG were bought out by Electrolux, in my experience, a death knell for any previously decent brand. They ruined every chainsaw company they bought before folding them or selling the devalued brand on.
Check out the list of brands owned by them now, globally, only Whirlpool are bigger.

Electrolux - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[chris y]

That's interesting as I saw their machines on a google search but they have very few dealers down this way. Without derailing the original post, could you let us know how long you've had it and any problems.

Just a couple of months, seems great so far. Quieter that I've ever heard before.
We bought direct from Ebac website rather than from a dealer, its a little bit cheaper and the warranty is automatically registered where if you buy from a dealer you have to register it as normal.