Yikes! Washing machine expelled a white plastic ring
 

Help! My 6-year-old Hoover WA100 (Performa 1100) ate a bra wire Thurs
morning. It made a terrible metallic clanking noise while spinning. At
first I thought it was just a jeans zip, but it was too loud. I stopped
the machine, extracted the clothes and noticed a wire missing from my
bra. No sign of the wire itself. Also, in amongst the clothes was a
narrow, stiff yet flexible white plastic ring that closes with a set of
little teeth. Suspiciously, it is about the diameter of the drum where
it meets the door seal. I am afraid to run the machine now in case it
floods my downstairs neighbour, so I don't know whether it still works.


What is the plastic ring and will the machine work ok without it? Can I
put it back in myself? Is there any way I can get in and find/remove
the bra wire?

Thanks, Skylark (drowning in dirty laundry)

Yikes! Washing machine expelled a white plastic ring
 

The message .com
from "Skylark" contains these words:

What is the plastic ring

It sounds a lot like the retaining ring that holds the seal to either
the drum or the porthole. Personally I'd pull the machine out and tip it
up and investigate.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Yikes! Washing machine expelled a white plastic ring
 

Guy King wrote:

It sounds a lot like the retaining ring that holds the seal to either
the drum or the porthole. Personally I'd pull the machine out and tip it
up and investigate.

Forgive me, but what good will tipping it up do? Is the access to the
door or drum from the back? (Difficult to do unless absoutely
necessary, in which case will ask friend to help.)

Yikes! Washing machine expelled a white plastic ring
 

The message . com
from "Skylark" contains these words:

It sounds a lot like the retaining ring that holds the seal to either
the drum or the porthole. Personally I'd pull the machine out and tip it
up and investigate.

Forgive me, but what good will tipping it up do? Is the access to the
door or drum from the back? (Difficult to do unless absoutely
necessary, in which case will ask friend to help.)

Actually, the more I think about it, the less I think it can be the seal
retaining strap. They're outside the rubber, not inside.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Yikes! Washing machine expelled a white plastic ring
 

Thanks to all who replied. It seems most likely that this is the
retaining ring that holds the door seal against the outer metal skin of
the machine. The ring goes into a groove there of just the right size,
and its little angled teeth lock it nicely at about 7pm.

Though how it got in with the laundry is a mystery, for the (closed)
porthole should have kept it firmly in place and excluded it from the
drum...

I have run the machine, watching it carefully, and it did not leak. Nor
the the spinning noise recur, so the bra wire must have got lodged
somewhere harmless (for now?!).

This does make me suspicious that it might have come from somewhere
else. But I don't see where, because the door seal is well connected to
the outer drum and the door. The only other suitable-looking place I
can see is the inner edge of the door seal, where it mates with the
drum. Is a locking/sealing ring needed there?

Skylark