Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car
engine with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.

Since it can't be more than about 30 years old (and they don't make 'em
like they used to!) it should still have lots of useful life in it if I
can fix it.

With the belt off, the drum spins freely - and quietly - by hand, but
there is a bit of end float (maybe 5 thou) on the bearings. If I rotate
the drum quickly backwards and forwards (rather than in just one
direction) there is a clatter which sounds like a metal object moving
around between inner and outer drums.

If I operate the spinner empty, it's relatively quiet - only clattering
at certain points while accelerating and decelerating but, with any
washing in it, it clatters all the time it's spinning. (The wash cycle
is ok). The suspension seems ok. I've run it with the top and back off,
and the outer drum isn't moving all that much - certainly not enough to
collide with the casing. It seems that with washing in it - which is
pretty much guaranteed not to be perfectly balanced, even after it's
rotated backwards and forwards to try to distribute it evenly - there's
enough vibration to excite either the bearing end float or whatever is
loose between the drums - not sure which!

I'm not sure how to get at whatever is between the drums. Any ideas?
There is quite a large hole in the bottom of the outer drum, to which is
fitted a sort of gaiter which connects to the pump. I could possibly
remove that, and see whether I can coax the object out through the hole.
But, if I can, why hasn't it already fallen into the pump?

Assuming I can remove the object but it doesn't cure the problem, I
guess the next thing is to replace the bearings. How difficult is that?

There is a three-legged cast iron spider affair bolted to the back of
the outer drum, with a hub in the middle which I assume to contain the
bearings and seal. Outboard of that is a large aluminium alloy pulley,
held onto the shaft by a nut and tab washer.

It looks to me as if - in theory at any rate(!) - I should be able to
remove the pulley, and then remove this spider and hub with the drum
assembly in situ - leaving the inner drum 'floating', with its shaft
sticking out of the back. Does this sound reasonable? Am I likely to
need hub pullers? Are the bits likely to be corroded together? (There
are no obvious leaks). presumably, once it's apart, replacing the
bearings and seal is very similar to replacing the wheel bearings on a
car? [I am, of course, assuming that I can still get bearings for a
30-year-old machine, but I assume that they will have used fairly
generic standard kit rather than anything exotic?]

Apologies for the long post, but if any of you have done anything
similar, and are prepared to share your experiences, I shall be very
grateful.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car engine
with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.

Since it can't be more than about 30 years old (and they don't make 'em
like they used to!) it should still have lots of useful life in it if I
can fix it.

With the belt off, the drum spins freely - and quietly - by hand, but
there is a bit of end float (maybe 5 thou) on the bearings. If I rotate
the drum quickly backwards and forwards (rather than in just one
direction) there is a clatter which sounds like a metal object moving
around between inner and outer drums.

If I operate the spinner empty, it's relatively quiet - only clattering at
certain points while accelerating and decelerating but, with any washing
in it, it clatters all the time it's spinning. (The wash cycle is ok). The
suspension seems ok. I've run it with the top and back off, and the outer
drum isn't moving all that much - certainly not enough to collide with the
casing. It seems that with washing in it - which is pretty much guaranteed
not to be perfectly balanced, even after it's rotated backwards and
forwards to try to distribute it evenly - there's enough vibration to
excite either the bearing end float or whatever is loose between the
drums - not sure which!

I'm not sure how to get at whatever is between the drums. Any ideas? There
is quite a large hole in the bottom of the outer drum, to which is fitted
a sort of gaiter which connects to the pump. I could possibly remove that,
and see whether I can coax the object out through the hole. But, if I can,
why hasn't it already fallen into the pump?

Assuming I can remove the object but it doesn't cure the problem, I guess
the next thing is to replace the bearings. How difficult is that?

There is a three-legged cast iron spider affair bolted to the back of the
outer drum, with a hub in the middle which I assume to contain the
bearings and seal. Outboard of that is a large aluminium alloy pulley,
held onto the shaft by a nut and tab washer.

It looks to me as if - in theory at any rate(!) - I should be able to
remove the pulley, and then remove this spider and hub with the drum
assembly in situ - leaving the inner drum 'floating', with its shaft
sticking out of the back. Does this sound reasonable? Am I likely to need
hub pullers? Are the bits likely to be corroded together? (There are no
obvious leaks). presumably, once it's apart, replacing the bearings and
seal is very similar to replacing the wheel bearings on a car? [I am, of
course, assuming that I can still get bearings for a 30-year-old machine,
but I assume that they will have used fairly generic standard kit rather
than anything exotic?]

Apologies for the long post, but if any of you have done anything similar,
and are prepared to share your experiences, I shall be very grateful.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________

Your theory about changing the bearing is correct. Make sure you can get
the parts first. I'll be surprised if you can for a machine that old, (the
seal being the problem))
You can generally tell if the bearing has failed by testing for play between
inner and outer drums at the loading door.
Any play should be barely discernable.
Check the holes in the inner drum that a nail or a bit of wire etc is not
lodged and projecting through and catching on the heater.

I'd suspect the water heater is not long for this world myself, probably
bent and distorted with bits of lime scale in there.
Its very old, and probably a good engineering project for your spare time
but if you need to wash clothes, why not get a new one?

Brian

--
--
From the sofa of Brian Gaff -

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car engine
with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.

Since it can't be more than about 30 years old (and they don't make 'em
like they used to!) it should still have lots of useful life in it if I
can fix it.

With the belt off, the drum spins freely - and quietly - by hand, but
there is a bit of end float (maybe 5 thou) on the bearings. If I rotate
the drum quickly backwards and forwards (rather than in just one
direction) there is a clatter which sounds like a metal object moving
around between inner and outer drums.

If I operate the spinner empty, it's relatively quiet - only clattering at
certain points while accelerating and decelerating but, with any washing
in it, it clatters all the time it's spinning. (The wash cycle is ok). The
suspension seems ok. I've run it with the top and back off, and the outer
drum isn't moving all that much - certainly not enough to collide with the
casing. It seems that with washing in it - which is pretty much guaranteed
not to be perfectly balanced, even after it's rotated backwards and
forwards to try to distribute it evenly - there's enough vibration to
excite either the bearing end float or whatever is loose between the
drums - not sure which!

I'm not sure how to get at whatever is between the drums. Any ideas? There
is quite a large hole in the bottom of the outer drum, to which is fitted
a sort of gaiter which connects to the pump. I could possibly remove that,
and see whether I can coax the object out through the hole. But, if I can,
why hasn't it already fallen into the pump?

Assuming I can remove the object but it doesn't cure the problem, I guess
the next thing is to replace the bearings. How difficult is that?

There is a three-legged cast iron spider affair bolted to the back of the
outer drum, with a hub in the middle which I assume to contain the
bearings and seal. Outboard of that is a large aluminium alloy pulley,
held onto the shaft by a nut and tab washer.

It looks to me as if - in theory at any rate(!) - I should be able to
remove the pulley, and then remove this spider and hub with the drum
assembly in situ - leaving the inner drum 'floating', with its shaft
sticking out of the back. Does this sound reasonable? Am I likely to need
hub pullers? Are the bits likely to be corroded together? (There are no
obvious leaks). presumably, once it's apart, replacing the bearings and
seal is very similar to replacing the wheel bearings on a car? [I am, of
course, assuming that I can still get bearings for a 30-year-old machine,
but I assume that they will have used fairly generic standard kit rather
than anything exotic?]

Apologies for the long post, but if any of you have done anything similar,
and are prepared to share your experiences, I shall be very grateful.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 07:44:49 +0100, "harryagain"
wrote:

Your theory about changing the bearing is correct. Make sure you can get
the parts first. I'll be surprised if you can for a machine that old, (the
seal being the problem))

Fairly standard bearing and seal, off the shelf at a lot of stockists.
Don't go to a wm supplier of parts, but to a bearing stockist for a
quarter of the price. It sounds like exactly the machine I had -
twenty years ago my Zanussi was likely ten years old and the bearings
were easy to get from BSL or somesuch.

On Aug 7, 11:35*pm, Roger Mills wrote:
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car
engine with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.

Since it can't be more than about 30 years old (and they don't make 'em
like they used to!) it should still have lots of useful life in it if I
can fix it.

With the belt off, the drum spins freely - and quietly - by hand, but
there is a bit of end float (maybe 5 thou) on the bearings. If I rotate
the drum quickly backwards and forwards (rather than in just one
direction) there is a clatter which sounds like a metal object moving
around between inner and outer drums.

If I operate the spinner empty, it's relatively quiet - only clattering
at certain points while accelerating and decelerating but, with any
washing in it, it clatters all the time it's spinning. (The wash cycle
is ok). The suspension seems ok. I've run it with the top and back off,
and the outer drum isn't moving all that much - certainly not enough to
collide with the casing. It seems that with washing in it - which is
pretty much guaranteed not to be perfectly balanced, even after it's
rotated backwards and forwards to try to distribute it evenly - there's
enough vibration to excite either the bearing end float or whatever is
loose between the drums - not sure which!

I'm not sure how to get at whatever is between the drums. Any ideas?
There is quite a large hole in the bottom of the outer drum, to which is
fitted a sort of gaiter which connects to the pump. I could possibly
remove that, and see whether I can coax the object out through the hole.
But, if I can, why hasn't it already fallen into the pump?

Assuming I can remove the object but it doesn't cure the problem, I
guess the next thing is to replace the bearings. How difficult is that?

There is a three-legged cast iron spider affair bolted to the back of
the outer drum, with a hub in the middle which I assume to contain the
bearings and seal. Outboard of that is a large aluminium alloy pulley,
held onto the shaft by a nut and tab washer.

It looks to me as if - in theory at any rate(!) - I should be able to
remove the pulley, and then remove this spider and hub with the drum
assembly in situ - leaving the inner drum 'floating', with its shaft
sticking out of the back. Does this sound reasonable? Am I likely to
need hub pullers? Are the bits likely to be corroded together? (There
are no obvious leaks). presumably, once it's apart, replacing the
bearings and seal is very similar to replacing the wheel bearings on a
car? [I am, of course, assuming that I can still get bearings for a
30-year-old machine, but I assume that they will have used fairly
generic standard kit rather than anything exotic?]

Apologies for the long post, but if any of you have done anything
similar, and are prepared to share your experiences, I shall be very
grateful.

Its either a penny or wire caught between drum and tub, or bad drum
bearings, or perhaps the element come loose. If the drum bearings are
bad there will be some lateral loose play in the drum relative to the
tub.

Items can be retrieved by taking out the element or removing the front
rubber seal. Bearing replacment is quite practical, but a demanding
job I dont care to do again. If you cant get an original or pattern
part, any of various companies will have something to fit, motor
rewind co, mech engineering co, etc.


NT

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon writes:
On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 07:44:49 +0100, "harryagain"
wrote:

Your theory about changing the bearing is correct. Make sure you can get
the parts first. I'll be surprised if you can for a machine that old, (the
seal being the problem))

Fairly standard bearing and seal, off the shelf at a lot of stockists.
Don't go to a wm supplier of parts, but to a bearing stockist for a
quarter of the price. It sounds like exactly the machine I had -
twenty years ago my Zanussi was likely ten years old and the bearings
were easy to get from BSL or somesuch.

CPC used to be good for this too.
IIRC, it was under a fiver for genuine Hotpoint bearing kit
(two bearings and the shaft seal), which was between 5 and 10
times the price from many other places.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Wed, 08 Aug 2012 21:23:54 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon writes:
On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 07:44:49 +0100, "harryagain"
wrote:

Your theory about changing the bearing is correct. Make sure you can
get the parts first. I'll be surprised if you can for a machine that
old, (the seal being the problem))

Fairly standard bearing and seal, off the shelf at a lot of stockists.
Don't go to a wm supplier of parts, but to a bearing stockist for a
quarter of the price. It sounds like exactly the machine I had - twenty
years ago my Zanussi was likely ten years old and the bearings were
easy to get from BSL or somesuch.

CPC used to be good for this too.
IIRC, it was under a fiver for genuine Hotpoint bearing kit (two
bearings and the shaft seal), which was between 5 and 10 times the price
from many other places.

Yup. I replaced bearing, seal and spider. Local place wanted 60 quid, CPC
had exactly the same (genuine parts) for 15 quid.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 08/08/2012 16:49, NT wrote:


Its either a penny or wire caught between drum and tub, or bad drum
bearings, or perhaps the element come loose. If the drum bearings are
bad there will be some lateral loose play in the drum relative to the
tub.


I couldn't hear that particular noise this morning, so it was probably
just things moving about on slack bearings. So I'm going to replace the
bearings and see whether that cures it - and only investigate further if
it doesn't.

Items can be retrieved by taking out the element or removing the front
rubber seal. Bearing replacment is quite practical, but a demanding
job I dont care to do again. If you cant get an original or pattern
part, any of various companies will have something to fit, motor
rewind co, mech engineering co, etc.


There are lots of kits of bearings and seals available for Zanussi
washers, but the vast majority are for more recent models with smaller
shafts and bearings. I've now got mine apart, and it's built like a
brick s**t-house compared with modern machines. I've seen car wheel
bearings which are smaller than the drum bearings. Also, I think that
most modern machines have pressed steel spiders rather than my cast iron
- or, more likely, forged steel - jobbie.

Getting the spider off, complete with bearings and seal, was quite easy,
with the machine lying face down on some old cushions. The pulley came
off easily once I had removed its bolt. The outer end of each spider arm
was bolted to an extension welded to the tub - so three bolts to undo
there. There were three more bolts at the inner end - just outboard of
the bearing housing, fixing the spider to a flange on the back of the
tub. The holes in the flange were keyhole shaped, so it was only
necessary to slacken the bolts and then to rotate the spider to free the
bolt heads. It then lifted off the shaft quite easily.

Getting the bearings out of the spider was not so easy! The smaller one
drifted out without too much trouble, but the larger one - and seal
above it - were a right sod, requiring excessive force with the biggest
hammer I've got!

The bearings are standard SKF - one 6206 and one 6207 - and can be
sourced without difficulty. It's also not too difficult to find seals
with more or less the right dimensions - but I suspect that washing
machine seals are not the same as the automotive type. The seal on a car
wheel bearing only has to keep the grease in, while a washing machine
seal has to keep the grease in *and* the water out. My seal appears to
have two lips - one facing in each direction - and there's a lot of
empty space on the bearing side between the spring ring and outer circle.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've found an online source of a
Zanussi "Large Shaft" bearing kit, which appears to have all the right
bits - two bearings, a proper washing machine seal, and a rubber cover
(a bit like a jam jar lid with a big hole in the middle) which fits over
the oil seal - all for about 16 quid. I need to check tomorrow that
they've got one in stock, and then we should be in business.

A couple more questions, if I may . . .

It's this rubber cover (referred to above) which provides a seal to
prevent water in the drum getting into the outside world. Its outer lip
fits over the bearing housing, and its flattish (but ribbed) surface
presses against the flange on the back of the tub. Should I use some
sort of sealant to stick it to the housing and the flange? If so, what?
I have some Stixall to hand which I could use. Any comments?

Secondly, there doesn't seem to be any means of adjusting out any end
float in the bearings - and the whole thing seems to rely on the
accurate dimensioning of the shoulders on the shaft and the recesses in
the bearing housing. What if the shoulder against which the pulley fits
is slightly proud of the back bearing? This will allow the shaft to
slide backwards and forwards a bit (end float) through the bearings.
Does this matter - or is it even intentional? If it matters, what do I
do - make some shims to fit between pulley and bearing? That seems a bit
dodgy because, if I overdo it, the bearings will end up getting side
loaded. Any comments?
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
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On 09/08/2012 01:58, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In ,
Roger writes:


My hotpoint was a casting, but probably an alloy as it wasn't
too heavy.

Mine is quite heavy. The photo http://www.mills37.plus.com/Z1.jpg shows
the spider with the old components which will replaced by the 'kit'.
They are, clockwise from RHS, small outer bearing, large inner bearing,
oil seal and gaiter which fits over the seal.


Getting the bearings out of the spider was not so easy! The smaller one
drifted out without too much trouble, but the larger one - and seal
above it - were a right sod, requiring excessive force with the biggest
hammer I've got!

I usually had the bearings stay in the drum, and again removal
required large hammer.


No, my bearings and seal came off with the spider, leaving the drum
shaft sticking out of the back of the tub, like this:
http://www.mills37.plus.com/Z3.jpg


Whilst you have it apart, check for a drain hole behind the water
seal. The seal isn't 100% perfect, and the drain hole allows tiny
amounts of water to drain out without having to go through the
bearings, where the water with washing detergent are a complete
disaster. The drain hole can get blocked with age, and particularly
if the water seal starts failing.

I can't see any drain hole - blocked or otherwise. Maybe mine is different?

Also, make sure the shaft is well polished and clean where it
contacts the water seal. Any debris there stops the seal working.


I have cleaned it up, but I'll do it some more! The seal lip sits on the
brass bit at the drum end of the shaft. See
http://www.mills37.plus.com/Z4.jpg

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've found an online source of a
Zanussi "Large Shaft" bearing kit, which appears to have all the right
bits - two bearings, a proper washing machine seal, and a rubber cover
(a bit like a jam jar lid with a big hole in the middle) which fits over
the oil seal - all for about 16 quid. I need to check tomorrow that
they've got one in stock, and then we should be in business.


Yes, they have - and the kit is now on order and should hopefully arrive
tomorrow. [Other places have the same thing cheaper, but on longer
delivery unless you pay through the nose for next day delivery, which
then makes them dearer!]

A couple more questions, if I may . . .

It's this rubber cover (referred to above) which provides a seal to
prevent water in the drum getting into the outside world. Its outer lip
fits over the bearing housing, and its flattish (but ribbed) surface
presses against the flange on the back of the tub. Should I use some
sort of sealant to stick it to the housing and the flange? If so, what?
I have some Stixall to hand which I could use. Any comments?

Don't know - that's different from the hotpoint where is it's a
standard axial shaft seal which is a tight fit in the same
housing as the bearing, IIRC.

My oil seal fits into the drum side of the spider after the bearing, and
is a tight fit. That stops water getting to the bearings, but not to the
outside world. There is an additional gaiter (called a rubber cover in
my previous post) which is sandwiched between the spider and the back of
the tub. When fitted to the spider, with the seal behind it, it looks
like this:
http://www.mills37.plus.com/Z2.jpg [Hopefully the replacement will look
a bit less manky!]

http://www.mills37.plus.com/Z5.jpg shows where the gaiter and seal will
be when the spider is re-fitted. Hence my question about sealant between
gaiter and tub - particularly since the tub is a bit corroded round the
hole (as seen in http://www.mills37.plus.com/Z4.jpg) - and on the
underside of the gaiter where it fits onto the spider.

Secondly, there doesn't seem to be any means of adjusting out any end
float in the bearings - and the whole thing seems to rely on the
accurate dimensioning of the shoulders on the shaft and the recesses in
the bearing housing. What if the shoulder against which the pulley fits

Same with Hotpoint.

is slightly proud of the back bearing? This will allow the shaft to
slide backwards and forwards a bit (end float) through the bearings.
Does this matter - or is it even intentional? If it matters, what do I
do - make some shims to fit between pulley and bearing? That seems a bit
dodgy because, if I overdo it, the bearings will end up getting side
loaded. Any comments?

With the Hotpoint, I had to take the outer drum face off to get
the inner drum out. It was never worth reassmbling that without
replacing the outer drum seal which was also cheap to buy, and
an old compressed one may not seal properly again.


As you can see from the photos, I didn't need to remove the drum in
order to get at the spider and bearings. I just hope that it goes back
in the same way!
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
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checked.

On 07/08/2012 23:35, Roger Mills wrote:
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car
engine with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.


Well the operation was a success, but the patient died! Or something
like that.

The new bearing kit arrived today, and I fitted the bearings and
reassembled the machine. The bearings run beautifully, but the noise is
still there.

One or two of you have commented about replacing bearings in Hotpoint
machines. Having watched one or two videos about this on the apart4u
website, it's apparent that the construction of my machine is totally
different. In the Hotpoint, the bearings are held in the rear (thick)
face of the (plastic) container (outer tub) and the spider is integral
with the shaft and rotates inside the container - with just the end of
the shaft sticking out for attaching the pulley.
In my old Zanussi, the spider is a heavy forging which contains the
bearings and seal, and is bolted to the outside of the (metal)
container, and thus does not rotate. This means that you can change the
bearings and seal without having to get inside the container.

It also means that I haven't a clue how the large (by modern standards)
shaft is (supposed to be) fixed to the stainless steel inner drum. The
problem seems to be in this area, because I can still feel some play in
the drum, and can make it rattle if I shake it. What I previously
thought to be loose bearings now seems to be a loose connection between
the inner drum and the shaft - which can only be investigated by taking
the container apart.

As far as I can see, that would involve taking the whole machine apart
in order to lift the container out from the top, to enable the two
halves to be separated. Most of the online videos show the front of the
casing being removed in order to gain access to the front of the
container (to replace the door seal, for example). But, unless I'm
missing something, I can't do that with mine. The front appears to be
pop-riveted to each side with a vertical row of rivets on the inside -
which you can't get at with the container in situ. So it's not just a
case of removing a few screws, as with some other machines.

I'm more or less resigned to junking it and buying a new one - unless
anyone has got any bright ideas as to what to do next?!
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On 10/08/2012 22:32, Roger Mills wrote:
On 07/08/2012 23:35, Roger Mills wrote:
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car
engine with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.


Well the operation was a success, but the patient died! Or something
like that.


Having now taken the machine completely to bits, the 'hunch' which I
mooted in my previous post turned out to be correct. On the back of the
drum, there's a large 'spider' made of alloy of some sort, attached to
the drum at the ends of each of its three legs, and with a large steel
shaft coming out of the centre. [I'd already seen the shaft when I
replaced the bearings, but couldn't see the rest of it until I took the
drum apart].

TWO of the three legs were cracked, and came apart completely when I
removed them from the drum. See http://www.mills37.plus.com/z6.jpg
So the rattling I could hear was these cracks moving, and the back of
the drum flexing. I was imagining that one of the three attachments was
broken, but *two* . . I dread to think what would have happened had the
third leg broken during a high speed spin!

It wouldn't be economical to replace the broken part even if I could get
a new one, so I've had to admit defeat. New machine on order!
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
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checked.

On Aug 12, 2:59*pm, Roger Mills wrote:
On 10/08/2012 22:32, Roger Mills wrote:

On 07/08/2012 23:35, Roger Mills wrote:
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car
engine with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.

Well the operation was a success, but the patient died! Or something
like that.

Having now taken the machine completely to bits, the 'hunch' which I
mooted in my previous post turned out to be correct. On the back of the
drum, there's a large 'spider' made of alloy of some sort, attached to
the drum at the ends of each of its three legs, and with a large steel
shaft coming out of the centre. [I'd already seen the shaft when I
replaced the bearings, but couldn't see the rest of it until I took the
drum apart].

TWO of the three legs were cracked, and came apart completely when I
removed them from the drum. Seehttp://www.mills37.plus.com/z6.jpg
So the rattling I could hear was these cracks moving, and the back of
the drum flexing. I was imagining that one of the three attachments was
broken, but *two* . . *I dread to think what would have happened had the
third leg broken during a high speed spin!

It wouldn't be economical to replace the broken part even if I could get
a new one, so I've had to admit defeat. New machine on order!

Spiders are cheap off used machines, or about 20 something new last
time I looked. I wouldnt scrap it if that's all thats wrong.


NT

On 12/08/2012 17:34, NT wrote:
On Aug 12, 2:59 pm, Roger wrote:
On 10/08/2012 22:32, Roger Mills wrote:

On 07/08/2012 23:35, Roger Mills wrote:
Any washing machine experts out there?

My Zanussi Z9292T front-loading washing machine has started to make
clattering noises when spinning. On a good day it sounds like a car
engine with noisy tappets, and on a bad day it sounds like a machine gun.

Well the operation was a success, but the patient died! Or something
like that.

Having now taken the machine completely to bits, the 'hunch' which I
mooted in my previous post turned out to be correct. On the back of the
drum, there's a large 'spider' made of alloy of some sort, attached to
the drum at the ends of each of its three legs, and with a large steel
shaft coming out of the centre. [I'd already seen the shaft when I
replaced the bearings, but couldn't see the rest of it until I took the
drum apart].

TWO of the three legs were cracked, and came apart completely when I
removed them from the drum. Seehttp://www.mills37.plus.com/z6.jpg
So the rattling I could hear was these cracks moving, and the back of
the drum flexing. I was imagining that one of the three attachments was
broken, but *two* . . I dread to think what would have happened had the
third leg broken during a high speed spin!

It wouldn't be economical to replace the broken part even if I could get
a new one, so I've had to admit defeat. New machine on order!

Spiders are cheap off used machines, or about 20 something new last
time I looked. I wouldnt scrap it if that's all thats wrong.



Not spiders for large shaft machines like mine. The only one I've found
- and that didn't look quite the same - was 70-odd quid.

Anyway, my method of dismantling isn't reversible! g
--
Cheers,
Roger
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