Ooops!

[shazzbat]

I fixed the washing machine today, it was vibrating like a good'un, I found the bolts holding the concrete weight to the drum had worked loose. Anyway, I tightened them, all seemed Ok, I put everything back together. The Mrs said she wouldn't be using it till tomorrow, so I thought no more about it, a test can wait. So tonight she said it's not working. As soon as she said it, I knew what was wrong. I hadn't turned the water back on at the feed pipes. So I turned them on and it seems OK so far, but is it likely to have done any harm?

Steve

[Bruce]

Unlikely to have caused any harm. Sensors in the machine detect when sufficient water at the correct temperature has entered the machine. If the water is turned off the sensors will decide there is insufficient water at the correct temperature and refuse to proceed.

[shazzbat]

Right, thanks for that. I could have been in deep shit there, the damn thing started rattling about two weeks out of warranty. Used again today, everything went OK.

Steve

[diy-newby]

Our's seems to vibrate quite alot. Could you detail the procedure for checking the bolts on the concrete weight please?

[shazzbat]

It depends on the machine. Ours is a Servis. I disconnected the pipes and the mains lead, pulled it out from under the worktop, and leaned it forwards at 45 deg against the wall. Looking underneath the machine, there is a concrete lump at the bottom of the drum, and I could easily see it was loose, and there was a pile of cement dust on the floor. After checking what was fixed to what I also took the back off. Problem is the weight is obviously fixed to the drum and then the whole deal is fitted in the body of the machine. The bolt heads (10mm) face forwards and there is very little room to work. I had to lift the weight up about an inch, hold it there, and tighten the first of the bolts. There is also a weight at the top, but this was OK. At the bottom of the drum are two small shock absorbers, just like car ones only smaller, and these are obviously leaking, and I'm going to see if they're available. Whether the leaking dampers caused the weight to come loose, or the loose weight caused the dampers to leak is the question.

Steve