Strange loud noise from washing machine.

[Ivan Dobsky]

Mum has a Hotpoint WMA30. It's been working fine for about 15 years, but yesterday started to make a very strange noise. Every now and again (maybe once or twice per wash), it will make a very loud noise. Sort of a cross between a buzz and a squeak, which lasts about a second. It doesn't stop the thing from working, but it is loud enough to be quite alarming. Mum thinks there's also a faint smell of fish, which could be glue, or something, although I can't detect it myself. Has anyone seen this before?

[Nick]

Sorry, really don't know but does mum have a cat/goldfish/hamster etc?

[Artic]

Fishy smells frequently mean there's an electrical problem.

[Graham.]

[Ivan Dobsky]

Did. They all disappeared a few days ago. I don't expect there's any connection, though.

Or is there?

[whisky-dave]

Recently there were somne exploding machine but they are newer.

The OP could always email/call, Hot point but I doubt they'd be intrested in one that old. The smells probbly old pplastic getting hot, usually ity's an old lighting socket, hope it's not your wall socket getting hot.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I would do a few checks on the drum bearing...

Turn drum by hand when it's empty - does it turn freely without any rumbling (bearing in mind you are turning the motor via the belt too)?

Is there any play on the inner drum? i.e. can you lift the edge of it without the outer drum following?

If the drum bearing gets very bad, the inner drum could be moving around enough to hit something such as the outer drum, rubber door seal, heater element, etc, but the collapsed drum bearing would `normally be making quite a nasty noise by that point.

[Brian Gaff]

Well, it could be if it occurs as the motor starts or changes speed that the brushes are getting worn and are arcing at high current moments in the cycle. It could of course just be mechanical, but if there is a smell as noted, this can be perceived as fishy, if some insulator is heating up and carbonising. I remember once my old machine did this and it was a dodgy hose inside that occasionally sprayed onto a pcb. Not very nice that it killed it in the end. Brian