Washing Machine - belt going?

[Piers Finlayson]

I noticed today as I was hanging it out that a load of washing was still wet. Hum, I think, it hasn't spun properly. So I go and put the load back on and set to the spin cycle. When I start it up there's a horrible kinda racheting noise. Anyway, this time the machine did spin OK and the clothes were fairly dry afterwards (as dry as they ever are).

My mind now casts back to a week ago when the machine wouldn't spin at all, but that seemed to be down to the lint filter being dirty and the machine not emptying. I cleaned the filter and it seemed right as rain again.

It's a Baumatic MEGA6 washing machine.

Any ideas what this suggests? Maybe the belt slipping, so its getting too loose? Likely just coincidence that the lint filter clogged up about the same time?

If its likely to be the belt, where does one get a new belt for washing from? Is there a central repository or do I need to go to Baumatic?

TIA!

[Lobster]

With mine, it was the bushes on the motor which caused the above symptoms

David

[Sylvain VAN DER WALDE]

Bushes! Not ball bearings? It's no wonder that they went. What kind of bushes were they (just curious)?

Sylvain.

[Bob Mannix]

The only time I had an appalling ratchety noise, a nail was hanging through one of the drain holes in the inner drum and scraping on the outer drum.

[Lobster]

The kind with an "r" - brushes...!

David

[Matty F]

Perhaps you can check the mechanism for increasing the speed. I have another brand that looks similar and has a simple belt drive. To make the bowl spin fast, the motor pulley squeezes together, forcing the belt higher on the pulley. Many years ago that mechanism failed and I had it replaced at a rather large cost. Soon after that, the pulley started making an incredible noise while on spin. However it still spins OK, and 10 years later has not fallen apart.