Hi,
The washing machine makes a loud banging noise when spinning. It is at least twenty years old and so not doing too bad.
Had a look at it today, the drum seems to have a lot of slack in it and I am assuming that the bearing is going.
Does this sound plausible? If it is the bearing, is it worth repairing or should I buy a shiny new "AAA" rated washing machine?
TIA Colin
Repair it
If you have the proper tools then repair it, you will need a bearing puller as they are packed in very tight. A hammer and screwdriver will not work! It's easier to get a new washing machine unless you want to spend half the cost of a new one on tools and parts. They're not worth it.
Ahah! I wondered how the bearings were replaced.
I think that settles it.
It will be sad to see the machine go. I suspect a new machine won't last twenty years.
Thanks, Colin
Bearing puller ??? I as a professional have never had cause to use special tools and none are specified by Zanussi for the job.
Well, it may have to be a special one that's designed to get bearings out of blind housings (don't know the Zanussi, mind). I got the bearings out of my Hotpoint with a hammer and cold chisel; easy once I used a big enough hammer.
Possibly.
New bearing kit (two bearings and bearing seal) for a Hotpoint is under a fiver. Buy a new drum seal at the same time as old one won't reseal after 20 years. Don't know if same applies to a Zanussi.
Indeed. In fact I replaced the spider and shaft as well and it's still only about 15 quid!
I had to do that second time, because I left it too long after the bearing collapsed and the bearing seal stopped working, and there was no way the bearing was going to slide up the rusty shaft.
Are you sure it's not the dampers that have failed, allowing the drum to knock against the housing when it's spinning off-balance? The bearings are quite likely available from a bearing factor at a reasonable cost, but the dampers might be rather more difficult and expensive to obtain.
From what I can remember, Zanussi machines had a couple of threaded holes (Possibly M8) on the 'spider', one either side of the drum shaft.
Using a piece of dexion angle iron (Or other drilled piece of metal) and a range of nuts and bolts it is a fairly simple process to push the bearing out.
sponix
Thought: make sure the seal is fitted the correct way round. If not, water will leak into the new bearing and cause early failure.
iirc, some machines were recalled because the factory fitted the seal the wrong way round.
sponix
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