"Exploding" washing machine

[Calvin Sambrook]

Well not quite exploding as such but the next best thing. We were woken up in the middle of the night by an almighty noise from our utility room, so loud I thought someone had smashed the door down. It turned out that the two year old Indesit washing machine had torn itself apart so comprehensively that I'm not even starting to look for a d-i-y solution to repair it.

The washing looked washed and fairly spun so my guess is that it was on part of its spin cycle when something happened to stop the drum dead, the energy in the clothes appears to have been enough to tear the agitators from inside the drum and completely mash the stainless steel inside. The hidden internals weren't too good either with hoses ripped from the drum and a lot of water around the place as a result.

Guess what I'm doing this weekend! (Apart from dismantling it all out of interest).

[Guy Dawson]

Claiming for a replacement under the sale of goods act?

Guy

[Andy Dingley]

Foreign object (pocket junk / detached machine part - check the drum rear spider is all still there) decided to jam between the drums, and for once it did this when spinning, not washing.

[Jules]

I was going to say... do report back, with photos :-)

[PeterC]

A machine trying to spin whilst still full of water might shake itself apart. I've seen the start of this a couple of times - it's frighteneing - but it might not happen with a modern m/c.

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , Calvin Sambrook writes

Bra wire?

[fred]

Old Philips Whirlpools deliberately initiated the spin cycle when full of water to try and distribute the clothes more evenly while spinning. The idea was to balance the drum better and reduce the need for large counterweights.

To the o/p, please do report back with the forensic analysis and photos (including the blushing guilty party if a culprit is found ;-).

[Andrew Gabriel]

My guess is the inner drum became loose on the spider, or the spider broke, either of which would cause it to suddenly jam in the outer drum. (The spider is the bracket on the end of the shaft to which the drum is fixed.)

Something solid getting caught between the inner and outer drum when spinning usually just punches a hole through the outer drum through which it is ejected, without stopping the machine from running (except for water pouring out of the hole next wash;-).

One other thought is if the motor speed control failed and spun the drum fast enough for it fly to pieces. Off-load and without speed control, these motors can spin fast enough to self-destruct/explode, and might be able to do this with the drum too.

[Phil L]

I'll wager 50p that one or more of the concrete blocks have come away from their moorings, broken and the resulting debris has caused the rest of the damage.

[Part timer]

One of my brother's friends at school got his hands on a (working) washing machine motor. Google is a dangerous thing when they just looked up which two connections needed power to be applied for it to spin flat-out without a control circuit (and not geared down like a washing machine!) They ripped the blades from a desk fan, gaffer taped the assembly to a stool and the unguarded propeller almost got it to take off! The story I heard was they let the blades come into contact with something solid and it shattered, one guy getting a piece to his forehead. At least is wasn't his eyes.

[Calvin Sambrook]

It's dark right now so no photos but I think I now know what happened.

The agitators (three plastic fins sticking into the drum) attach to the inner drum by a fancy nut and bolt the head of which sticks into the space between the two skins of the drum. Also in that space is the heating element and normally the bolt head misses the heater. From the current shape of the heating element, the gouge out of the inner drum skin and what's left of the nut and bolt I'd say the bolt came loose and caught the heater, mashing it further into contact with the drum. The drum then continued to rotate for another 300 or so degrees with the heater gouging into it and reshaping it as it went past.

All that energy bounced the drum around within the outer casing ripping hoses off, tearing one of the support struts and smashing the concrete block into the side walls of the machine so they dented outwards (I wondered why it was so hard to get out of the gap it was in!). Interestingly the block only lost a small chip off one corner.

Does anyone need any bits from an Indesit WIE167 before I Ebay things like the motor, control board, pump etc?

[Toby]

Surely if it is only 2 years old, you can get it replaced under the sale of goods act!?

Toby...

[dennis]

You may be able to get a new one.. it isn't the sort of thing that should happen. How old is it?

[Mark]

You could be entitled to a free repair or a replacement if the problem is not down to misuse. Contact the retailer. They may try to fob you off but a washing machine should last more than two years.

[Toby]

My washing machine is fine though !?!

[Calvin Sambrook]

I took some photos yesterday, they're here:

think the bolt I found and thought was originally holding the agitators on was in fact holding the heater elements in place. The amount of thread showing hints that it might have worked loose.

And thanks to you lot we're also going down the SoGA route. I'll let you know how we get on.

[NT]

on

Would you mind if they were posted on the wiki? Would make a nice intro to a washing machine repair article :)

NT

[Calvin Sambrook]

No problem, They probably won't be on the picasa site forever so you're welcome to grab them from there or PM me if you'd like originals.

[John]

Would you mind if they were posted on the wiki? Would make a nice intro to a washing machine repair article :)

NT

Amazing - I bet it leaks now.

Good diagnosis I reckon.

[The Medway Handyman]

Kinell! When I saw the title "Exploding" washing machine I thought you might be exagerating a little!