Hot Point Washing Machine main bearing failed

[Andrew Welham]

Dear All

This is slightly off topic , but this seems the best news group. I have an almost 2 years old hotpoint wma34 washing machine, which has been making loud grinding noises especially when spinning. Its is the bearing on the main drum failed. Following a little research this is a common fault(in the entire WMA series) in which the water gets into the bearing and washes out the grease. Hotpoint want to charge me for a the labor for what i consider a design flaw.

I have three main questions

Any one else had similar problems and solutions (except paying for the repair).

Does any one have any names / phone number for internal people at hotpoint especially people like the Customer services director ?

What washing machines are recommend for both function and reliability i have been told the bosch 2063 is a good one .. any comments ?

Kind Regards

Andrew

[Jay]

--------------------

My AEG is 11 years old and still going strong!! Not bad considering I have two children and one of them is sports mad, football, cricket, golf, etc. On the average, I do two washes a day and sometimes three or four.

>

[Rich]

Hotpoint's have always been prone to bearings going not in say 2 years but it depends how much you put in it and how much you use it!!!!!!!! we had a Hotpoint and has had 2 sets of bearings in 10 years but was always noisy. so now its gone and we have a Siemans machine and it is almost silent even when loaded up on spin whish we had it years ago best of all it comes with a 5 year parts and labour g/tee.

Rich

[stuart noble]

Sure it's not the pump?

[Graeme]

Used to have a Hotpoint, but when it got to the stage that I had replaced most of the parts including the main bearing We finaly got a new one and went for a Bosch Maxx, had it now for 3 years and no trouble very quiet and as we have two young girls it gets used a lot.

[impvan]

Yes it's a design flaw, and no, I doubt you'll get anywhere. But given that the bits are cheap and Hpt's callout, which you have to pay under their extended warranty, is somewhere around 80 quid, then you'll probably save money by getting in a local bod, and paying parts and labour. And you'll have the satisfaction of paying no more money to hotpoint.

Many of the newer hotpoint models are not true hotpoints, and are rebadged italian stuff. FWIW the bearing assembly on the 1400-spin hpts is the same as what Zanussi retired on their 1000-spin machines pre-FL series.

[SPG]

Our 12yr old Hotpoint Aquarius suffered the same fate last weekend (suppose I shouldn't complain really!). I guessed it was the bearings and with the help from a Haynes manual managed to take the drum out. The back of the drum was a complete mess, rusty soapy gunge everywhere with loose ball-bearings and a cracked drum spider arm etc. Couldn't remove the bearings and decided the machine was past it.

When I was checking out the feasibility of repir (local spares shop had the bearings for £20) I was told that to get a repair man to do it would cost >£100 so decided it was best to invest in a new machine.

Have since read a few forums and it seems there is definately a problem with Hotpoint bearings but I guess 12yrs is OK (esp with 3 girls & 2 washes per day)

After a bit of research (Which?) decided on a Bosch Classixx 2063 (Max spin=1000rpm). It was a similar, slightly higher spec, machine which came out top for ease of use, performance and should be reliable. I reckon it is a mistake to run machines at more than 1000rpm because of the extra stress on the bearings and other bits.

Miele are maybe the best but are twice the price. Bosch 2063 should do the trick.

[BigWallop]

Would you believe that, between a 1000 rpm spin and a 1100 rpm spin, the difference in the amount of water taken out of the clothes is a measly tablespoon full. The full spin speed, on any machine, only last for a few seconds, so the amount of pressure put on the clothes to extract the water does not last long enough to make any significant difference in the amount extracted.

If the full spin speed were to last anything up to a minute, which would be the ideal spin time, either the drum bearings would heat and burn out after only 12 spins, or the motor bearing would only last for a maximum running time under load at top speed of only 48 hours.

Ain't it amazing what troubles friction, weight and centrifugal forces cause.

:-) just thought I'd throw in another piece of useless information.

[N. Thornton]

I went from a 1000rpm machine to 1300, and the difference was enormous. I haven't need to use a dryer since. Got rid of the dryer altogether. So I'd say high spin speed is well worth it. Even if its

12 secs or whatever, it does work.

I once had a yucky 600rpm spin one as a temporary machine, and there is a lot of difference. Drying stuff from that was a looong job.

Regards, NT

[Andrew Gabriel]

The force on the water is proportional to the square of the rpm, so a small speed increase can make a disproportionately large effect on the amount of water removed, but has an equally large increase in the strain placed on the drum. My Hotpoint spins at

1400 rpm for what seems like a couple of minutes. After that you can remove a towel and whilst it will feel damp like it was used just recently, it is dry enough to use to dry your hands on.

This Hotpoint has been spinning at 1400 rpm regularly, is something like 15 years old, and is still on its first drum bearing.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Oh bugger -- well that sure was an invitation for Sod to call round and lay down his law...

Spent an hour hammering away and got the smaller bearing out. The bigger one has only shifted about 1/4 of the way, and I'm worn out, and the rest of the street probably wants to get some sleep tonight... If anyone has any tips which involve less brute force and ignorance, I'm all ears (except they're still ringing from the hammering;-)

BTW, I found a date inside the machine, and it's really 17 years old, which I guess isn't bad for the original bearings.

[Bob Eager]

What started me on this NG was exactly the same question. The answer I got (and it worked) was "you're not hitting it hard enough".

Bigger metal drift, change normal hammer for club hammer - out it came. Think I put some Plus Gas round the edge too although not sure how much good it did.

Stuck new bearing in freezer overnight. Soaked spider bush in oil from at least that time (made a little plasticine dam to hold the oil). Measured so that I'd know when bearing was fully home. Made shaped bar of 2x2 wood with indentation in middle so I only touched outer ring of bearing. Club hammer again. Still running, years later.

[Andrew Gabriel]

OK, got it out, but I think I might have split the collar it slides in ;-( Anyway, new one's in, machine back togther, and it's doing a wash now (may all fly to pieces when it starts spinning ;-). The drum seal now leaks having taken it apart -- have to get a new one of those.

Here's the real downer -- I now don't believe the drum bearings had failed at all. The noise I can hear is still there, and probably coming from the motor bearing. Oh how sickening... The drum bearing seal had certainly failed though, and I replaced that too. I suspect if I have really cracked the bearing collar, and the motor bearings are also dying, that the machine is a right-off. May as well just run it until it completely dies...