Should I replace my entire washing machine drum?

Hello all,

well, here's a dilemma...

The plastic drum outer body on our washing machine - a 16-year old Hotpoint WD62 washer-dryer - scracked the other day. Not sure why, but it went bang and started leaking water, and opeeed it up and saw a massive crack on the side. Above the water line but obviously it sploshes out when the mahine is spinning.

This is machine has otherwise lasted very well. I've only just changed the motor brushes but the drum bearing has never seemed to need changing.

I've just discovered that I could buy the outer drum body:

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and take the whole machine to bits to replace it! Good idea or not?

The pros: the machine is dual-fill, which is difficult to find these days. The machine has proved sturdy and reasonably reliable. The machine was made in the UK which is difficult to find these days (Ebac have just started making in the UK but they don't make washer dyers and their products are not available until September, anyway)

The cons: half a day of messing about, and assuming everything else is OK inside the machine (I see no reason yet to assume otherwise).

What do you reckon?

Michael

Reply to
Michael Kilpatrick
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That would be the question I would want to answer first, 'why'?

You can get some silicone based adhesives that can even work on wet surfaces. ;-)

Cool. The 13 moth old Zanussi I got of Freecycle was written off because the bearings had failed. I cut the (welded) plastic drum in half, replaced the bearings, joined the drum back together and used it for another 7 years. ;-)

If you like doing that sort of thing, can afford it (v buying a new machine) and like the S&G's, why not. ;-)

We had that when considering replacing our elderly conventionally vented tumble dryer. Couldn't easily find one with the outlet in the same place or with the same features so just repair it as required. ;-)

I was quite sad when the bearings *finally* went on the Zanussi and sort of regretted letting our daughter go and buy us a new one and taking the other one away (girl with a van ).

The reason was ... we (the Mrs and I fixed it together) had some history with the machine (recovering it when all the advice was that it was impossible / not cost effective) and I *knew* I could do the same again. However, a pile of important washing and my time

*supposed* to be focusing on more important things meant I had to let it go ... ;-(

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Depending on the location of the crack, and whether or not it looks like it is going to propagate, might it be repairable? Presumably an axial crack, so a "bandage" using something like Sylglas / Denso tape might help to keep it closed, and also provide sealing. Perhaps difficult to bandage all the way around, but you could bind the drum with something like string (for strength) and then just tape over the crack area. Bear in mind that the outer drum is (probably) structural, i.e. it supports the bearings and inner drum, as well as seeing the tension from the drive belt.

Reply to
newshound

Many plastics can be hot welded, I'd probably look at that first. String is no use, it stretches, and starts with a small fraction of the strength of the tub.

Your choice innit, we don't know what suits you.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I tried that, as I happened to have some. Unfortunately, because plastic things like this tend to have stresses inside them such that when the crack they distort, the crack opened up further after I had applied this sealant liberally. There's no way of pushing it back into shape.

It also appears that there is very little gap between the metal drum and this outer body, and there appears to be a piece of the plastic inside, I think, which caught and made matters worse when I tested it with the sealant.

I think I will quickly try and look inside - taking the inner drum out - before I order a new body this afternoon.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Kilpatrick

At that price, I'd hesitate. Spending over a hundred pounds repairing a 16 yr old machine just does sound sensible to me. I appreciate the joy of keeping old machines going but the older the machine, the less sense it makes to spend large amounts if money on repairs.

Dual fill is over-rated. Most powders work better with a cold fill and unless you machine is next to a combi, the "dead space" in your pipework will mean that little HW actually reaches your machine. It's really not a good reason to hang on to an old machine.

Until recently. ;-) Who knows what lies around the next corner?

Time to treat yourself to a new machine IMO. ;-)

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Maybe a 'not' got away?

Reply to
Davey

Indeed. Or perhaps substitute "sensible" with "crazy". ;-)

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Mmm. I dunno. In the end will that hundred pounds buy you another 4 years? given that a washing machine at 300 seems to last about 12 years

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

It's amazing how your mind can be thinking one thing, but your fingers can write something totally different. They don't run on the same clock.

Reply to
Davey

T'obvious answer is find another WD62 for scrap value that has a different fault, and pinch the bits.

Owain

Reply to
spuorgelgoog

Outer drum is structural, and liable to fail catasrophicly at top spin speed if strength is compromised.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Meanwhile, the dirty washing is piling up and SWMBO is giving you "that look".

Nah, cut your losses and buy the wife an early Christmas present. ;-)

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

£50 should get you 5-7 years. Your choice.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

It may be worth checking out a fixed price repair from Hotpoint. Our first one died after 16 years and I deemed it uneconomic to repair.

Stupidly, I bought another Hotpoint - nothing like the old one of course. The bearings lasted 13 months and required a complete drum replacement at £130. I got a fixed proce repair from Hotpoint for £98 all in.

Bearings went after another year and I bought a Bosch Logiixx.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Consider fitting a new door seal whilst you are at it as relatively cheap insurance on another flood.

Reply to
Bob Minchin

You should get a new drumseal - once compressed, the agro of trying to get an old one to seal again properly isn't worth it.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

No one has asked the obvious, do you live in a hard water area? That could have easily affected internal parts of the machine in a non-obvious way, which could be sneaking up for a further failure...

Also, a much newer machine is likely to be far more energy efficient. Whether this actually equates to better or worse wash performance is up for debate though :)

Reply to
Lee

Absolutely +1. Took the words out of my mouth. (Programmer next - then armature, etc)

Reply to
DerbyBorn

It's a washer dryer with wide temperature variations. Replace the drum to avoid repeated repair failures.

Reply to
Capitol

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