Strictly come dancing washing machine

[david lang]

Hi All

My washing machine is going mad again. On the spin cycle it vibrates like mad and moves across the conservatory floor. Especially annoying when it vibrates its way in front of the door from the kitchen so you cant open it!

I've levelled it so often that I now keep a level in the conservatory! It's OK for a while then it goes back to doing a walkabout.

Initial thoughts are that it may be the flooring. Laminate on a chipboard sub floor. Very hard, very smooth.

I have thought of bolting/fixing the thing down, but I feel that might just shift the vibration somewhere else and damage springs/dampers. Would that be the case?

Would it help if I put some kind of rubber matting under it?

Dave

[meow2222]

either fix/replace the dampers or add more damping to the top of the drum. The latter is not per original spec but is easier.

NT

[john]

Unbalance might be due to a half empty loads. Try filling the drum to the max reasonable level and see if it stops vibrating.

john

[Peter Scott]

If the dancing is because of the smooth floor rather than excessive vibration one of those sticky mats cut up to go under each foot might work. B&Q do it in a roll. Not lovely though. Depends if the appearance matters.

Peter Scott

[john]

Having the weight equal on all 4 feet is much more important than "Level". It could be level with only 3 feet bearing the weight - it would then dance around when it spins. Try rocking it and adjusting the feet to stop any rock. You may have been raising one corner to bring it level without balancing the load onto the other adjustable foot.

John

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Balance and leveling is the key which has been pointed out but if you need to fix it down get some half inch x two inch wood and make a square for the machine to sit on so that the feet of the machine are inside the wood then screw wood down to floor.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote: [snip]

Something else you might of overlooked? See if the ballast blocks are tight?

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Derek ^]

You could fasten it with a safety chain (Intended for gas cookers on flexible connections, pennies from B&Q).

Not the floor surface, maybe the floor itself.

Try standing it on a single 2" thick concrete paving stone, it worked for me once. It will alter the frequency the springy floor resonates at, and might even make the floor solidy bottom out against whatever constrains it.

Absolutely not. that's just adding more springyness.

DG

[john]

Having the weight equal on all 4 feet is much more important than "Level". It could be level with only 3 feet bearing the weight - it would then dance around when it spins. Try rocking it and adjusting the feet to stop any rock. You may have been raising one corner to bring it level without balancing the load onto the other adjustable foot

David - let us know how you get on and what worked for you.

John