Replacing Bearings in a Washing Machine
To replace the bearings will have to remove the rear panel of the housing of the machine, to detach the drum axle from the motor shaft, and in some models, remove the motor. Since the bearing is pressed firmly into the mount, it must be dislodged. In some models, you can remove the spider, but in some models you have to remove the whole tank.
Particularly difficult are the cases when the washing machine has a fixed welded composite or plastic tank. To access the drum it will have to be sawed. A new bearing is installed in place of the removed non-functional bearing, then check the rotation and rigidity of the drum, reassemble and test run the machine.
Diagnosis without disassembling the car
The only way to determine if the bearing of the washing machine is damaged 100% without disassembling the machine is to have a professional technician. And if the bearing is just beginning to break down, then without disassembly you will not understand anything at all. That said there are a few signs that might point indirectly to this failure.
- Extraneous noise during washing and rinsing. During the spin, extraneous noises are more difficult to distinguish, so listen to how the machine works for washing and spinning. What kind of sounds can we talk about? This usually means a metallic clang, rattle, grinding noise, etc.п.
- Machine does not spin the laundry well. Because of bearing destruction, the drum can not reach sufficient speed in spinning mode, and therefore the quality of this very spinning decreases.
- There may be a slight imbalance. If the bearings are destroyed, the balancing of the machine can partially fail, it will swing more from side to side. The imbalance will be minor, so you need to be more careful.
- Look at the edges of the oil seal, if it is damaged it is an indirect indication that there is a problem with the bearings.
Continue to diagnose the washing machine without disassembling it. Unplug the machine, open the door wide, stick your hand in and place three fingers on the top edge of the drum. Let’s rock the drum. It should swing with the tank on springs, but between the tank and drum should not feel backlash.
If there is play, it means that the bearings have already begun to fail.
Now we twist the drum with our hands as hard as we can. The drum should rotate relatively freely, emitting a slight hum. If instead of a slight hum you feel a rumble or moreover hear a clatter, there is likely a problem with the bearings. There are not many reasons for the failure of these parts. This is either trivial wear and tear or a factory defect, so draw conclusions.
Disassembling an Indesit washing machine
Replacing the drum bearing of an Indesit washing machine always begins with a complete disassembly of the machine. But before removing nodes and parts, be sure to drain the remaining water from the tank. This can be done through the drain filter cover, drain hose or through a special emergency drain tube (not in all models). Before removing the bearing from the washing machine, you must pull the tank out of the washing machine housing. To do this:
- Remove the top panel of the washing machine (cover). To do this, simply unscrew a few self-tapping screws from the back of the machine.
- Pull out the cuvette (powder hopper) by releasing the plastic tabs.
- Remove the control panel. In order not to make a mistake during assembly, take a picture of the location of electrical connectors in the assembled state.
- Remove the rubber grommets and slide them inside the drum.
- Remove the front wall of the machine.
- Remove the back panel.
- Remove the drum pulley and drive belt.
- Disconnect all lines and connections from the tank;
- Unplug the power supply and remove the motor.
- dismantle the counterweights.
now the drum is only held by damping springs and shock absorbers. After loosening the fasteners of these elements remove the tank from the body of the washing machine.
The first and main cause of drum bearing wear in any brand of washing machine, whether LG, Samsung, Indesit. damage to the sealing collar (packing). Its task is to ensure the tightness of the tank, not to allow water to flow out of it.
Why you should NEVER carry on running a washing machine with bad bearings. FAIL.
Water promotes washing out of grease, the balls rotate on a dry surface, which leads to breakage of the part. Most often the first to break the separator, its parts contribute to the further destruction of the node, and the lack of alignment of the balls allows the shaft and the drum attached to it to walk.
It causes wear and tear and continuous overloading. To avoid such a situation, many manufacturers use a system that blocks the start-up in case of excessive weight of the drum. Also the reason for failure can be a factory defect, but the eminent manufacturers buy only high-quality parts, however, a bad bearing could be installed during a recent repair.
Checking Worn Washing Machine Bearings
How to check the bearings in a washing machine?
Failure of the bearings of the washing machine. the most frequent problem faced by the owners of this household appliance. However, before proceeding to repair, you should be sure of the fault, because you will have to almost completely disassemble the machine. It is first necessary to check the bearings in the washing machine and by external signs to determine the cause of the malfunction. How to understand that this particular part should be replaced?
What bearings are in the washing machine
The most characteristic signs that the bearing at the washing machine has failed, or it will happen soon, are:
- when turning on the washing mode, the machine works, emitting a characteristic hum, but the drum does not rotate;
- the laundry is running, but there is unusual noise produced by the rotation of the drum, and uncharacteristic for normal operation vibration;
- the spin mode does not work, the laundry stays wet (is not spun);
- the drive belt quickly breaks (wears out);
- When loading the laundry, you can feel the drum swinging on its axis of rotation.
Failure of shock absorbers and bearings in the washing machine
Malfunctions of the washing machine are always inconvenient for the owners. Especially if during the operation of the device extraneous sounds are observed and the drum is strongly dangling when spinning. In such a situation, do not use the device, because it can damage important parts of the machine. Of course, in order to qualitatively repair the washing machine it is better to apply to a service center. But you can also do the initial diagnostics by yourself. You’ll get your equipment repaired much faster that way. Knowing which element needs to be replaced (bearings or shock absorbers) allows you to describe the problem in detail to the technician. He, in turn, will come prepared with the necessary spare parts and quickly perform the necessary repair work.
The first and main cause of drum bearing wear in any brand of washing machine, whether it is LG, Samsung, Indesit is damage of sealing collar (packing). Its task is to ensure the tightness of the tank, not to allow water to pour out of its limits.
Water flushes grease out and the balls run dry which can cause parts to break. often the first broken separator, its parts contribute to the further destruction of the node, and the lack of alignment of the balls allows the shaft and drum fixed on it to “walk.
Contributes to wear and tear and constant overloading. To avoid this situation, many manufacturers use a system that locks the start-up if the drum is too heavy. Also the cause of the breakdown can be a factory defect, but the eminent manufacturers buy only quality parts, however, a bad bearing could be installed during a recent repair.
Signs of failure
To identify the fault of the bearing unit of the automatic washing machine is sometimes not possible at once. Often the user notices the problem when it becomes blatant.
It is really not difficult to detect possible bearing faults. You just have to listen to the operation of the washing machine. It often happens that the unit, located, for example, in the bathroom, having been loaded and started up, works there all alone. The hostess may be busy with other household chores or she may be absorbed in watching her favorite TV series. Actually, this is why the automatic washing machine was invented. However, this home helper is still a machine, and therefore monitoring its condition is necessary.
The machine is humming
The first warning sign of bearing wear can be an unusual noise that occurs when the washing machine is running. It can be especially strong when switching to spin mode, when the engine speed becomes the highest. The machine may make a noise suddenly, quite unexpectedly. it is important to pay attention to it immediately.
It won’t go away on its own, the machine will creak more and more, and if you change modes the contacting metal parts will rattle. It will make more and more noise, announcing that the bearing is broken. It is important not to ignore the noise, because the bearing has already begun to break down.
If you wait until the bearing has collapsed completely, the drum can jam, and the machine will receive very serious damage to several important units at once. It is true that even earlier the rubber sealing gland will be destroyed, and water will flow into the bearing, and then to the floor. Leaking is very dangerous, a short circuit may occur in the motor.
Washing machine bearing failure. how to test
Strong vibrations
The noise is gradually supplemented by vibrations produced by the machine during the transition to other modes, i.e. from the rinse to the spin. Unnecessary vibration at high speeds may cause the machine to move noticeably on a level floor.
If you try to hold the unit with your hand at this time, you may feel a noticeable jolt or shock.
Spin cycle does not work
The bearings are pressed in at the factory and the parts of the damaged assembly will not just come out of their seats by themselves. The motor is subject to the additional resistance of a worn out component and, as a result, the machine may stop spinning if it reaches a high spin speed. Operation of the unit in this condition is not permissible.
The drum vibrates when being loaded
It is not always possible to recognise the fault at once. To do so, you can check the cylinder backlash by shaking it horizontally. You can also notice backlash during loading. a drum with worn bearings will sway quite noticeably on the shock absorbers and springs.
