washing machine drum not moving - ideas?
- Thread starter Angilion
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+1 Fair play if its lasted 12 years, I assume you dont live in a hard water area so limescale isnt an issue
Soldato
wow I was 7 when that thing made its first spin 
OH no i was 16, how time fly's....
OH no i was 16, how time fly's....
That's good to know.
Unfortunately, in this case it's the "used to be adjustable before they rusted solid" feet
It was the only way I could find to gain access to the brushes. I did think that it might not be a good idea...after I'd already done it. Live and learn.
All of the workings are at the bottom of the washer, so a lid wouldn't be of any use. There's an inspection hatch at the back, but that only shows the back of the drum. You could use it to change a belt, with a bit of a stretch to get it onto the motor at the bottom of the machine by feel, but that's about all you could do without going in from the bottom. Rubbish design all round, really.
Ah, but now it's a challenge and I must win
If it involved spending more than ~£20, I'd get a new one. I've certainly had my money's worth out of this one. But money is tight and the cost of a new washing machine isn't trivial to me, so if I can keep this one going a while longer for not much money I will.
What were the symptoms of the shocks going? I freely admit that I know next to nothing about washing machines, but I would expect at least fairly violent wobbling of the body of the washing machine while it was on.
It's possible that the drum in my machine isn't moving any more than it always has been. Last night was the first time I've watched it while it's on. It looks like it moves vertically by a couple of millimeters per rotation, that's all.
Well, I took it apart a bit tonight to check the shock absorbers, as suggested by OldCoals...and I can't find them.
There are two large springs (one each side) attached to the drum which would be shock absorbers of a sort, but I don't see any sign of the rod-shaped shock absorbers that I was expecting. Is it possible that an old washing machine would just have springs at the top and fixed mountings at the bottom? I don't want to turn it upside down again so I can get a better look at what's under the drum. I don't recall seeing any shock absorbers last time, just solid rods, but I wasn't paying attention to anything other than the motor.
A spirit level indicates that the frame is almost level, but I have to take the washing machine out to check that (it's tucked under a work surface) and it's possible that the floor under the work surface isn't level. Only 1 of the 4 feet can be moved now - the other 3 are rusted solid - so there's not much I can do about levelling it.
The thrumming noise during the spin cycle isn't very bad - I can't hear it upstairs - but it wasn't there before and it might be bothersome to my neighbours. I'm also concerned about the movement breaking something sooner or later, causing lots of damage as the washing machine violently shakes itself to bits and spews gallons of water all over the place.
I tried videoing the inside of the washing machine, where I can't see, but unsurprisingly my £15 Notanipod is a bad camera in any light and useless in low light.
EDIT: Well, I've levelled it with cardboard under the feet Too late to test it now, so I'll leave it until tomorrow and see what happens.
There are two large springs (one each side) attached to the drum which would be shock absorbers of a sort, but I don't see any sign of the rod-shaped shock absorbers that I was expecting. Is it possible that an old washing machine would just have springs at the top and fixed mountings at the bottom? I don't want to turn it upside down again so I can get a better look at what's under the drum. I don't recall seeing any shock absorbers last time, just solid rods, but I wasn't paying attention to anything other than the motor.
A spirit level indicates that the frame is almost level, but I have to take the washing machine out to check that (it's tucked under a work surface) and it's possible that the floor under the work surface isn't level. Only 1 of the 4 feet can be moved now - the other 3 are rusted solid - so there's not much I can do about levelling it.
The thrumming noise during the spin cycle isn't very bad - I can't hear it upstairs - but it wasn't there before and it might be bothersome to my neighbours. I'm also concerned about the movement breaking something sooner or later, causing lots of damage as the washing machine violently shakes itself to bits and spews gallons of water all over the place.
I tried videoing the inside of the washing machine, where I can't see, but unsurprisingly my £15 Notanipod is a bad camera in any light and useless in low light.
EDIT: Well, I've levelled it with cardboard under the feet
Too late to test it now, so I'll leave it until tomorrow and see what happens.
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the belt fell offI've got an old washing machine that's seen a hell of a lot of use. I've had it about 12 years and it was used when I bought it.
It was fine up until today, no sign of any impending problems at all.
I put some washing on tonight and went down to get it out a while later, only to find that it was much wetter than usual, especially the clothes that had been at the bottom.
Hmm...so I put them back in on the same cycle and watched the machine for a bit. The problem is that the drum isn't moving at all, neither during the wash cycles nor the spin cycles.
Everything else is as normal. The machine is filling and draining correctly and is going through the cycles correctly without any unusual noises or catching fire
The drum can be freely rotated by hand.
I'm inclined to say "well, I got my money's worth from that" and get a new one (probably a used reconditioned one from Home Aids Services in Hanley, where I got this one), but I'm concerned that maybe it's something obvious and cheap to fix and I'd be wasting money replacing it. On the other hand, it is at least 12 years old. It's a bit rusty on the outside. It really is very used. But if someone here can say it's the <thing> with the <thing> and costs a tenner to fix, it'd be silly to get a new one instead.
It's an Indesit WG1234T. The manual online is of no use at all in this situation.
Sweet! My cardboard shims did the trick. The improvement in levelling has reduced the noise significantly. I didn't realise how sensitive to imbalance washing machines were. I've only changed one corner by 4 very thin layers of compressed cardboard and another by 8 layers. The bubble in the spirit level was barely off-centre before. Maybe positioning is part of it - I think that part of the solid concrete floor is slightly uneven and the lino on it is loose. Taking the machine out (to look for the shock absorbers) and putting it back may have put it back in a more level position.
I now have an urge to buy a sound meter and experiment with different thicknesses to optimise my overclock...err...noise reduction
EDIT: One last thing. I noticed that the clothes seem drier than before. Is it possible that the badly worn brushes caused the drum to spin more slowly in the spin cycle, so that with new brushes it spins faster and therefore dries the clothes a bit more?
I now have an urge to buy a sound meter and experiment with different thicknesses to optimise my overclock...err...noise reduction
EDIT: One last thing. I noticed that the clothes seem drier than before. Is it possible that the badly worn brushes caused the drum to spin more slowly in the spin cycle, so that with new brushes it spins faster and therefore dries the clothes a bit more?
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