Hotpoint Washing Machine "Grinding Noise" Problem

[FARGO]

Hello all,


I’m posting on the off chance that someone can offer a bit of advice while I wait to hear from my landlady.

We have a Hotpoint Aquarius WDL520 front loading washer/dryer. Last night, during the spin cycle the machine started making a VERY loud grinding noise - almost sounded like the poor thing was shaking itself apart from the inside.

However, what's perplexing is that the drum wasn't spinning when this happened so I'm not sure what to make of it. We turned it off and left it for half an hour and tried it again - same thing. We had to use the manual door release to get the clothes out as nothing we could do would force the cycle to finish or cease prematurely.

From Googling it seems that people have similar "grinding" issues but when the drum is actually spinning - this has been attributed to the brushes and bearings wearing out. As our drum doesn't spin when the grinding happens, is it possible that the belt has come loose/off and causing the noise?

Just hoping to have something to tell the landlady other than it's broken!


Many thanks in advance

 

[Tribune]

I don't mean to be rude, but does it matter what's actually wrong with it? It doesn't work. If she calls a bloke to fix it, he'll check the usual problems, no?

 

[arknor]

take the top/back off and have a look? its probably going to need a repairman anyway though.

sometimes our stanalone dryer comes off its bearing and its as simple as pulling the drum upwords and getting it reseated properly.

 

[FARGO]

Not rude at all! I'm not particularly technical and know nothing about washing machines. I'm just trying to get ideas about what could potentially be wrong - the last time she arranged for an electrician to come he didn't have the correct bits and bobs to get the jobs done and had to come back a few days later. Our landlady is very nice but not particularly pro-active when it comes to getting things sorted. We were without hotwater for three months last year...

So you see, I'm just trying to get to ball rolling

 

[FARGO]

take the top/back off and have a look? its probably going to need a repairman anyway though.

sometimes our stanalone dryer comes off its bearing and its as simple as pulling the drum upwords and getting it reseated properly.

Many thanks for the reply arknor

 

[Werewolf]

I'm guessing belt if it's happening when it should be spinning, and it's not spinning.

If you unplug it and take the back off the belt is normally easily reachable with most machines (it's a part that tends to require replacing within the lifespan of most machines).
It should be tight with no slippage (IE you shouldn't see any slack, and if you turn the drum it should turn the motor etc).

If it's damaged or loose bung the model of your washing machine into google with the magic phrase "replacement belt" and you'll probably find someone selling them for about a tenner (I was pleasantly surprised to find someone on Amazon selling spares).

It's a fairly basic job to replace the belt, but it can be a bit of a pain in the neck to get it on when it's new and tight.

If it's grinding and not emptying it's possibly the pump, either something blocking it (sweet wrappers, paper, coins) in which case there is usually an inspection port somewhere (often behind the lower front panel) that will let you check and empty and blockages, or died in which case a replacement again is relatively simple is sometimes time consuming.

[edit]
If you're not the owner of the machine, leave it to the landlord/landlady to arrange a fixer.

 

[FARGO]

[edit]
If you're not the owner of the machine, leave it to the landlord/landlady to arrange a fixer.

Werewolf, many thanks for the insighful post. It's not our machine so I will be leaving it well alone! It's just good to be aware of the possible issues as no doubt the landlady will ask.

Thanks for all the replies

Have a great week!

 

[arknor]

It's a fairly basic job to replace the belt, but it can be a bit of a pain in the neck to get it on when it's new and tight.

i replaced the belt on our dryer and i swear it was 2 inchs to small lol they are proper hard to get on it took me about 30mins lol.

maybe i should have heated the belt with a hairdryer first to try and make it expand a bit more

 

[Jonny69]

Could be a number of things. Essentially, if you can spin the drum by hand (through the door) and it makes no rough noises and is not noticeably loose or wobbly then the bearing is still ok. If you can turn it and it just spins like a bike wheel then the belt has probably broken or come off, because when it's on it offers some resistance.