# Sealed drum washing machines.



## Venod (11 Apr 2020)

My sons washer packed in the other day, he sent me a video and I said it sounds like the drum bearings, he has four children so just bought a new one as he couldn't wait for me to sort it for him. 
He dropped the old machine at our house, so I dismantled it hoping to change the bearings, only to discover it is a sealed drum so the bearings are not designed to be changed, but it is possible with a bit of effort, splitting the outer drum with a cutting disc, then glueing it back together, but after splitting it the damage was too much to repair, the front bearing had collapsed and damaged the shaft beyond repair. 
But what a stupid idea more waste more recycling that wouldn't be required if it was repairable, all to cut costs and make more profit for the manufactures, things should be made more repairable nowadays not less.


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## Phaeton (11 Apr 2020)

Never heard of a completely sealed drum before, the ones I have seen have 2 plastic halves bolted together with a rubber seal, I took a washer out for a relative this evening, they are both in their 80's & didn't want a plumber (if they could get one) in the house if the plumber had been in other peoples as well. So I went over & disconnected it, took it outside for when the new one gets delivered the could take away the old one. It was a Zanussi, I said I could take it away & replace the bearing for them, but they said they wanted a new one, I did think about bring it away & repairing it, but whats a 2nd hand washer worth, probably less than the cost ot the bearings & seals.


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## classic33 (11 Apr 2020)

The bearings would probably cost about £30 for the pair. Just don't buy them from any appliance repair shop.


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## Venod (11 Apr 2020)

Phaeton said:


> Never heard of a completely sealed drum before, the ones I have seen have 2 plastic halves bolted together with a rubber seal,


https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help...ing-machine-sealed-tubs-a-why-you-should-care


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## Smudge (11 Apr 2020)

I wouldn't know where to start on repairing a washing machine myself, but i do know it would be easier and probably cheaper to replace it with a new one than get someone in to repair it.
It shouldn't be like this, but it is.


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## Cletus Van Damme (12 Apr 2020)

It's just the way of the world, really bad for the environment. When I got a new washing machine after suffering a similar thing that your son has, I researched it and bought a Bosch WAN series machine as recommended on UK Whitegoods, these are one of the few models that have replaceable drum bearings, it was a couple of hundred quid more than a basic sealed drum machine. The machine has been an utter piece of sh1t, repaired twice with door interlock problems, still not right and they don't want to know. So in hindsight I'd just buy a Beko, better than a Bosch, which in my humble opinion are nothing like as good as they used to be, just Chinese crap, with German branding on it. They used to make decent stuff, but the washing machine and dishwasher I got, are nothing like the quality they used to be. 

Just get a Beko, or sell a kidney and get a Miele. I think I'd personally get the cheaper option, it'll have a sealed drum, but I'd be wary if Miele are as good as they used to be, considering the premium they command..


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## slowmotion (12 Apr 2020)

^^^^^ I'll second that. Our Bosch built-in fridge freezer conked out two weeks outside it's 24 month warranty. The compressor had packed up and the engineer said it was "beyond economical repair". £450 out of the window.


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## Smudge (12 Apr 2020)

Cletus Van Damme said:


> It's just the way of the world, really bad for the environment. When I got a new washing machine after suffering a similar thing that your son has, I researched it and bought a Bosch WAN series machine as recommended on UK Whitegoods, these are one of the few models that have replaceable drum bearings, it was a couple of hundred quid more than a basic sealed drum machine. The machine has been an utter piece of sh1t, repaired twice with door interlock problems, still not right and they don't want to know. So in hindsight I'd just buy a Beko, better than a Bosch, which in my humble opinion are nothing like as good as they used to be, just Chinese crap, with German branding on it. They used to make decent stuff, but the washing machine and dishwasher I got, are nothing like the quality they used to be.
> 
> Just get a Beko, or sell a kidney and get a Miele. I think I'd personally get the cheaper option, it'll have a sealed drum, but I'd be wary if Miele are as good as they used to be, considering the premium they command..



My last washing machine was a Beko, it cost me £200 in a sale and lasted 6 years. It didn't even stop stop working, just started making a dodgy noise and i didn't trust it not to break down altogether. So i replaced it with another cheap washer that is still going years later.
I dont trust expensive white goods anymore, they can be just as cheaply made as inexpensive models.


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## Venod (12 Apr 2020)

We have had Bosch, I was a big fan, but as pointed out they are not what they used to be, we have a Bosch dishwasher that I have repaired a few times.
We have a Miele washing machine which has been fine so far, but are they worth the price paid? time will tell.


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## Drago (12 Apr 2020)

Never mind washing machines being designed to be un-repairable and its terrible effect on the environment. Look at the number of people who update their mobile phones annually for no other reason that it's no longer the latest must-have model. Ravaging the planet for the rare-earth minerals to make these mobile devices is about the most environmentally damaging extraction process known to man. The irony of this behaviour is that many of the folk who think nothing of needlessly upgrading electronic devices will post there and complain about appliances than can't be repaired and its terrible effect on the environment... (present environmentally conscious company excepted)


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## Phaeton (12 Apr 2020)

Ours currently is a Fagor, normally a washer lasts us around 3-4 years, then whatever breaks is usually so expensive it's cheaper to buy another one, this one has lasted 7 years, but the bearings went between Christmas & New Year, the bearings were easy to get the hard part was the seal in front of the bearings, luckily the firm that runs the whitegoods website managed to get us one from Spain, whilst the motor was out I replaced the motor brushes as well.


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## Levo-Lon (12 Apr 2020)

Most horrible noises on a washing machine are the recirculating pumps.
These can often be cleaned out or replaced easily DIY.

I changed a few with our 2 LG washers over a 15 year period.
Never had motor or electronic failures.

Average cost of the pumps was around £25_£40 , 30mins to an hr to fit.

We have a Samsung now, but it will no doubt last about 7-10 yr if we're lucky


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## Phaeton (12 Apr 2020)

Bizarre as I have never had a pump failure


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## Levo-Lon (12 Apr 2020)

Phaeton said:


> Bizarre as I have never had a pump failure




They don't fail as such ,just make a horrible noise


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## Phaeton (12 Apr 2020)

Levo-Lon said:


> They don't fail as such ,just make a horrible noise


Yeah understand, it's just not a fault I've had, my wife is a hairdresser & she washes a lot of towels, I think she probably overloads it quite regularly so the bearings go first, or the circuit board gets overloaded before we ever wear out a pump


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## Levo-Lon (12 Apr 2020)

Phaeton said:


> Yeah understand, it's just not a fault I've had, my wife is a hairdresser & she washes a lot of towels, I think she probably overloads it quite regularly so the bearings go first, or the circuit board gets overloaded before we ever wear out a pump




On the same score our washing machines tended to et a lot of sandy clothes in the wash from my paving work, wife used to empty sand from my pockets


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## Venod (12 Apr 2020)

Levo-Lon said:


> Most horrible noises on a washing machine are the recirculating pumps.
> These can often be cleaned out or replaced easily DIY.



On a more positive note, I am impressed with the drain pump on this Beko washer, completely user friendly and easy to strip and clean.


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## oldwheels (12 Apr 2020)

Phaeton said:


> Never heard of a completely sealed drum before, the ones I have seen have 2 plastic halves bolted together with a rubber seal, I took a washer out for a relative this evening, they are both in their 80's & didn't want a plumber (if they could get one) in the house if the plumber had been in other peoples as well. So I went over & disconnected it, took it outside for when the new one gets delivered the could take away the old one. It was a Zanussi, I said I could take it away & replace the bearing for them, but they said they wanted a new one, I did think about bring it away & repairing it, but whats a 2nd hand washer worth, probably less than the cost ot the bearings & seals.


Different where you are but we often get desperate people on face book appealing for any old washing machine that works as their one has failed and it is not possible to just nip out and get a new one. It can take a long time and a convoluted delivery chain often to get a new one here now. The Hydro Board shop used to have a couple in stock but that is now shut.


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## fossyant (12 Apr 2020)

Our washer had been noisey for a few years - bearings, but, like has been said an 'unknown' for replacing on a budget. The bearing developed alot of play in Feb, just before lockdown, so I just went out and got another. I've repaired the oven before - BEKO, it's been really good, but the heating element went (blew the main fuse), so £15 via amazon, fixed in 30 minutes.


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## rogerzilla (12 Apr 2020)

My Samsung is 6 years old (5 year warranty from new) and has been completely reliable. Noisy thing, though.

Washing machines are generally engineered to fail just after the warranty runs out.


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## screenman (12 Apr 2020)

Looking on the brighter side, you have a nice garden firepit.


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## MarkF (12 Apr 2020)

screenman said:


> Looking on the brighter side, you have a nice garden firepit.


Or new feature light, this one has a nice LED mood ropelight.


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## Milkfloat (12 Apr 2020)

My technique with any white goods purchase now is to buy the cheapest one with a 5 year warranty, then just flog it for parts when it goes wrong outside the warranty.


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## Venod (12 Apr 2020)

Milkfloat said:


> then just flog it for parts when it goes wrong



I have sold quite a few bits off old washing machines on eBay, when you look at the prices on Espares, its not surprising parts sell well, I now have a few decent Beko spares to offload, its better than taking them to the dump.


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## gbb (12 Apr 2020)

We are lucky here, we have the Hotpoint factory a mile away and their seconds shop is a brilliant source for heavily discounted white goods, some with perhaps a small scratch or dent. All our machines come from there, gotta say, we never had a Hotpoint we've been disappointed with. Had an odd pump go and one had a rigid pipe that cracked but in essesnse, ours have been ok.
I suspect our current one has a sealed drum, that said, I've never had bearings fail in one in 40 years.


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## Venod (12 Apr 2020)

gbb said:


> I suspect our current one has a sealed drum, that said, I've never had bearings fail in one in 40 years.


Just so you know, this is what they look like.


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## keithmac (12 Apr 2020)

Our last washer had bearing failure and a sealed drum, I genuinely couldn't believe the stupidity of it!.

You can but a drum but costs nigh on the same as a new washer, plus they have to be modified to fit.

Our replacement washer has had 3 sets of motor brushes in it so far but still going strong 8 years so far (Creda I think?).


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## gbb (12 Apr 2020)

Venod said:


> Just so you know, this is what they look like.
> View attachment 514603


Bread and butter stuff normally, I must have replaced hundreds of bearings in various stuff. I see there is a method to split the sealed drum...I'd love to try it but in the same breath, I'm not sure I'd be happy of the risk of failure and my flooring.


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## Levo-Lon (13 Apr 2020)

gbb said:


> We are lucky here, we have the Hotpoint factory a mile away and their seconds shop is a brilliant source for heavily discounted white goods, some with perhaps a small scratch or dent. All our machines come from there, gotta say, we never had a Hotpoint we've been disappointed with. Had an odd pump go and one had a rigid pipe that cracked but in essesnse, ours have been ok.
> I suspect our current one has a sealed drum, that said, I've never had bearings fail in one in 40 years.




We are lucky having it in Peterborough
We have a large larder fridge £240 from the factory shop
£460 at Curry's
I honestly couldn't find a mark on it, maybe just a return?

Tumble dryer too.
I like LG or Samsung washers as their direct drive and so much quieter.
But you can get most things half price or 2/3rd at the shop


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## rogerzilla (13 Apr 2020)

Do Miele use sealed drums? I know they cost £1000 for something that looks like a Hotpoint from the mid-80s...

Edit: they only make white ones, and nothing in my kitchen is white. Samsung (despite the noise) would still be my choice - you can get one with a 5 year warranty for under £400.


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## Levo-Lon (13 Apr 2020)

Venod said:


> Just so you know, this is what they look like.
> View attachment 514603





Bearings look fine, not sure about the cage mind 🤭


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## Phaeton (12 Oct 2020)

Onto the next laundry disaster, the tumble dryer started making horrible noises a few weeks ago knew exactly what it was & should have done something then but didn't. Then on Saturday it started making thumping noises, when I stripped the back off O was greeted with the expected worn out bearing.












Indesit give a 10 years parts warranty which isn't worth the label it's printed on, the part to buy Retail is £18, but they want £110 labour to come fit the free part. It's just 4 years old & the 2nd dryer we've had that had the same fault.


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## cyberknight (12 Oct 2020)

Our packed up last week , i just bought a new one as looking at prices for repairs it was not economical to repair it , the warranty company tried to sell me an extended warranty at some much a month , i worked out in 3 years i could buy a new washer with the cost of it.


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## Phaeton (12 Oct 2020)

cyberknight said:


> Our packed up last week , i just bought a new one as looking at prices for repairs it was not economical to repair it , the warranty company tried to sell me an extended warranty at some much a month , i worked out in 3 years i could buy a new washer with the cost of it.


Yeah when I phoned Hotpoint (who owned Idensit apparently) they tried to sell me a warranty, £13.83 a month for 12 months with the guarantee on fixing it this time & then replacing it if it broke inside the 12 months i.e. £170 which is just the same a cheap replacement.


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## MrGrumpy (13 Oct 2020)

Washing machines I now treat as disposable. If I get 3-4 yrs I’m happy , but I don’t pay too much £400 max. I did splash out on a fancy American fridge freezer last year , £1200 it was. Biggest pile of crap. Packed in at Christmas, got it repaired under warranty , the guy was good replaced a fair bit to fix the freezer. Roll on into April this year and the fridge part broke. Warranty covered however this time the guy said , it’s not worth fixing. Got a full refund ! Was Costco mind and they were good, if it had been Curry’s I think I would have just got a replacement!


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## fossyant (13 Oct 2020)

Same here with washer. TBH, we're on our 3rd in 25 years - our latest was in early March - yep, just bought the biggest capacity I could walk out of the shop with as lockdown was looming. Spent a little more than I wanted, but the dimensions were right and it had a big weight capacity (thinking it will last longer as we don't load it too much). Same with fridge/freezers. We went separates after the 'frost free' expensive one packed in. Simple, just work, and cheap to replace.


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## MrGrumpy (13 Oct 2020)

to be honest the fridge freezer packing in was a blessing! It took up far too much room , so it was replaced with a separate built in fridge. Which will be great for when the kitchen gets done !


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## Phaeton (12 Sep 2022)

Phaeton said:


> Bizarre as I have never had a pump failure



I spoke too soon, although 2 years later the pump has failed or rather in the process of failing

The Fagor washing machine is having problems, it throws up an error to say that the water is not emptying fast enough, the suggestion is to make sure that the drains are all clear which they are, so logically it can only be a tired drain pump. As Fagor when bust in 2013 parts are getting scarce & the pump is unavailable from the company I normally buy from. Looks like it may have to be a new machine


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## Tenkaykev (12 Sep 2022)

Look at EBAC. Designed and made in County Durham, 7 year parts and labour no quibble guarantee. A fair charge for installation and taking your old machine away. Excellent value for what you are getting.
https://www.ebac.com/


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## rogerzilla (12 Sep 2022)

Fagor...a popular trade top on 1980s club runs!


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## classic33 (12 Sep 2022)

Phaeton said:


> I spoke too soon, although 2 years later the pump has failed or rather in the process of failing
> 
> The Fagor washing machine is having problems, it throws up an error to say that the water is not emptying fast enough, the suggestion is to make sure that the drains are all clear which they are, so logically it can only be a tired drain pump. As Fagor when bust in 2013 parts are getting scarce & the pump is unavailable from the company I normally buy from. Looks like it may have to be a new machine


None of these parts/pumps?
https://shop.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/fagor-drain-pumps


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## Phaeton (12 Sep 2022)

classic33 said:


> None of these parts/pumps?
> https://shop.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/fagor-drain-pumps



They were the guys I asked & they say they can't get them


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## CXRAndy (12 Sep 2022)

Our Meile washer failed on yr 11. Once I'd stripped it down. The drum spider on the rear had cracked. A new drum was required, 

Meile will sell a drum for more than the cost of a new washing machine 

They never cost that much when I was in the electronic repair trade


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## classic33 (12 Sep 2022)

Phaeton said:


> They were the guys I asked & they say they can't get them


What model number?


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## Phaeton (12 Sep 2022)

classic33 said:


> What model number?



The washer is a FU-7814 the pump is L71B001F4 I've emailed sosparts but they've not got back to me yet, there's also a firm in Spain who claim to have them in stock, but it's £70 delivered so to me it's getting into the uneconomic repair territory, cheap if it fixes the problem & we get another couple of years, but expensive if it doesn't cure it.


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## classic33 (12 Sep 2022)

Is the impeller working, and filters clean?

Amazon?

View: https://www.amazon.com/REPORSHOP-Washer-Drain-Brandt-L71B001F4/dp/B00K0FP7XU


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## Phaeton (12 Sep 2022)

Seems to pump an amount of water, but it's making lots of noise, I'm going to take it out tomorrow & make sure there's nothing inside the actual pump, the pipes are clear.


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