- This topic has 34 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 5 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hello Experts. Is there any trick to getting the drive pulley retainer nut loosened? I’ve dismantled the washer down to this step, and for the life of me, cannot get the nut to budge. It appears to be a big one – my 30mm socket is what fits it best, but even with jamming the drive pulley, using a breaker bar, etc., it seems this thing is on for good. Looking for any hints as to how to get this to crack. Thanks!
they use a thread lock to hold it
1 its a standard RH thread so it unscrews anti clock wise
its very hard to explain how I do it but can get them off in 10 seconds. as a poss easy method to explain, Find a heavy piece of wood to jam the pulley to the tub rear. then use approx. a 2 foot bar on the socket to undo the nut
After the nut is off the pulley is also threaded onto the shaftDave
Thanks for your response. And sorry for the delay in my reply. My retainer nut is a whopping 30mm nut – I’ve tried wedging a piece of wood, etc, to keep the pulley from turning, then using a breaker bar, hammer, etc, to try to get the nut to budge. I’m actually cutting into the wood that I’m using to wedge the pulley. The tub itself is still in the machine – if I’m able to get the nut off, then I don’t have to disassemble any further, and can get to the bearings by just removing the inner tub. I imagine that you can get better purchase on this by having the tub removed, but I was hoping I didn’t have to do this. As you can probably ascertain by the age of this machine, this nut hasn’t been off in 30+ years. I understand the anti-clockwise unscrewing….was just hoping that there was an ‘expert’ trick, rather than brute force, to get this thing off. I guess I’ll need to find a man to do this….LOL.
just searched u tube and the like but no one has made a vid of removing it
it is just brute force to undo it. if you remove the drum it makes things harder because the outer drum moves as well
jam the pulley as close to the outside as you can then put the socket and bar on the nut so its sticking out at about ten past looking from the front of the machine. That way when you apply force you are pushing down so you can add your weight and strength to it. As you apply more force be aware where you might go id things slip and take precautions
have not got on of these machines around at the mo otherwise I would arrange a pic
Dave
If you have a blow torch then applying some heat to the nut taking care to keep the flame away from the outer drum can help. TBH have only ever needed to do that on a couple of occasions and I must have removed many hundreds of these over 40 years, just wedged the pulley and used my Hotpoint supplied ring spanner and a few hefty blows from a lump hammer on the side of the spanner.
Thanks, guys. And sorry for being a bit obtuse. One question I do have – the tub is still suspended with the springs, so that when I put my weight on the pulley nut, or hit the ring scanner with a hammer, the tub is still able to move around on the spring. Do you wedge the tub in some way, as well, in order to keep it from moving? I suppose I’m afraid to REALLY press down on the nut with my weight (no, I’m really not that fat, LOL) but when I do press down, the tub also moves somewhat. Perhaps if I wedge the tub itself so that it’s stable, it’s easier? Is it possible for me to use enough force so that, for example, I could break the springs or whatever is holding the tub suspended???
you wont break the spring you could never be that heavy. if you hit the spanner its a shock load so the springs don’t have time to react. If you push down yes the springs will compress but that’s all
Dave
Got it. My perseverance has overridden any semblance of intelligence. I was able to do this by heating up the nut with a wind lighter, which has a stronger flame, and using a small sledgehammer. I got the nut off, the drive pulley off, the inner tub out. The spider was not particularly pleasant, but in good enough shape, I think – it was loaded with crud, old soap, etc., but I was able to get it fairly clean with some elbow grease and a wire brush. I will say that the fasteners holding it on to the inner tub would be things I would never be able to get off. They seem to be rusted solid. With the spider really clean, I can see one very small hole in it – but this is at the bottom of one of the ‘indentations’ in the spider, so hopefully won’t affect anything. And I think my determination of this needing bearing may be (hopefully) correct. While there wasn’t very much play between the inner and outer tub – maybe 1/4 inch at the very most – I can see grease surrounding the rear bearing, when I look at it from the inside of the tub. I have a ‘handyman’ coming to bang out the bearings and put the new ones in. Then, hopefully, I’ll be able to get all back together again. I sincerely thank you all for taking the time to respond to my queries!!! Thank you all.
TBH that spider doesn’t sound to be likely to last long given your description of it, those nuts can be a problem but plenty of WD40 usually does the trick, an angle grinder is another way to remove really bad ones. Never failed to get them off eventually.
iadom wrote:TBH that spider doesn’t sound to be likely to last long given your description of it, those nuts can be a problem but plenty of WD40 usually does the trick, an angle grinder is another way to remove really bad ones. Never failed to get them off eventually.
I will agree there. these spiders are really strong as they have to endure high spins with heavy weights. the aluminium get weak when it corrodes. get a large screwdriver and give it some some healthy jabs near the hole and I bet it gets a lot bigger. they are so cheap it not worth leaving it
Dave
I tried to upload a photo, but the website is advising I only have ‘389 bytes’ of 19.5kb allowed in my ‘usergroup’. Anyway, there is a small hole in the middle of one of the arms, and about one inch of arm on either side of this hole. The hole is in the very center. The spider is held on by rusty bolts, and they appear to sit in a bracket, as well. There is no way I’m going to be able to get them out. Even if I could, in looking around the internet, I can’t find a spider replacement for this model, and buying a tub/spider replacement would be pretty much the cost of a new machine. I’ve seen some blogs where people have attempted to ‘repair’ this with JB Weld and fiberglass or something similar. I imagine that you guys are not going to be too keen on such a ‘repair’…..but just in case????
as far as I can remember they did not change the spider and bea kit for years so this should fit
https://shop.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/1611166-washing-machine-drum-spider-bearing-kit
Dave
Thank you!!! I was searching around for one – found one on eBay, but not quite sure if it was correct. Your link above states my exact machine number. I’m ordering it. Thanks!!!
since this kit includes all the bolts of your wont come off you can drill the head off the bolt. start with a small drill and go up in stages till it snaps
also if you have the early spider the end of the arms may be different. the early ones used a triangular washer but in the later ones it was moulded in so you discard the washer on the spider side of the drum. As a rule discard everything and only fit what the kit contains
Dave
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.