Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

[KevB]

Hi all,

My Hotpoint WM53 is making a strange noise. as you turn the drum it occassionally makes a loud clicking or clanking sound. The sound seems worse in one direction than the other. When spinning the sound is more noticable and sounds like an object is between the drum and the casing, but the sound is not consistent enough when turning the drum by hand for this to be the case. When loaded with a wash the machine does “walk” a bit too, even when quite well balanced.

The machine is 9 yrs old but had new drum bearings, spyder, belt and a new motor 2 years ago.

I checked the pump filter and found a £1 coin in there, but removing that did not make any difference to the noise, although if damage has been done then I suspect that was the culprit as the coin has been truely “beaten up”.

If I were to guess at the cause of the noise, I’d say it was a bearing noise which gets worse under load, but given that the bearings were replace 2 yrs ago, I am reluctant to go down that alley again.

Any other ideas as to what could be causing the noise?

Thanks in advance
Kevin

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Removal of the drum front for inspection of the inner drum and spider is the way forward, the coin may have damaged the inner drum causing it to hit the heating element. I would stop using the machine altogether until you have had it checked out properly. Bearings can fail in under 12 months, especially if not fitted with the correct tools.

Jim.

[KevB]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Does “remove the drum front for inspection” mean removing the drum and unclipping the large plastic ring from the front of the drum, assuming the drum front is at the door side of the machine?

Kevin

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

The drum front is the large round plastic ‘drum front’ 😉 The ‘cabinet front’ will have to be removed first of course. 🙂

Jim.

[KevB]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Thanks for the reply Jim… it was partially helpful :rolls:

How much dis-assembly is required to remove the cabinet front?

When I changed the bearings, I removed the drum from the top, so have not removed the cabinet front before… obviously that sounds as if it would be easier/quicker than removing the drum, and it would allow hand spinning of the drum in-situ to further diagnose the noises in the drum.

PS, We’ve used only Ecover Liquid doing 40C washes since replacing the bearings/spider etc… would that have had a detrimental effect on the alloy? Are “boils washes” necessary? If so, why? :rolls:

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

A bearing change on these takes a pro around 30 to 45 minutes. Whilst I cannot go into blow by blow details, front panel removal is quite straighforward and takes a couple of minutes at the most.

As for Ecover have a read of the links posted in the last post in this thread. http://tinyurl.com/2czenu

A machine using Ecover and low temperature washes in a soft water area can easily go through a drum spider in under two years.

Jim.

[KevB]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Hi Jim (and anyone else who cares to add their words of wisdom),

I have just finished my visual inspection of the internals. Here’s what I did:
1 ) Unplugged it
2 ) took the front of the cabinet off (easy when you know how)
3 ) took the drum front off
4 ) inspected the heating element, no signs of damage, still straight
5 ) turned the drum by hand still clunking
6 ) took the belt and rear pulley of the drum spindle
7 ) removed the drum and inspected, a few dents on the “paddles” from the coin I mentioned previously
8 ) washed and inspected spider, no obvious damage, slight build up from Ecover and hard water which I removed
9 ) felt bearings with finger by rotating slowly feeling for notchiness, none found
10) regreased the spindle and re-assembled machine
11) checked for noise by rotating by hand… no noise

I am busy doing the “maintenance wash” now and still have not heard any noise…

Any ideas? :rolls: I guess I will just use it some more and see what happens… 😉

Regards
Kevin

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

The acid test will be when you run it with a full load of towels or similar, sometimes a crack in the spider is not easy to spot unless it is really bad. Throw the Ecover in the bin, buy a decent powder or tablet and do a regular hot wash or monthly maintenance wash. Did you check the drum pulley, that can also crack and cause a clunking noise.

Jim.

[Simon46]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Unless the housing that holds the bearings is loose in the tub. is there rock in the drum if you lift it in situ?

Regards
Simon

[KevB]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Jim, I checked the drum pulley, no sign of damage there…

Simon, I did try lifting/rocking the drum in situ and there did not seem to be any play at all…

The machine is currently doing a load of jeans etc and is whisper quiet…

[whitevanman]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

sorry to intrude

Have you checked suspension Legs

just a thought

Wvm

[KevB]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

WVM: I did the old “bounce” test and they seemed ok… although I am no expert

[KevB]

Re: Hotpoint WM53: Clanking noise in drum

Quick update:

The “jeans” load finished without any errant noises last night so I guess something I did “fixed” the problem… still no wiser as to what the cause or solution was though. :rolls:

Unless anyone can think of anything new, I’ll just wait for the next “maintenance opportunity”

Thanks to all who responded with their pearls of wisdom. 😉

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