Hotpoint WMA11 Bearing Change Epic

[arealhighlander]

Well, the graunching noise from my 9 year old Hotpoint WMA11P told me the bearings were kaput. I thought I had nothing to lose but about £20 on a set of bearings an at least see if it was repairable. Thought I’d put on here how I get on to see if this may help others in the future as I did search online to see a description of how others have done it but never found a step by step.

I “practised” dismantling the machine, taking apart the front, before ordering the bearings.

The order duly arrived today (quicker than the wine I ordered from Virgin which I am STILL waiting for!).

Taking the machine apart isn’t too difficult, the front panel is held on with several screws, I removed the wire retainer and disconnected teh door seal first then removed the whole front, disconnecting the wire to the door latch.

Next, both weights were removed. I then took photos of all the wiring and connections before unplugging the front control panel. You also have to remove the top metal strip that the control panel mounts onto.

You have to removel all the wiring from securing clips as well as one wire that goes over to the sensor that keeps the door locked until the machine is empty. There is also one earth wire to disconnect from just inside the bottom of the machine. You then have all the wires going to teh drum disconnected and ready to remove the while drum.

To remove the two lower “shock absorbers” you remove the plastic pin that holds it onto the drum. There is a plastic clip that you have to squeeze shut at the back of the pin while you try anbd pull the pin out with pliers.

Once that is done, you man handle the drum up the way to take the weight off the two top springs, until you have enough slack to disconnect each spring from the drum. The whole drum unit, motor etc. should now come out the front of the machine, its a tight squeeze getting it past the metal side of the front.

To split the drum, you remove all the torx screws and one metal clip over the plastic outer shells, the front bit then comes off, leaving the inner drum still attached to the rear shell. At this point you will find any objects (screws, bra wires etc.) that may have been rattling about in between the drums all these years!

Slacken off the two bolts holding the motor on to slacken the drive belt and remove it. To undo the drive wheel from the main drum, jam a bit of wood, handle, whatever, inbetween it and the drum. Use a 13mm ring spanner and unscrew (normal thread – lefty loosy!) the bolt from the drum and remove the drive pulley.

Now come the bit with the BIG hammer. Hit the inner drum shaft to knock it out of the outer plastic shell. When I did this, it came out – along with the larger of the two bearings in about 15 pieces. I used a large chisel and hammer to knock the rear bearing out the back, and innermost shaft seal (or what was left of it) in the way. Removing what was left of the main bearing was difficult, there was only its outer ring to hit and it wouldn’t budge.

I soaked in WD40, didnt help. I heated up with a heatgun (being careful as where it mounts on the plastic shell will start to melt!) and then cool down quickly with water or freezer spray if you have it. This thermal shock was enough to loosen it and I finally got it knocked out.

I used fine emery paper to clean everything up. The shaft on the back of the drum is quite badly scored. You can buy a new spider unit that has a new shaft on it for about £40. Its not too bad now once I rubbed it down.

I have put the new bearings in the freezer so tomorrows job is to try and fit them and reverse the whole procedure. The cold will shrink the metal helping them go into the back of the drum. Hopefully it will all go well! I’ll update with my progress.

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WMA11 Bearing Change Epic

A bit of advice,

Best place for wine 😉

Just to add, if I was going to this much trouble I would have replaced the drum support shaft, by the sound of it yours is badly damaged and could lead to premature failure of the new bearings.

[arealhighlander]

Re: Hotpoint WMA11 Bearing Change Epic

Ah but Virgin do auctions so if there’s not many people about you can bag a good bargain 🙂

Yeah I could have layed out another £50 for a new spider but Ill see how I get on with this one, where the shaft seal sits looked fine, it was further along where the main bearing just behind it was was where it was scored. I have also packed out the back of the shaft seal using Aqua Shield which is a real sticky waterproof packing gease we use for prop shafts offshore.

Today – got the bearings out of the freezer and tapped them gently into position – well, OK a good dunt via a piece of wood but they went in not too bad.

Putting back together was a reverse of the dismantling. Went together quite easy (once you know how). The machine has just gone through its first wash, it sounds so quiet I suspect the bearings started failing about a year ago! Its so quiet! And no leaks, not a one. And even more surprisingly I had no bits left over, not a washer or screw – never happens at work.

I have only one problem (which actually appeared after my first “practise” disassembly of the front of the machien before I ordered the bearings). The door lock solenoid won’t. It won’t lock.

There are 3 wires down to the door switch. One common, one drive to the wee solenoid and one feedback wire to tell the machine the doors locked. The switch is fine, solenoid is 1k resistance, the door locked indicator is fine, traced all wiring through to the circuit board OK.

For whatever reason the drive from the small 4 legged surface mount chip is not operating to drive the soelnoid closed. If I physically close the switch, the machine sees the door locked and carries on as normal. Not sure how I’ve managed to break that but Im not laying out tens of £s for a new control board. I’ve set the controller to think the door is locked by jumpering the door locked feedback, as long as I dont open the door when the machine is full I’ll be fine!

But anyway, basically when it comes to changing the bearings if you’re OK with DIY or working on your car to the level of being able to change brake pads, give it a go. You WILL need some big hammers and “easy outs” !

[Twoten]

Re: Hotpoint WMA11 Bearing Change Epic

First of all, I would have taken iadom’s advice and changed the tub support. I wouldn’t entertain refitting a damaged shaft even after cleaning and packing with grease.

Regarding the interlock, the action of the door latch should operate the switch to make the machine lock and start. If the machine starts when you activate the lock manually the problem will be either the door catch isn’t pushing the switch enough or the interlock is faulty.

[arealhighlander]

Re: Hotpoint WMA11 Bearing Change Epic

I’m sure you are both correct in that the spider should have been replaced but it’s all back together and working now so if it fails in the next year I’ll come back and say yes you told me so 🙂

The door interlock switch is working correctly, I tried it in my hand with it removed. When the door shuts it slides the plasic over allowing an electric solenoid to pull a piece of plastic through a gap, physically stopping the door from being re-opened, plus closing an interlock switch to tell the machine the door is locked.

The solenoid is not being energised, even though the wiring continuity is OK from the controller down to the switch. The switch is also OK, reads 1kohm. Measuring the current (should take about 200mA to operate the solenoid) there is none. As I said, continuity from the board through the solenoid is OK. I suspect it is the drive to the solenoid from the controller board that has failed.

I have jumpered from the common to the door locked line on the switch so that the controller thinks the door is locked and will carry on as normal.

[Author]

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