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I’ve been repairing my relatively inexpensive Bendix washer for the last 15 years but now it needs a £50 heater element and probably another bearing replacement before very long. That’s on top of £25 I spent on dials recently, so now I’m looking at another cheapish unit that I can self repair in the same way. I’ve read that a lot of models don’t have replaceable bearings these days so I really want to avoid those. Specifically I’m looking at the £250-£350 Bosch/Zanussi washers and wondered if it’s safe to assume that these have replaceable bearings?
Thanks.Re: Replaceable bearings
The makes you mentioned don’t necessarily have replaceable drum bearings these days. Most manufacturers are fitting complete sealed units these days to cut down on manufacturing costs. I’m not sure what your hang-up is in the bearing issue but can assure you that many of the later models fail in other ways long before the bearings do.
I would further suggest that choosing Bosch would be a good move and the chances of suffering bearing failure on their range is minimal. 😉
Re: Replaceable bearings
Martin wrote:I’m not sure what your hang-up is in the bearing issue but can assure you that many of the later models fail in other ways long before the bearings do.
😉Thanks for the reply.
I guess if they fail in other ways I would hope to fix them, but if the bearings fail on one of these machines I need a new one. My hang-up is that my Bendix bearings failed after about 7 years and are now (7 years on) becoming noisy again. Should I assume that the average life of the bearings in the new sealed tubs is substantially better than that?Re: Replaceable bearings
MrSpigot wrote:Should I assume that the average life of the bearings in the new sealed tubs is substantially better than that?
Overall I think the answer to that is yes. The modern machine has less chance of bearing failure than your example at least.
There are a number of aspects that will ensure much much longer life of any washing machines main drum bearings. And these days they take in much less water and therefore the bearing seal is less likely to be deluged by gallons of grey polluted water.
The best advice to avoid bearing failure (or at least lessen their damaging effects) is to operate the machine in softened water (if you live in a hard water area that is). I’m not talking Calgon here but a proper domestic salt operated water softening system. If you cannot afford the expense then use decent detergent (like Ariel for example).
Never wash garments that are frayed (e.g tatty, falling apart towels where threads are hanging off and could get wrapped around the drum shaft). Always wash garments of the same category together on the correct designated programme cycle. Avoid using the ‘quick wash option’ unless your clothes aren’t dirty and just want freshening up. Where a machine has a drain filter, clean it regularly.
Finally, read the product user manual and do as they instruct. They know the product better than you and have produced it to give you the best results it is capable of. Many folks never ever read the user booklet and press the programme button that they think ‘will do for them?’….yeah right. :rolls:
In today’s button pushing society few can be bothered with reading the user instructions, they haven’t got the time and know better anyway. They probably don’t ever check the tyre pressures of their car or know what they should be anyway yet moan that the cost of running it is forever going up!
Some win but most loose for those very reasons I suspect? 8)
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