[solved] AEG knocking with spin above 700rpm – broken spider

[rhw03]

I appreciated the similar postings others had made here, so I wanted to add this.
Washer: AEG Lavamat 72630 (PNC 91400209600) – about 15 years old. Used once a week or fortnightt. Hard water conditions. Sometimes overloaded (more than 5kg dry).
Symptoms: washing and rinsing well — when spin speed exceeded 700rpm a loud knocking noise and chassis vibration — knocking frequency was matching spin speed.
I tried all the tests and investigations that were recommended — on this site and others. I suspected and checked the usual suspects — bearings, unlevel chassis, loose internal counterweight, tub dampers, motor mounts, pulley, drive belt, loose drum spider, loose paddles, something between drum and tub.
I saw the pulley was a little warped — like a cycle wheel in need of truing. I thought, ah ah, there is end float in the bearings and the drum spindle is moving in a front to back way. With the movement being caused by the warped pulley. But the end float was only about 1 or 2 mm. I tried tests. I used a fibre washer on the pulley to remove the end float. I tried pushing from the back on the centre of the pulley during a spin to stop front to back movement. I even removed the door seal and door glass and pushed backwards at the back of the drum during a spin to remove end float. None of that stopped the knocking. Removing the seal and door glass let me listen better to try to pinpoint the noise source.
I thought before I spend money on possible faulty parts I would dismantle everything for another inspection — which I would need to do anyway to put in bearings and so on.
When I looked again at the drum spider I saw one of the three arms was cracked. I had removed a lot of limescale but I did not notice the crack.
I have detached the spider from the drum. The drum is in good condition. The spindle and bearings and seal are in good condition. From my search of the spares suppliers, it looks like I will have buy the spider as part of a drum and spider assembly.
The break is near the boss that the spindle is pressed into. The alloy at the break is thin and I would call it a design mistake.

[Specialist01269]

Well found, eBay may be a good option to find a good used spider if you can’t get a new one.

[iadom]

rhw03 wrote: I would call it a design mistake.

Do me a favour, a Zanussi made machine, 15 years old, you admit to overloading and using only once a week or even once every two weeks. Doing this allows the alloy to corrode far quicker than having constant, regular use which can be made even worse if used with cheaper detergents and constant low temp washes. You have done very well and had good service of what was one of the better made machines on the market at the time. 😉

[electrofix]

spider alone not available
complete inner drum only
https://shop.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/1108315126-aeg-washing-machine-inner-drum

Dave

[Author]

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