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I’ve decided not to give up on this. With the new suspension rod and the fact that the machine is now leveled properly, it sounds and feels like a new machine. When the suspension rod broke, it actually broke in half somehow. I’m not quite sure how this happened, but the ‘female’ part of the suspension was still attached at the floor, and the ‘male’ part had completely dislocated so that I was able to just pick it up when I reached down from the top of the machine. They had disconnected from each other, and the metal ‘shim’ thing that the two round plastic bushes fit into, was on the floor. The top of the female part had some rough, pointy edges on it, that had broken. Perhaps this caused some pinhole leaks further down on the drum that I cannot get to, without taking the inner drum out. I am now seriously curious about what is causing this, so will dive in to investigate.
I had put a piece of cardboard, the dimension of the machine, when I ran it this morning. There was no water on the floor until there was about 2 inches of water in the inner drum (sadly, I’m thinking at about the height of the suspension rod). I drained the machine, took the top off and felt around my Milliput repair and the suspension rod. Dry. I suppose that it’s also possible, as my suspension rod split in half, that not only the washer caused a slit, but possibly a sharp piece further down, as the rod broke. I cannot feel the whole way down from the top of the machine. I then took the back off, and again started feeling around with my hand. There seemed to be nothing wet, however, I see that this machine has been leaking for some time. The metal base on the left side of the machine, toward the front (under the soap dish) is a bit rusty. However I could feel no dampness in that area (nor was the rusty area wet). I suppose it’s possible for a small leak further down on the left side of the tub that runs down the tub and drips under the center of the machine.
The leak dripped down about 10 inches from the left side of the machine (as you are standing in front of it) and seemed to be exactly in the middle of the machine.
I’m going to disassemble down to the outer tub on Thursday, and check that carefully, so I either find an issue, or rule it out. Maybe I will get clues when I remove the clips that hold the front piece with the heater, to the outer drum, or find another hole in the drum somewhere. By the way, thanks for the recommendation of that MIlliput. It was a breeze to work with…kind of fun, actually.Well, my ‘mystery’ continues. I put the machine on the half load rinse cycle. In the past, the leak on the floor was directly beneath where the new suspension rod is, and when I felt the rod, it felt wet. It’s dry now. So, it appears that (perhaps) the Milliput repair may have worked. The leak on the floor is no longer under the suspension rod. It is now directly under the drum. Actually, there had been evidence of a smaller leak in that area before, but I assumed that perhaps it was running from the leak at the suspension rod. I took the top of the machine off, and the suspension rod and the tub around it is dry. Actually, everything that I am feeling (hoses, soap dish, etc.) is dry. The leak appears to be dripping from the middle of the machine, although with the cement block under the tub in the middle, I don’t see how this is possible. So, presumably it is running from somewhere. I understand that a leak showing on the floor may not be exactly from where the water is coming out, but it appears that I might just have to bite the bullet and remove the inner drum to see if there is anything there that is causing the leak. It may be a leak still at the suspension rod, in a place that I can’t feel….I was hoping that maybe it was just a hose now. Anyway, I’ve come this far, so I’m not giving up (too stubborn). If you have any suggestions of other things to check, I’d appreciate it. In the meantime, I’m going to borrow a 30mm ring wrench, and probably tackle this on Thursday…..
Is it possible that this was actually going to be a simple repair?? I’m able to get to the slit from the top of the machine, although I can’t see it, can feel it. So I’ve done the MIlliput from the top. I guess I’ll know tomorrow morning if this worked. Fingers crossed!!
No edit function here…..lol. Regarding my last post, I realize I’d still have to take the front panel off the machine, but that’s still a lot easier than taking out the inner tub. I’ve taken the front off the machine so often I can do this in my sleep…lol
iadom wrote:Worth giving that a try first, you can always do a complete inner drum removal if it doesn’t work.
Hmmm….some hopium here…lol. I will be a LOT easier if just jamming the Milliput into the slit from the outside would work. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to do any soldering, as I’d be working from the bottom of the machine with the suspension rod still in place. Doing it this way will only take a few minutes, rather than hours dismantling. So, yes, I’ll try this first, and keep my fingers crossed!!
electrofix wrote:if it was me I would use a soldering iron first
find a plastic somwhere on the outer tub that you can cut a bit off safely. This can ber used as fill in material
if you touch the plastic with the iron it will melt and you can carefully stitch the crack together adding a bit of extra plastic from the bit you cut off
you need to add the milliput over the top to fill any pinholes that are left
filled some pretty big holes this way
did a machine like yours where a 2 inch piece was punched out be a coin. Worked a treat for years after
Dave
Ugh…..this is becoming a bigger job than I hoped. I’ll flip the machine over and see if I can get to some plastic from the outer tub that’s not needed. I suspect that the best repair is to use the plastic from the tub, rather than plastic from something else? I will have to do the soldering from the inside of the tub, rather than outside, unless I take the whole machine apart. The thought of that brings me to the threshold of finally buying a new machine!!
And now….I have to learn how to solder.
Ah, the small slit caused by the large washer makes a lot of sense. By tipping over the machine, I’ve been able to feel the hole, but cannot see it. The top of the suspension rod, where the washer would be, is in between two perpendicular pieces of plastic that form the bracket for the top of the rod, on the outer drum. It’s in between those two pieces of plastic that I can feel something amiss with the outer drum. I can barely get my finger in there, as the top of the suspension rod is within that bracket as well, but possibly can jam some Milliput in there, without having to see it, and then ‘reinforce’ the repair from the inside of the drum. What do you think??
I’m unable to get to the leak from the outside, sadly, without removing the outer drum from the machine, as well as removing the new suspension rod . It was impossible to see the outside of the drum at that point (even in order to tighten the bolt for the suspension rod). The leak is just at the point where the suspension rod broke, if my assessment is correct. Thank you for the info about keeping the repair flush…I’ll measure the gap between the inner and outer drum, before I take the inner drum out, in order to see how much space I have to work with. In the video that I have been watching (again and again), the guy uses the Debhor to ensure that there is no leak in the perimeter of the repair, where the putty meets the plastic. Maybe overdoing the repair, although I’m desperate for this to work. Hopefully, when I get in there and actually see the damage, it will not be too heartbreaking. Thanks, as always, for the info!
Well, I’ve ordered the Milliput and Debor, and have been scouring the internet and reading the info here, to get myself mentally prepared for my attempt to fix the outer drum. In the tutorial on this website, you talk about soldering the plastic together, but with the caveat that it’s really easy to burn through the plastic. Well, ugh. I’ve never soldered. I haven’t stripped the machine down yet, but I think that my leak is quite small….the water doesn’t come gushing out, but more like drip, drip every second. I think it’s just a tiny puncture from a sharp bit on the suspension rod that broke. Anyway, my question….will the Milliput be good enough for this repair? I am hoping to do Milliput over the puncture, and then Debor around the perimeter of my Milliput repair. I really don’t want to attempt the soldering….but I want my repair to work. So have you ever repaired a small leak in the plastic tub without soldering? Just with the Milliput? Any advice, tips, tricks, etc.,???
You’ll have to excuse my ignorance in all of this….I thought that the spider is another name for the pulley that comes off when you remove that 30mm nut??? In the videos I watch, they remove the nut, pull the tub forward a bit to remove the pulley (spider??) that is held on by that nut, then bang (carefully) on the exposed ‘screw’ to push the inner tub out. They also remove the belt at the rear (prior to all of this). It’s been a long time since I did the bearings, so I don’t quite remember….It was that 30mm nut that was a nightmare to get off, however.
I’ve never taken the outer drum off. I removed the inner drum when I did the bearings, and found that the hardest part of all was getting the spider off. Maybe I won’t have such a tough time with it this time. The original one had been on for almost 40 years. I replaced the spider when I did the bearings 4 years ago, so maybe not so bad. I assume that I won’t have to take the outer drum off, and hassle with bearings again, and imagine that repairing the little gashes, if, indeed this is actually the problem, will be a better fix if it’s done from inside the tub. I’ve ordered the Milliput and hope to find some Debhor, like the video above recommends. I have to say that after the suspension rod repair, which came out so well, that I feel a bit defeated at having another problem. Part of me jus wants to give up……
I also found this webpage, where the guy solders the plastic, uses an epoxy like MIlliput, and then uses the adhesive that you mentioned in another post. Seems somewhat doable….. this would be a LOT easier, though, if I could remove the side wall of the machine, rather than going through the front, where I have little access. Is it possible to remove the side of the machine??
