Hotpoint Aquarius 1000 WM62P noise on fast spin

[mrklinkerpants]

Hello all

Have had the above washing machine for some time and repaired it a few times with help from posters on this site, so maybe somebody may be able to give me some advice on a new issue with it.

The machine has gone very noisy during its final fast spin, but strangely only during certain stages of it. The noise is a rhythmic banging sound that picks up speed as the machine goes into its fast spin. This can last for a few minutes depending on the length of the cycle, but will suddenly die away as the motor steps-up or steps down to complete the spin at a different speed. In other words, it seems to be completely dependent on the speed of the fast spin - it vanishes completely as the whine of the motor changes to signify a change of speed. At all other times, the machine purrs along quite quietly and behaves itself.

I would have thought that if the bearings were responsible then the noise would be there at all stages of the fast spin, so my thoughts are maybe that one of the shock absorbers attached to the bottom of the drum may have gone and be knocking when the drum is moving at a certain speed on the fast spin? Does this sound sensible and if so, any tips how to test my theory?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[rocks1]

Remove the lid and push down on the top weight if it's springy then shocks have gone. Otherwise it could be a whining motor or drum surport cracked or a dry bearing which will get worse over time.

 

[mrklinkerpants]

Thanks, will have a look and see what's occurring!

 

[mrklinkerpants]

I can easily push down on the top weight and the whole drum assembly will easily go down a good three or four inches until the shockers hit their stops. There is hardly any resistance there at all and I don't need to apply much force to push the whole drum down at all.

Guess I need a couple of new shockers?

 

[rocks1]

Does it bounce straight back , it's not pushing down its the bounce back that means shocks have gone. If its stiff then it's ok.

 

[mrklinkerpants]

No, it isn't really stiff at all - the drum does wobble about a bit both up and down as well as laterally when you push it down and let go. But I think that the noise has been cured - the cold water feed hose had got tucked up against the side of the machine and I think that when the machine was vibrating on a fast spin, it was rapidly slapping against the stiff body of the hose and causing the noise.

Would you recommend replacing the suspension legs anyway? Can get a pair of them for a tenner and replacement seems fairly straightforward if you have the machine on its front and work from underneath. Thinking of preventing any future problems that may be caused by the drum doing a bucking bronco inside the machine!