Nearly all washing machines sold in the last 20 years in the UK, have a spider (drum bearing support) which is made from an alloy, the problem with this alloy, is that it can be easily eaten away by soap powder. To make matters worse most spiders have channels in the castings which trap soap powder granuals before they are desolved in the water, over the months and years they build up, gradually eating away at the casting until it is no longer functional.
Machine manufactures know about this problem but are unwilling to do anything about it, because changing the material the spider is constructed of, to something that will resist this corrosion (ie stainless steel) will lenghten the life of many thousands of machines, which is not in their interest.
If you put "washing machine spider" into google, on the second or third page you will see a gallery of pictures, a quick scroll through will show you the construction of many of the spiders currently in use in our machines.
To help to avoid this problem only use liquid washing detergent, biological if possible, and every 5 washes do a very hot wash 90, if necessary with an empty drum.
Most washing machine spares companies sell replacement spiders and bearings, however it will cost around £200 to have an expert fix it, you can do it yourself, with the cost of between £50 and £150 depending upon the cost of spares for your paricular machine. On some machine you will have to almost dismantle the whole machine just to get the drum out
Hard water will not cause too much of a problem with this component as limescale will not attack the metal but will encrust it, it will however encrust the heating element, eventually causing it to fail. either use Calgon in your wash or fit a water softner devise.
If anyone knows of a make of machine where this component is not made from a cast, easily corroded material then I would like to know.
Machine manufactures know about this problem but are unwilling to do anything about it, because changing the material the spider is constructed of, to something that will resist this corrosion (ie stainless steel) will lenghten the life of many thousands of machines, which is not in their interest.
If you put "washing machine spider" into google, on the second or third page you will see a gallery of pictures, a quick scroll through will show you the construction of many of the spiders currently in use in our machines.
To help to avoid this problem only use liquid washing detergent, biological if possible, and every 5 washes do a very hot wash 90, if necessary with an empty drum.
Most washing machine spares companies sell replacement spiders and bearings, however it will cost around £200 to have an expert fix it, you can do it yourself, with the cost of between £50 and £150 depending upon the cost of spares for your paricular machine. On some machine you will have to almost dismantle the whole machine just to get the drum out
Hard water will not cause too much of a problem with this component as limescale will not attack the metal but will encrust it, it will however encrust the heating element, eventually causing it to fail. either use Calgon in your wash or fit a water softner devise.
If anyone knows of a make of machine where this component is not made from a cast, easily corroded material then I would like to know.
