Author Topic: Mission Improbable  (Read 4092 times)

Offline Joules

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Mission Improbable
« on: May 15, 2018, 06:07:11 PM »
Another mission from Madam Secretary...

I was made aware the washing machine had started sending coded messages by thumping away under the sink.  It would seem the dampers had failed.  My mission, to silence the awful din this thing could make.  After searching online to discover who else had fixed one of these I found that the moulding holding the dampers encircles the drum.  Other than totaly dismantling the thing, it would seem drilling and using a vibrating saw to cut the pins.   This I did and removed the old grease streaked dampers.

I made new damper pins once the remanents of the old ones got removed.  This left me with a supposed 14mm hole for the pin body and a 9mm pilot through the other side.  The pins are tested with the new damper.  The first pin was tested for fit...  and this is where things started to go sideways.  The pin wouldn't go in, the old pins had splines on them, the remnants I measured had pretty much gnarled the splines off and the hole size in the moulding was much smaller diameter than the new damper.  OK, they seem to be about 14mm, hmmm not got that size drill, or reamer.  Look in the scrap box for something to make a cutter/reamer from.  An old reject shaft from a model gas turbine !!!  Hey, they are quality steel and run really true, just wrong size for what they were mean't for.  Start turning the shaft to the 13.8mm I decided the pin could be and still be a good fit in the damper rubber.

Then move onto the mill, using the face cutter, machine some grooves into the cutter from the side to make crude flutes.  Job done I now have my cutter.  At this point some specialist equipment was needed, break out the Aldi right angle drill adapter.  It's a pretty tight fit as I didn't want to chop the excess off the shaft in case I needed to reuse this material again.  The setup made short work of opening out and reaming the holes to a tight fit for the pins I made.  As I got side tracked with the reamer I didn't pay close attention to parting off both pins and one IS shorter than the other, but still long enough to do the job.

Finally time to install the pins, no way I could knock them in, so application of Vaseline to the pins and squeeze them in with my g-clamp.  Clean up all the mess turn the washing machine upright and plumb it back in.  Well that passed a few hours, time for Madam Secretary to test it out.  About 20 mins into its cycle the bloody thing started knocking again, but not as bad as before.   So much for buying her a skipping rope as my reward....  Looks like a new washing machine.

Some times it's a Mad Mod too far.  I at least enjoyed making the reamer and pins.   What did you do this evening ???


 
« Last Edit: May 16, 2018, 03:37:48 AM by Joules »
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Offline awemawson

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2018, 02:50:59 AM »
Joules have you checked that the concrete weight hasn't come loose?

Nice work on the repair, but if the dampers are now working and firmly attached the knocking must have another cause.

My commercial machines I used to have in my launderettes had no damping whatsoever and were bolted down to 6 X 4 C channels which were rag bolted to the floor. The 35 lb load one that I retained for my workshop tore up the first set of expanding bolts that I used, and also the bigger ones I replaced them with. It's ok now that I used 12 mm studding epoxy grouted deep into the concrete slab.

If it's any consolation I too was making specialized pins yesterday. The terminations for various bits of electronics for cctv and electric gate are in a standard recessed meter box let into the inside of the front wall. I needed to pull the box out of the masonry to replace some CAT5 cables in a difficult to access Trunking run, had the box balanced nicely until the door swung open and smashed it's spring loaded hinge pins  :bang:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline Joules

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2018, 03:28:54 AM »
Yeah, first thing I checked was the block of concrete.  The only thing left now are the springs if they have stretched, couldnt find any fault elsewehere.  I may pack some high density PU foam round the drum to see if it dampens the motion further Before deciding if new springs are worth it.
A bummer on those door hinges Andrew.
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Offline Joules

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2018, 07:56:28 AM »
Well, got to the bottom of the problem, after removing the door rubber, the drum is breaking away from its mounting.  In other words flapping about during spin, just turning the drum by hand the rubber seal holds it in place.   This one is now scrap, thats a boring and facing heads worth of expense.

 :coffee:

Should I fabricate a wash board and put some heat shrink on the bending rolls, so she has a mangle  :wack:
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Offline vintageandclassicrepairs

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2018, 08:06:01 AM »
Hi Joules,
That's a fairly new machine I believe? its the same model as we have here as far as I can see?
The previous Bosch machine developed a knocking and severe vibration problem similar symptoms as yours. I know the local Bosch repair man so asked him what was the likely cause?
The answer was that the spider that holds the drum to the bearing shaft had cracked
I ordered the part and spent quite a lot of time rebuilding the machine, only for the problem to
reoccur in short order
I got ill about the same time and so was not able to pursue the issue any further and had to buy a new machine

John

Offline Joules

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2018, 08:20:13 AM »
 :thumbup:  Cheers John, confirms my findings.  No longer worth spending time on, 3D printing wash board as we speak.....   :ddb:

NOT
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Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2018, 08:35:12 AM »
Probably Bosch trying to improve their brand image? Before they all went BosCH-kaboom and then magick smoke left the innards....they have diversified their shound image. Seriously - that would not have been first washing machine with broken spider.

Pekka

Offline awemawson

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2018, 08:39:29 AM »
In my rented flats, if a machine is over two years old and fails I don't even call 'the man' in - install a new one. It's cheaper in the long run.
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline krv3000

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2018, 04:23:46 PM »
a job well dune  :)

Offline Bob-tech

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Re: Mission Improbable
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2018, 01:39:51 AM »
We had the same problem with our turkish washing machine - drum broken off. But I have to admit that I wouldn't like to be my wifes washing machine - its a hard job. :whip: