How to get into a AEG Lavamat

[Nemo2000]

Ok, had I found this site earlier, I might have seen the warning notes and avoided this problem - my mistake :-(

I have a AEG L14850. I took the entire door off in order to replace a cracked outer ring. When I was trying to screw the hinge back on I dislodged the 'back plate' ,which dropped down inside the machine :-(

Now, how do I get inside to retrieve it? Do I have to drag the whole machine out from under the worktop and remove the top, or can I just take the front panel off? If the latter, than how is that done, as some of the screws appear to be hidden behind the control panel or the bottom 'kick plate'. 

I have got the AEG 'exploded diagrams' for the parts, but they don't show where all the fixings are etc.

Can you advise please????

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello there. I have an article about replacing the door hinge where I warn about that  I've just added a section detailing all the possible ways to retreive the retaining nut or plate from the back of the hinge for you - Washing machine door hinge broken

[Nemo2000]

1 hour ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Hello there. I have an article about replacing the door hinge where I warn about that  I've just added a section detailing all the possible ways to retreive the retaining nut or plate from the back of the hinge for you - Washing machine door hinge broken

Thanks.

I took off the door seal and was able to retrieve the plate with a "magnet on a stick", after which the hinge was re-attached with ease.

However....having put back the door seal, I can NOT get the securing ring back in place - the spring which holds the two ends together is VERY strong and all attempts at pulling it apart simply dislodge the ring (and seal) elsewhere round the edge of the hole :-(

Is there a 'knack' to doing this please? Failing that, is it safe to use the machine without the ring in place, or is there any risk that the seal would come loose during use?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Put the spring at the bottom and feed the wire round into the door seal groove as far as you can, then use a small thin flat-bladed screwdriver to hook under and force the wire all the way around. It's a tight fit but shouldn't be too hard.

[Nemo2000]

Noted, but I had tried that already and it was VERY tight - every time that I levered on one side it pulled it out from the other side!

However.....I fabricated a small 'extender bar' (for want of a better term) and used that to keep the spring extended. This made the loop bigger, so I did then manage to get it on, after which I simply pulled off the extender bar and let the spring tighten up.

Job done now.....phew.

At least now I know where to look for advice first in the event of any more problems :-)