Blomberg drum seized

[muggo]

On washing a large load of towels, I heard a loud noise on the spin cycle.  Now the drum refuses to turn.

I've had the back off, disconnected the drive belt & the drum is virtually seized.  I can turn it slightly if I apply a huge amount of force to the pulley.  Removing the large pulley showed the bearing, which looked OK (no metal fragments) but it's impossible to tell if it has seized or not without removing it.

My machine is 18 years old & has been faultless up to now, but before I order a new machine (Bosch WAK28161GB I fancy), can anyone please advise if I've missed something simple?  I'm certain it's not a bra underwire caught as that would be a scraping issue.  No major noise issues on spin before this event.

Many thanks in advance.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

If it seized up suddenly and wasn't making any noise for the previous washes the main suspect is something stuck inside jamming the drum. A bra underwire is no way strong enough to cause this. If you can feel a bit of soft give when wrestling with it it's possible it could be something from the laundry.

[muggo]

Thanks Andy.

There's no soft give.  It's very hard to move it at all.  As I was washing heavy towels, there's nothing that could have come adrift & got stuck IMO.

It feels like something has seized.

Edited March 15, 2017 by muggo
further info

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Objects can be inside a drum for some time before suddenly being disturbed and cause problems. Especially with a big load. If a drum seizes up suddenly without being very noisy for some time previously then some sort of obstruction is the main suspect. At 18 years old though I think it's probably best to replace it. 

[muggo]

Thanks again for your advice, Andy.

At 18+ years old, it's time I bought a new machine.

Cheers