Bosch - Weird sound and smoke.

[spirallingspiral]

Hello all, My four year old bosch washing machine started acting weird just two days back. During the spin session it started spinning faster than usual while making weird noises. I could see smoke coming out as i opened the washing machine door. This all started two days after my mom washed a heavy blanket ignoring my advice. I called the support guys and they said the drum needs to be changed which is expensive. I just wanted make sure if its really the drum or some other minor problem since they didn't even come and check. Manually rotating the drum, i could hear a squeaky sound caused by some friction. Please let me know if changing drum is the only solution. Thank you.

Rotating the drum

[Whitegoodshelp]

Wow. That sounds just like a donkey. It sounds like the drum is catching on the door seal where the two meet in front of the drum? Can you see if it is or not? Check all around the door seal in front of the drum.

[spirallingspiral]

Thanks for the reply Andy, Yup it does sound like a donkey . I checked it again it does look like its rubbing against the door seal, That explains the smoke. So the bosch guys are really trying to rip me off? They want to change the drum. What should i do here?

[Whitegoodshelp]

It depends on if the drum bearings have gone or not. If the drum has come loose or can be moved up and down it would account for it catching on the door seal. But if the door seal has just become slightly twisted and dislodged then the fault may just need the door seal replacing or refitting. Also check the suspension to make sure the drum isn't twisted and is held centrally inside the cabinet. If one of the suspension legs has become damaged and the drum has twisted that might also account for the door seal catching.

[spirallingspiral]

Alright, i guess ill try a third party service to check in with stuff you told me about before calling Bosch again. Thanks for your time.

[Whitegoodshelp]

I'd disconnect from the mains and have a look inside with the back off and lid off first to check if the suspension and drum seems OK. Also, if the bearings had collapsed causing the door seal to catch I'd expect the washing machine to have been very noisy for some time before. they don't just collapse for no reason.

[spirallingspiral]

Ill be sure to check that. I tried using it again, the donkey sound has kinda mellowed down for some reason but the drum rotation looks kinda out of proportion, i have called a third party service to check the bearings like you said. ill let you know how it goes. 

[Whitegoodshelp]

Thanks for the update. The sound of the drum catching on the door seal tends to diminish quite a lot once you have water and soap suds inside although it would probably return during the spin. Please let us know you get on.