Washing machine drum rotation alignment

[PauloH]

Hello. I have an 8 year old Siemens iq700 washing machine that recently started making very loud vibration noises during the spin cycle. After reading up about the causes of this and other sites I made an assumption that the dampers (3 on this machine) may be getting worn so replaced them as they weren’t all that expensive and the job was relatively simple.

Unfortunately this has made no difference - (I probably should have found a way to bench test the old ones first) so am looking at what else might be the cause.

I’ve not seen the following mentioned anywhere online - but the drum is definitely not rotating true when compared with the rubber seal it sits next to. I’ve just got off a Zoom call with my Dad who has an iq500 to compare what might be expected and his showed very little deflection while rotating. 

I’ve attached a video of mine while the drum is rotated by hand from the rear. The bearing sounds fine and there is no play in it. It would seem that either the drum has become distorted or is no longer true on its shaft. While seemingly such a small misalignment, I guess that is magnified at 1400 rpm - or now even at 1000 rpm.

So is drum distortion / running out of true a common thing? If just off true then is it something that can be adjusted (once the whole drum assembly has been dismantled) without specialist alignment tools? Given this is an 8 y/o machine and a new drum assembly seems to range between £180 & £250 am I throwing good money after bad going the replacement route?

Kind regards

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Paul. It is very common for the drums to be not perfectly round. There is usually some degree of elliptical shape to them. It's not usually too excessive but some can be worse than others. It is possible for some obstruction like a coin to get in and knock the room slightly out of shape. There's no way to realign them. However, whether this is the cause of your noise is a different matter. If the drum was out like that I'd expect a bit of extra vibration but not necessarily anything too serious unless the rim was catching on the back of the door seal which would cause a noise and also because friction damage to the back of the rubber.

On the video when you turn the drum it sounds a bit noisy. Has the belt been taken off? In other words when you are turning the drum is it just the drum that is turning or the drum and the motor?

[PauloH]

Hello Andy - thank you for getting back to me. In the previous video the belt was indeed still on, I’ve attached another with the belt off and spun from the front.

We’ve managed to get a couple of smaller loads through it this evening with the spin set to 1000, the last load was a bit bigger - but still perhaps not even 3/4 full - automatic mode so maybe spinning up to 1400. This time the issue reproduced during the final spin. I had the top off to see if there was anything obvious knocking, and what was interesting is there didn’t seem to be anything particularly different going on outside the drum when the noise started. Another video attached of this. I aborted the spin early using the start/stop button.

My wife says the clothes smell of burnt rubber after this happens, I agree there is a bit of an odour but my sense of smell is rubbish.

Thanks again, Paul

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello there. There is nothing unusual about the lip of the drum. The noise sounds a little bit like maybe one of the drum spiders is catching. The drum has three plastic lifter paddles inside. Carefully lift the drum at each of the three paddles to see if there is more movement in one of them. It may be that the alloy drum spider at the back of each of these paddles has a crack or has corroded. The noise only appears to start when it's at its highest speed and at the greatest centrifugal force.

Other than that you are looking for something that is loose and it could be anywhere on the washing machine.

[PauloH]

Disassembly had to wait to the weekend and it wasn’t until the drum was removed did the issue make itself clear. Corroded Spider. Attached photo for reference. I’m still slightly puzzled that it wasn’t more obvious before taking it all apart but never mind! New parts ordered. 

Thanks for all the advice. Great forum.