Drum rubbing on rubber seal

[Giorkos]

This is a hot point nswa843cwwuk (if I'm correct)  washing machine. Its is now 3 month old, bought from AO. After about a month of usage, one day when we opened the door, we could smell ACRID RUBBER SMELL.

We called out the engineer, who came out and he said that a cloth must have got caught between the drum and the rubber seal and that this was 'NORMAL' !! I questioned it but i didn't want to be too rude. I asked, what if it happens again and he said they might need to replace the rubber seal.

2 months down the road and the burning smell was kind of there, until another day it was smelling REALLY BAD again. We could even see rubber remnants onthe door seal and drum..  an engineer came out again to replace the seal, which he didnt have with him (as it was not ordered in time ) and then he came out again and replaced it.

I saw the previous rubber seal (3 months old now) and it had two BIG scorch-grooved marks (where it apparently rubbed on the inner drm). unfortunately i didnt think to photograph them. I once more question the engineer about how could this have happened and he tried to give me lots of garbage reasons as to why this is NORMAL !!! 

Anyhow...another wash on since the new rubber seal and we can still smell a bit of rubber smell.

I am convinced that there is something wrong with this NEW machine but wanted to check again before i call out an engineer- file a complaint with Hotpoint. This burning smell does not happen all the time. it happens occasionally.

What i suspect, is that there is a defect somewhere (dont know as i dont know how this machines work) and the inner drum, rubs against the rubber seal. And if the wash get s a big heavy etc, making the inner drum vibrate more, it then rubs even more on the rubber seal causing the rubber burnt smell.

 

I would like to know if possible, if the drum should turn 'freely' . I understand that there should be some resistance as its connected to the motor, but when i spin it by hand (it requires some slight force to turn ) it comes to an sudden stop, as if the drum rubs against the seal which acts as a brake.

in the video (please disregard the clanking noises, its me trying to turn it round) i show this sudden stop.  also, occasionally if i try to continuously turn the drum when it has stopped, i find it very hard to turn it, an i get a juddery feeling as something is preventing me from turning it. i require continuous force (considerable effort) to make it spin.

I hope i show this on the video.

Thanks, all 

hope i get an idea if this is right or not !

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello there. Yes that drum looks way too stiff. It may have something jammed inside it somewhere. The first thing I would do as an engineer will be to take off the drive belt and then spend the drum by hand just to be 100% sure that the resistance is coming from the drum and not from the motor.

I would also carefully examine the door seal all of the way around to see if it is actually catching on the drum. If the door seal is catching on the drum then clearly it is very wrong. But if the door seal is not catching on the drum anywhere then whatever is restricting the drum is likely to be inside. It is possible that it is not faulty and that something has gone between the gap at the back of the door seal and got sucked down inside. Has there been any item of laundry that has been torn or ripped?

[Giorkos]

Hi Andy.

Thanks for your input.

as far as i can tell there hasnt been any damaged item.

unfortunately i have not tried to spin the drum before the new seal was fitted. 

so i can only show how it is now. I have tried to check if the drum is indeed rubbing onthe seal, by catting a thin strip of plastic ( from a grapes plastic container from supermarket ) and slide it between the drum and rubber seal and trace all around the drum.

unfortunately my 'scientific' method is not very effective. i guess i will have to try and spin the drum and slide the plastic insert around the drum to figure out if it gets 'jammed' at some point.

I also can't take the belt of the drum, as this is only a 3 month old machine and i dont want to have any trouble with warranty !

but yes, like you said, it does look and feel stiff to turn.

But you have answered my question,which was whether the turning was normal or not (as i have read some mahines had drum 'brakes' but this did not feel like a brake to me (bu then again, i am not an expert and i could be wrong ) 

 

Thanks andy .

I will try and write back with update of problem-solution if i can get hotpoint to send someone again !

Thanks,

George

 

[Giorkos]

Hi, 

I forgot to mention !

When the engineer came out and change the rubber seal, , I am sure they would have looked for items of clothing stuck in there ! So i would guess not clothes at all would be stuck there.

Im just so annoyed,  as the engineeres are trying to convince me that this is completely normal !!! I am still sure that there is something not right with this machine !

thanks,

George

 

[Giorkos]

Hi ,

me again, 

i just did some more research and i found this video on youtube.

this is not exactly the same machine, BUT model number is close enough and strange enough, at around 4.35-4.50 he spins the drum and it behaves like mine (comes to a sudden stop)

now, this could be a quirk of this machines and it is normal.

so, im still at a loss  ...let see how it goes..

oh, here is the link for the video at the time he is about to spin the drum

Thanks,

George

https://youtu.be/jyaCzeO4SKM?t=260