Servis M6713W

[JonesL]

Hello,

I have a Servis M6713W which appears to shake quite a lot there is also a mark on the back panel where it looks like the motor has hit it.
So I'm unsure if this the springs at the top on each side, the shock absorbers, both or something else. 

The drum itself is in good condition, makes no noise when turning and I can't even push it upwards but can spin freely but the tub itself is very wobbly but I have no idea what is causing it, the shock absorber seems fine, I have no idea how to tell if a spring is worn out. Another thing I noticed is that on this machine there's three marking for where the spring can go (on each side) I have attached the a picture because I have no idea why there a three markings with three different numbers or what they mean.

When it spins at high speed, it seems perfectly stable, it's also stable if the drum rotates slowly. But seems more unstable if the drums is spinning at say 800rpm but only when the spin is stopping, but this doesn't happen when it spins at high speed. So I'm unsure of what the issue is. Also what exactly stops a washing machine tub from moving from front to back if the springs and shock absorbers are located on the sides?

Lastly I've noticed the motor has a sticker that says 1700rpm, even the though the machine says 1300rpm but on the pump and spin cycle the final fast spins seems to spin faster than any other cycle (despite most cycles being listed as 1300 or 800rpm). did Servis put the wrong motor in?

 

Thanks,

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi there. The springs at the top of the outer drum are extremely strong and I've never known any need replacing. Unless one was somehow broken I can't see it being anything to do with that. I would imagine that the top springs need to be fastened in the centre of the complete outer drum. They are usually in two halves so presumably if a different half is attached to the other side which is either thinner or deeper then the springs could be mounted to the left or to the right in order to ensure they are fixed bang in the centre of the drum.

The suspension is underneath, usually two quite crude dampers. They can go faulty though it might be difficult to detect because the large springs at the top support the drum quite a lot themselves and can mask week suspension.

It's not uncommon, in fact it's actually quite common, to have marks on the back panel where the motor or the drum pulley has rubbed on it because everything is crammed in so tightly these days, especially with the extra large drum capacities. The way to test if this is an actual issue or not is to take off the lid, but a large load of sheets or towels inside, not just a few but enough to almost fill the drum. Then put it on a rinse and spin cycle. Once the drum is full of water and heavy laundry, if there is any problem with the suspension then the outer drum will twist all lean back so that it is catching on the casing or the back panel. If this happens then you can suspect that the suspension dampers may need replacing.

Regarding the spin speeds there is only usually one wash cycle that spins at the full speed, which is cottons. All other fabrics should be spun at various slower speeds.

Also, if the drum tends to swing about a bit on the slow distribution speed just prior to going into the spin, and then thumps around a little bit before settling down, is then perfectly okay until the end when it thumps around a little bit as it slows down this is a classic symptom of an unbalanced load and not necessarily a fault on the washing machine at all

washing machine jumps and bangs on spin

 

[JonesL]

Dear Andy, thanks for the reply.

I've checked to make sure the washing machine is level (which it is). So I ended taking a video of the problem because I'm no expert but I assume these shock absorbers aren't supposed to bounce around like this. (I uploaded the video to Google drive and it can be watched without downloading)

If you listen at 34seconds you can hear a noise and that was the concrete weight on top hitting the metal bar on the top of the washing machine, also when I was making sure things were properly tightened, I noticed the nut on the absorber was a bit loose but had fluid on it (not water).

 

Also on the above video, I was actually standing away from the camera but the top was off also, when the above happened in the video (which you can't see) it looked like the tub was trying to rotate in a clockwise way.

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. There's no video link yet..

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

But by the sounds of it it does sound as if the suspension dampers may need replacing. They are not supposed to allow the tub to swing and sway around like that - although if there is an out of balance load in there they won't be able to stop it thumping once or twice.

 

[JonesL]

Sorry I thought I had copied the link into the previous post

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Shq7KN3U3GvN5pYxlU3Na9v_aNq86FdO/view?usp=sharing

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello there. To be honest that doesn't look abnormal at all. My impression is that the main outer drum is swaying because the load inside the drum is not balanced. If you run the test again but this time observe it from the front can you see that the laundry in the drum is distributed very evenly all the way around the drum? Or is there one small section that either doesn't seem to have any laundry there are only has one item?

Also what exactly is inside the drum during this test?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

You can tell it's not even by listening to the sound of the motor, which is not running evenly. This normally happens when there is one item of laundry that is much heavier than the rest because it is very absorbent. An example of this would be a big load of T-shirts and underpants with one bath towel or just a couple of towels. Or a load of laundry that has one particularly large absorbent item. Or a load of light laundry but with one pair of jeans etc

[JonesL]

The items appear to be even in the drum, at the end most of the clothes will stick to the drum (they even had little bumps off the drum holes). But the first spin after the first wash looks like the clothes are in a ball and I've not just stuffed things in my washing machine either. I don't put towels in with clothes, I do them separate.

When you say the sound of the motor, how do you mean?

I've made another video (this time from the top side) is it me or is that counterweight looking like it would be heavier on the right than the left. at around 45 seconds you can see the tub starting to wobble before it starts bouncing up and down (only had a few sweatshirts in there) around 2mins it goes to do the same again but doesn't.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vQxiuJIGtmsi6y7c48EkiyE-vU3t5afZ/view?usp=sharing

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. Only a few sweatshirts would be a typical uneven load. There’s not enough items to be able to evenly distribute the weight all around the drum. Under loading causes the drum to sway from side to side on the distribution speed and then shake badly and maybe even hit the sides as it ramps in and out of spin but settle down during the spin.

Bad suspension would normally cause it to bang about all during the spin.

What’s it like on a full load where the drum is filled at least 80%? 
 

By the sound of the motor it’s difficult to judge properly because of the noisy pump but the motor sound should be a constant unchanging sound and not one that varies in pitch in a rhythmic way  when it does that it’s because the load is uneven. 
 

 

[JonesL]

To be honest I never fill it up since I live alone I tend to do smaller washes, I did note in the Servis programme manual for my machine.

Cottons max load 7kg
Synthetics max load 3.5kg
Delicates max load 1.5kg
Hand wash 3kg
Quick Wash 3.5kg

Would it be worth while, trying smaller loads on a delicates or synthetics instead?

I also took off the bottom of the damper too on the left hand side (see attached pics) I assume this is off the absorber, which doesn't even feel that loose.

So can underloading the drum cause issues too? I just assumed max load of 7kg is maximum that can be put in but anything under that is fine.

As for the motor, the machine is 14 years old not sure if the carbon brushes have gone bad, there's not any guides for Servis washing machines but I assume the red thing in the attached picture is a carbon brush, which would be worn down by now? The motor doesn't smell of smoke or anything that would cause concern anyway.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello. Yes under-loading is a more problematic issue than overloading. However, it's only really an issue when heavy laundry is inside such as sheets, towels, some bath mats, bulky sweatshirts or dressing gowns etc. All of the other items are not heavy enough to cause any issues even when under loaded because they are inherently light and do not soak up a lot of water.

But the items made of cotton or denim that are heavier to start with and absorb a lot of water, as well as shrinking in bulk become very heavy in the wash. These are the type of items that cause the drum to become out of balanced. So I wouldn't worry about any of the laundry apart from when washing the items listed.

Those heavy items can cause the most trouble when they are washed on their own or when mixed with a lot of lighter items. If you think about it, the revolving drum needs to be balanced in order to spin without vibration. So if you have a situation where there isn't enough laundry inside to cover the entire circumference of the drum then when it goes into spin the drum will be out of balance. The outer tub will shake and bang about.

This is typically witnessed when looking at the revolving laundry inside the drum. Can you see a flash of silver each revolution where there isn't any laundry? Or can you see that there is a small section of the drum with a much thinner covering of laundry?

Another cause is when one of these heavy items becomes tangled up or is simply too bulky, and it is forced by the centrifugal force to one side of the drum - but all of the other laundry covering the rest of the drum cannot counteract the weight of this particularly heavy item.

Once again when it kicks into spin the drum is out of balance. Even with a well-balanced load that outer drum will normally shake and sway a little. But as long as it is not shaking so badly that it is liable to thump the sides etc it should not be an issue.

It would be very interesting to try as an experiment putting those two sweatshirts back in the washing machine but then also adding four or five towels or six or seven T-shirts and putting it on a rinse and spin to see if it is any different?

Another problem is one that you have mentioned just now. That you live alone and therefore don't have a lot of washing. Many people end up buying washing machines with large drum capacity. A quick search on Google implies that your washing machine is a 7 kg drum capacity?

It is difficult to fill such a large drum efficiently and properly unless there are four or five people in the house. So essentially they work out to be uneconomical. They are only more economical because they can wash so much more laundry at the same time. So the idea is that a family may usually wash seven loads a week who upgrades to a 7 kg drum now only needs to wash two or three times a week. This makes the larger drum capacity much more economical.

So if they are used for only small loads they can work out a lot less economical because they can typically use more water and energy due to the larger drum size. The other problem with them is it is often very difficult for one person to fill up the drum enough to be able to get evenly balance loads. So there is a problem associated with large capacity drums, which is refusing to spin one or two items because the out of balance system has prevented it.

If you have time to read the following articles you will hopefully find them of use and interesting. I can't say for certain there is nothing wrong with your washing machine at the moment, but whether there is or isn't you should still find the articles of use.

Loading washing machine correctly and efficiently

Washing machine won't spin just one item or small loads

The washing machine jumps around and bangs on spin

 

[JonesL]

Dear Andy,

 

Thanks for the reply, I did manage to remove the shock absorbers and they were both bad as they clearly had no fluid in them.

 

New issue is that the PCB board seems to have gone also and the issue is trying to source another one. Is it not possible to use a Servis m6712w PCB instead? since parts for the 6713w is impossible to get.