Indesit Wd12S Disassembly

[yarraman]

Hi All,

I've spent this morning trying to change a worn out door seal on our Indesit WD12S washer dryer. I've managed to remove the door, soap dispenser, take the top off, get the old seal off and put a new one in (somehow). But I'm struggling now to put the inside clip on the seal. The real problem is I cannot for the life of me figure how to take out the front fascia on this washing machine. There appear to be no screws at the top (below the control panel) or bottom to do this. Looking inside the machine, it almost appears as if the front has been welded/stuck in. I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me if there was a way to remove the front fascia at all? I have a horrible feeling that there isn't. Thanks for looking chaps.

-Y

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. I'm not sure why you would want to take the door off or the soap dispenser. If the front comes off it shouldn't be difficult to fathom so maybe it doesn't. I can't say for sure but I thought they do on Indesit. Screws should be under the kick strip at the base of the machine and/or behind or under the control panel. If you took the door seal off by unscrewing the back clamp band from the top or through the door opening that's how you may need to put it back if the front wont come off. It can be very tricky, especially on a washer dryer. Although some door seals are relatively easy to replace, some can be extremely and deceptively difficult.

[yarraman]

Hi. I'm not sure why you would want to take the door off or the soap dispenser. If the front comes off it shouldn't be difficult to fathom so maybe it doesn't. I can't say for sure but I thought they do on Indesit. Screws should be under the kick strip at the base of the machine and/or behind or under the control panel. If you took the door seal off by unscrewing the back clamp band from the top or through the door opening that's how you may need to put it back if the front wont come off. It can be very tricky, especially on a washer dryer. Although some door seals are relatively easy to replace, some can be extremely and deceptively difficult.

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I was following a video that showed how to change the seal on one of the brands and rather blindly followed instructions. In hindsight, it wasn't really necessary to take the top or the soap dispenser off but doing this revealed no screws behind the control panel whilst there appeared to be two holes near the kick strip(where screws might have been). But there appears to be no gap where the front meets the rest of the body, almost welded in.

If we could take the front off, it would still be a bit fiddly to do the clamp but considerably easier( its one of those hook based ones)

Without the room to manoeuvre, the fingers took a bit of a beating. Anyway, I will try and post a few pictures this evening. I suspect that there must be an easier way. Either that or we have to figure out a clever method to do the clamp which at the moment is about a fingers length away from closing.

Thanks again for your help.

-RP

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I used to use a screwdriver to put the clamp on when they were effectively closed clamps or springs. When you have it almost on slip a screwdriver under and drag it round to put the band on in a similar fashion to how you would put a tyre on a bicycle wheel. The screwdriver needs to be just right, not too small but not too thick either.

[yarraman]

Just wanted to do a quick update. I've managed to get hold of some exploded schematics for this particular model and it doesn't appear that the front actually comes off. So there goes that hope. This is what the clamp looks like (see below) and I've tried a few times to slip a closed clamp over the lip unsuccessfully. I tired this with setting it in place for half the circumference but whilst trying to slip a screwdriver or spoon to slip the bottom half , it starts to pull the rubber out from the top half. I'm not explaining this well but suffice to say the lip is a bit too much to pull over the closed clamp and the clamp is extremely tight i.e. there appears to be no play or extension to stretch it over.

I might try with an open clamp from underneath the machine where there seems to be a little bit more space to work with and try and close it from there.

Thanks again for your help.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I would put the bit with the eye holes at the 6 o'clock position and feed the wire into the groove of the door seal all the way round on both sides leaving the smooth wire to be fixed somewhere at the 12 o'clock position. I'd then try to lever it in place with an appropriately thin but strong flat-bladed screw driver. I might use a little bit of wd-40 to lubricate although if you use too much the whole door rubber starts to slip off so use it very sparingly at first. Wd-40 would also help the rest of the clamp to sink that fraction more into the door seal groove.

If you still can't do it you should consider smashing the washer up with a lump hammer ;-)

[yarraman]

I would put the bit with the eye holes at the 6 o'clock position and feed the wire into the groove of the door seal all the way round on both sides leaving the smooth wire to be fixed somewhere at the 12 o'clock position. I'd then try to lever it in place with an appropriately thin but strong flat-bladed screw driver. I might use a little bit of wd-40 to lubricate although if you use too much the whole door rubber starts to slip off so use it very sparingly at first. Wd-40 would also help the rest of the clamp to sink that fraction more into the door seal groove.

If you still can't do it you should consider smashing the washer up with a lump hammer ;-)

I know what you mean, I had visions of taking an axe/chainsaw type implement to it . I tried your suggestion but no luck. After much googling, I decided I needed a pair of circlip pliers to help with this (didn't know what they were but had an idea of the kind of tool I was looking for and google helped with the rest). As pleased as I was with my find and although they did show some promise with their inverted ends, the pair I purchased unfortunately turned out a bit too small to lever through. Following that attempt, I stuck a shoelace through the clamp holes at one point to pull them together and got the hooks to less than a cm away but no joy with the final part of that cunning plan. Finally, my wife had an idea and we stuck a cable tie through the clamp holes (loops) and got the clamp to almost close within a few mm but not quite. The resultant "seal" seemed tight enough and I know it's a fudge but we've just run a wash cycle and at the moment it looks ok. Fingers crossed and if it does go pear shaped, its going to be "bye bye indesit".

Thanks again all your help and sympathy

Ps:Next time I might try doing a few weeks at the gym before attempting something like this

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

When you tried my suggestion did you fit the clamp together first and try to force it on already joined together?