Belt Keeps Coming Off (Candy Cmd 146)

[DonD]

I Recently had my drive belt slip off on my Candy CMD146 Washer-Dryer which i managed to refit without much trouble, then two days later the belt was split in two right round the whole circumference of the belt. I have now purchased a new belt which fits perfectly (Not too tight, not more than a quarter inch play in the belt where it isnt connected to the motor or drum), however it slips off the drum wheel towards the drum after only 2-3 revolutions by hand! this is getting very frustrating as i can see no reason for this to be happening and Myself and my girlfriend are running out of clean clothes!

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Neil D

P.S. i did have a peruse through some of the similarly titled topics but none seemed to be quite the same problem and/or setup as mine and were therefore irrelevant.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi Neil,

If the drive belt is coming off it's possibly running out of true on the drum pulley. The drum pulley may have come loose on the drum shaft or worn drum bearings could be causing the pulley to wobble and not run true.

Here is my new help article on washing machine drive belt keeps coming off

[DonD]

Thank you for the help article, it seems to be that my drum pulley has come slightly loose(a couple of mm away from drum), although the bolt is solid in place. How should i go about retightening the bolt?

Cheers for the help

Neil D

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Jam a large strong screwdriver between the pulley spindles or use a small hammer handle or similar. If the nut/bolt is loose it should be relatively easy to tighten it up. If it won't budge I'd suspect the problem is more to do with a worn drum pulley. I'm not sure a couple of mm play is enough to throw the belt off, though you are in a better position to judge. The pulley should be loose enough for you to easily move it around by hand for it to be the problem. Some use bolts but others such as older Hotpoint's used to use a nut, with loctite on.

[DonD]

i have taken this video so you can see for yourself, it seems to be more play than i initially thought. as you can see, when i turn the nut, the drum turns without much hesitation, more likely to be a worn pulley? the machine itself is less than 3 years old.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Yes that's more than a couple of mm play. That's clearly the problem. The pulley must be worn if it's not being held in place with the bolt and the bolt is tight.

[DonD]

do you have a guide for replacing the pulley? is it an expensive or difficult job?

i work with building offshore equiptment and electronics so am fairly skilled at things like this but have never had a washer dryer go faulty before!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

It's just a question of undoing the pulley bolt and the drum pulley should just pull off. The main thing is to ensure you don't over-tighten when refitting but you have it tight enough so it doesn't come loose. There should be some method of discouraging unscrewing by the design, either they used loctite on the thread or some sort of lock nut, or tab system. The would not just have a normal bolt or nut because that would guarantee it came loose.

The main concern is whether it is a normal thread or not. It could be a left-hand thread meaning that you undo it by turning it clockwise instead of anticlockwise. The big problem of course is that the bolts holding on the drum pulley are often very stiff due to being sealed in with Loctite. Therefore when you first try to undo it and find it does not move, it is very hard to know whether is not moving because it is stuck in with Loctite, or because it is a left-hand thread and you need to be doing it the other way. Needless to say, over tightening can cause the bolt to shear leaving you with a big problem.

[rocket-magnet]

I have the same problem with my Indesit washing machine. I have replaced the belt and tightened the pulley but it still keeps slipping off. I'm not sure if it's the bearing that needs replaced or if the movement of machine is normal. Usually once the belt is put back on the machine works fine for a month but this morning I have already put it back on 3 times and it slips off within a few minutes. Trying to upload a video to a hosting site from my phone but that doesn't seem to want to work either!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello rocket-magnet: there should be no movement of the pulley or the drum. The drum pulley could be bolted on tight but if the pulley is worn where it fits over the drum shaft the pulley won't run true and the belt can come off. You shouldn't be able to move the drum pulley back and forth although some fractional movement may be acceptable.

Likewise, the drum should not move up and down. From the front if you lift the drum it should not move more than a fraction if at all. The whole drum and tub should move because the whole thing is sat on suspension springs but the drum should not have excessive play otherwise it will cause the drum pulley which is attached to it at the back to run out of true.

[educachimp]

FOR EVERYBODY'S INFORMATION: I had this exact problem of a loose pulley (as described above and as seen in the video). Instead of buying a new pulley, I took a long shot and simply bought a large washer (as in nut, bolt and washer). I took off the pulley nut, inserted the washer and the washer served to "fasten" the looseness of the pulley. Is working like a charm for 50 cents instead of $40. 

Hope this helps somebody. 

[Sam]

Hi. Can anyone please confirm whether the drum pulley nut on a candy/hoover loosens anti-clockwise or clockwise? I have followed previous advice and tried anti, but it has become so tight that its chewed up the inside of the nut. Am I doing it up?? 

 

Thanks in advance, 

Sam

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Most should be ordinary nuts and bolts. Clockwise to tighten, anti-clockwise to loosen. But if anti-clockwise isn't working you'd have to try the other way. Note that some bolts are loctited in so will be tight. Use a good quality large ratchet set.