Replacing rubber door seal in washing machine - is it a diy job?

[Clive Page]

Our Zanussi washing machine is over 10 years old and has recently
started leaving whitish spots or granules on washing, more obvious on
dark items. Investigation suggests that some of the folds in the large
rubber door seal have started to perish and that tiny bits of light-grey
rubber may be responsible. I guess that when it gets even more perished
it may start to leak.

I could probably get a washing-machine-repair-man in to do it, but the
cost is likely to be more than the machine is worth. Apart from the
question of whether a replacement part is still available, is this
likely to be a diy job?

I haven't had to take any washing machine apart for some years, but from
the little I remember they are big, heavy, and a bit of a brute to
dismantle?

--
Clive Page

[DerbyBorn]

Clive Page <use...@page2.eu> wrote in news:cc0vfdF7e66U1
@mid.individual.net:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqY6Tklb8vc

[tony sayer]

In article <cc0vfd...@mid.individual.net>, Clive Page
<use...@page2.eu> scribeth thus

Have a look on the espares website or on Youtube they are almost all
done from the front and are normally easy to do..
--
Tony Sayer

[fred]

In article <XnsA3DD6FDDAB04ATr...@81.171.92.236>,
DerbyBorn <Some...@Nearhome.com> writes

>Clive Page <use...@page2.eu> wrote in news:cc0vfdF7e66U1
>@mid.individual.net:
>

>> I haven't had to take any washing machine apart for some years, but from
>> the little I remember they are big, heavy, and a bit of a brute to
>> dismantle?
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqY6Tklb8vc
>

What on earth did we do before ya-tube :-?

An excellent how-to guide, no time wasted and he didn't say , 'Ummm'
once, worth a mention by name I think, Ezee-Fix.

For a European manufacturer though (Hotpoint) I'd be surprised if they
didn't use Pozi screws in the construction so I wish the bods wouldn't
call them Philips . . . .

Prob worth mentioning that Hotpoint and Zanussi come from the same
stable.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

[Chris J Dixon]

fred wrote:

>In article <XnsA3DD6FDDAB04ATr...@81.171.92.236>,
>DerbyBorn <Some...@Nearhome.com> writes

>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqY6Tklb8vc
>>
>What on earth did we do before ya-tube :-?
>
>An excellent how-to guide, no time wasted and he didn't say , 'Ummm'
>once, worth a mention by name I think, Ezee-Fix.

Shame about the unnecessary background music though.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
ch...@cdixon.me.uk

Plant amazing Acers.

[meow...@care2.com]

On Thursday, November 6, 2014 10:05:36 AM UTC, Clive Page wrote:

> dark items. Investigation suggests that some of the folds in the large
> rubber door seal have started to perish and that tiny bits of light-grey
> rubber may be responsible.

> is this
> likely to be a diy job?

totally


NT

[John Rumm]

On 06/11/2014 10:05, Clive Page wrote:
> Our Zanussi washing machine is over 10 years old and has recently
> started leaving whitish spots or granules on washing, more obvious on
> dark items. Investigation suggests that some of the folds in the large
> rubber door seal have started to perish and that tiny bits of light-grey
> rubber may be responsible. I guess that when it gets even more perished
> it may start to leak.
>
> I could probably get a washing-machine-repair-man in to do it, but the
> cost is likely to be more than the machine is worth. Apart from the
> question of whether a replacement part is still available, is this
> likely to be a diy job?

IME very much so. Usually just slacken a retaining wire, pull out the
old, fit the new and retighten.

> I haven't had to take any washing machine apart for some years, but from
> the little I remember they are big, heavy, and a bit of a brute to
> dismantle?

You ought not need to do much dismantling for a door seal.


--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/

[Clive Page]

On 06/11/2014 10:59, DerbyBorn wrote:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqY6Tklb8vc
>

Thanks - and how amazing could do it in 7 minutes (ok with a bit of
cheating and judicious cuts).
It does look quite feasible. Off now to search for the right spare part...


--
Clive Page

[The Medway Handyman]

On 06/11/2014 10:05, Clive Page wrote:

I've done it, not that difficult.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[Rod Speed]

"Chris J Dixon" <ch...@cdixon.me.uk> wrote in message
news:nmqm5a5vdflhitkhe...@4ax.com...

> fred wrote:
>
>>In article <XnsA3DD6FDDAB04ATr...@81.171.92.236>,
>>DerbyBorn <Some...@Nearhome.com> writes
>
>>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqY6Tklb8vc
>>>
>>What on earth did we do before ya-tube :-?
>>
>>An excellent how-to guide, no time wasted and he didn't say , 'Ummm'
>>once, worth a mention by name I think, Ezee-Fix.
>
> Shame about the unnecessary background music though.

Yeah, and the audio was a bit muddy at times too.

[JimK]

/An excellent how-to guide, no time wasted and he didn't say , 'Ummm'
once, /q

Errrr????? but he said 'errr' 12 times in the first 57 seconds that I could be bothered to count....

Jim K

[Andy Burns]

Clive Page wrote:

> On 06/11/2014 10:59, DerbyBorn wrote:
>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqY6Tklb8vc
>
> Thanks - and how amazing could do it in 7 minutes

Bet it takes twice a long when you've got to crawl on hands and knees,
rather than have it at bench height ...

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo <Tf6dnUVOrr7BS8bJ...@brightview.co.uk>, Andy
Burns <usenet....@adslpipe.co.uk> escribió:

>Bet it takes twice a long when you've got to crawl on hands and knees,
>rather than have it at bench height ...

Also, the video suggests you could do it with the machine in-situ, but
you would need to pull it out from under a counter to get access to the
screws at the back to take the top off.

Still looks pretty do-able, though.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

[Gazz]

"The Medway Handyman" <davi...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:SoO6w.629935$_u1.5...@fx30.am4...

Warning, long boring post ahead, don't read if you are the type to whinge
about the length and detail of posts.


3 weeks ago i helped me parents move a few things from their rental house to
the new house they'd bought (they rented in the area after selling their
house to take their time finding a new house)

When i opened the washing machine door i noticed the drum seal was moldy...
not something my mum would put up with, but it was well engrained into the
rubber, and she told me she was thinking of getting a new machine as she
couldn't shift the mold stains on the seal.

i told her you can get new drum seals you know... of course she didn't, but
found a genuine one on amazon for about 20 quid,

But as i would be back at my house in the midlands when it arrived (and they
have moved to scarborough to retire by the sea) i had a look at the machine
to see what sort of job it was by removing and replacing the old seal.

This particular machine the front panel does not come off as shown on the
youtube vids, it's spot welded in place, so that made it a tiny bit harder
but it wasn't that hard a job,

I took the top off, and also the powder drawer and it's ducting to the water
valves just to give me more access, plus it allowed me to take the ducting
apart and give it a good clean, as it's usual for them to go a bit manky due
to the low wash temps.... and even a 90 degree wash wont clean the cold
water inlet ducting to the soap dispenser drawer,

Anyway, i did struggle with the tightness of it all due to my arthritic
hands, but it was basically... stretch the big spring around the drum end of
the seal and pull it off the lip (no clip to release as in the youtube
vids), then work the seal out of the drum lip to release it,
find the spring on the wire band around the door end of the seal (by the
door hinge on this hotpoint machine)
use a small screwdriver to get the wire to come out of the seal lip, then
work it around and off, work the lip of the seal off, then pull it through
the door opening,

could do it the other way round and not remove the top... release front of
seal first, then push it back and reach in to release the drum end.

Anyhoo, putting the seal back on was the reverse of taking it off, except it
took me a little while to get the correct part of the lip over the drum end,
and then getting the spring back on was hell, needed 3 hands at least,
the door end of the seal was pretty easy, then of course i see the seal had
rotated about 10 degrees so the drain hole was no longer at the bottom, but
i said balls to that and left it, but pointed my error out to my dad who
would be fitting the new seal.

about a week after i was back home the new seal arrived, but as they had a
plumber around doing the first fix of the new bathrooms they are having
built, they asked if he could fit the seal for them,

He tipped the machine so it rested against a wall at a 45 degree angle, thus
giving him a better working access, and he had the old seal off in 1 minute,
needed dad to hold the spring at the bottom whilst he worked it into the lip
of the drum end, and he had completed the job in about 5 minutes,

[stuart noble]

So you'll know how to do it next time, except there probably won't be a
next time. Thanks for sharing it though

[Clive Page]

On 07/11/2014 17:39, Gazz wrote:

> Warning, long boring post ahead, don't read if you are the type to
> whinge about the length and detail of posts.

Thanks, Gazz, that's useful. As you say all the videos tell you to take
the front panel off, but it turns out that our machine (Zanussi, ~10
years old) doesn't have a removable front panel, the metal extends
around the sides as well with no seam. So whether the job is doable
depends on whether the old door seal can be taken off and the new one
put on with access just via the door hole. It sounds from your post
that you had the same problem. Hmm, may need to find a spare day or two
when I can tackle this, it sounds a bit harder than the 7-minute videos
suggest.


--
Clive Page

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo <cc6a33...@mid.individual.net>, Clive Page
<use...@page2.eu> escribió:

>Hmm, may need to find a spare day or two
>when I can tackle this, it sounds a bit harder than the 7-minute videos
>suggest.

I think it's one of those jobs that takes forever the first time but
subsequently is quick and easy.