Replacing bearings in a sealed washing machine drum

Its making a horrible grinding noise on spin. The bearings are shot. But the bearings are inside a sealed plastic drum unit that costs £200 to replace. Planned obsolescence be damned!

I have bought the right bearings. Now I just have to completely disassemble this:

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Score at half time
Tom 1 - 0 Washing Machine

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I got it all open but have to admit defeat.

As far as I can tell, they have designed the bearing housing in such a way that it’s impossible to get the bearings out. There’s a metal sleeve between the two bearings that prevents you from knocking through from the other side. One-time assembly only. Bunch of bastards (Hotpoint).

Although it looks like they’re all like this now, even the £1k Miele machines. What a waste.

There has been much discussion of this issue (unrepairable washer bearings) on the repair sites and in Which? magazine. It’s a scandal. Apart from anything else, that old machine now goes into the waste stream and most of it stays there. New European Right to Repair legislation may get there eventually, but not in the near future. It’s a way of selling new appliances, pure and simple.

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Yep, bare faced profiteering. I’m all angry now.

Time to write your MP.

You’ve given me an idea: why not rate new appliances for their “repairability” just like they are rated for energy efficiency? You know, like:

5R - completely repairable, all spares easily available and all parts replaceable, without a specialised technician
4R - Most major components replaceable, parts available, can be repaired by skilled person
3R - Only some parts available and requires considerable skill to repair, usually not economically.
2R - Few if any parts available, requires specialised skills, repair rarely viable apart from parts that are basically consumables
1R - Impossible to repair, parts not available or deliberately made irreplaceable (e.g. your washing machine). Even skilled technician could not repair.

What do your appliances rate on this list? Off the top of my head: toasters are usually 2R. Cars 4R. Laptops 3R. Mobile phones somewhere between 2R and 3R, depends a lot on brand.

Hmmm… think I’ll float this on Restarter board too.

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