Hotpoint WMF740 Washing Machine

[Deryck Tintagel]

We have the above machine and could be getting on for 10 years old but seemed to OK until today. The machine doesn't make too much noise on the wash cycle but started to make a loud thumps and grumbling sound on the 1400rpm spin.

I have yet to have a good look at the drum to check for play as I suspect the bearings. Looking at one or two things on the internet it seems that the job is quite involved to change them. However, before I start taking things apart I found that it may not be possible to change just the bearings and would need a full drum.

Has anyone got experience of this machine and chnaging the bearings? Any advice?

 

[foxhole]

Could be dampers have worn out or concrete weights used to balance drum can come loose or even break up .Or machine is not set level.l have changed a few bearing but can be a bugger to drift out the original if rusted .
Not something I would bother with unless on a real tight budget .

 

[Andrew P Thomas]

I have been a Domestic Appliance Engineer for 25 years. Many recent ( up to 10 years old)Hotpoint appliances have sealed drums and bearings that cannot be replaced.
Thumping noise could indeed be loose balance weights but if there is a grumbling noise then most likely to be bearings.
Dry rotating the drum by hand, does it sound rough?

This appliance has a sealed drum.

 

[johnny2007]

Advice for next machine:
You don't need 1400rpm spin.
At 800 clothes come out just as dry but without wrinkles that takes an industrial press to get rid.

 

[jj4091]

Advice for next machine:
You don't need 1400rpm spin.
At 800 clothes come out just as dry but without wrinkles that takes an industrial press to get rid.

Sorry but I cannot agree with that, our Zanussi dries much more efficiently at 1400 than 800

 

[Deryck Tintagel]

I have been a Domestic Appliance Engineer for 25 years. Many recent ( up to 10 years old)Hotpoint appliances have sealed drums and bearings that cannot be replaced.
Thumping noise could indeed be loose balance weights but if there is a grumbling noise then most likely to be bearings.
Dry rotating the drum by hand, does it sound rough?

This appliance has a sealed drum.

Just had a quick look at the machine ... I have rotated the drum by hand and the bearings would seem to be OK in my opinion. Nothing grumbling or rough sounding. The one thing I did notice is that the inner drum doesn't appear to be round! Looking at the top edge of the seal the edge of the drum moves down an up relative to this as it is rotated. Not sur if that is normal as I don't normally look for wobbles in the edge.

I will pull the machine out and have a look at the weights and dampers to see if they are faulty.

I had a bad feeling that this is a sealed drum and at about £170 not a financially worthwhile option.

 

[Deryck Tintagel]

I have finally managed to get time to have a look at the machine!!

The suspension springs are OK and the dampers look OK from what I can see of them. I did try the machine on a spin cycle with an empty drum and there is a rattle (quite loud) at certain RPM but the outer drum doesn't seem to be too bad. I have just done a wash load and checked it again and the drum vibrates quite heavily on the 1400 spin cycle. I don't think the load is particularly unbalanced so wondred if it could be the dampers.

I changed the dampers but it didn't help - worth £10 to try it. Bearings sound OK but with it being a sealed drum then I suspect it is them but no proof. Sounds OK on the wash cycle but rattles on spin.

Time for a new machine!

Thanks