LG WASHER SPIDER CORROSION

[ONEWAY88]

I HAVE A LG WASHER WM2016CW THAT STARTED MAKING NOISE DURING SPIN CYCLE. i TOOK THE WHOLE WASHER APART AND FOUND THE SPIDER TO BE CORRODED BEYOND RECOGNITION. THIS WASHER IS JUST OVER 3 YEARS OLD. ANYONE ELSE EVER SEE THIS?

I HAD MY WATER TESTED AND MY PH IS A LITTLE LOW BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS NORMAL. I USE TIDE DETERGENT BUT NEVER USE BLEACH.

 

[nmassman44]

Oh wow! I believe one can get a replacement spider instead of the whole drum assy like have to do for my Frigidaire built GE washer.
Question I have is ...do you wash in cold water alot?

 

[mark_wpduet]

Yes

this is going to probably be a busy thread......It has happened a LOT with pretty much most front load washers and *most* all brands have the aluminum spider (including my Whirlpool that almost 9 yrs old)..I do use bleach though.....I don't know why some people have this problem while others don't.. It's a mystery.

 

[washman]

Wow

Scary indeed. Was this a FL or HE TL machine?

 

[frontloaderfan]

It looks to me like there's a fairly thick coating of something on the spider, almost filling the indentations in the casting. Perhaps whatever this is helped lead the spider to it's demise?

 

[ONEWAY88]

spider damage / corrosion

This is a front load washer from LG.

Here is a close up pic.....I can break this aluminum piece with my fingers it is so weak.

 

[henene4]

Seems like a LOT of residue of what ever this is on the spider...

 

[frontloaderfan]

That good close-up confirms it for me: there is an extremely thick waxy build-up on that spider. Possibly fabric softener? I'm sure that contributed to the spider literally dissolving...
Maybe you could share something more about your washing habits, i.e. fabric softener, oxyclean, etc. There may be a common denominator here.

 

[henene4]

Still, I don't get what farbric softner could do to aluminium (which content should be that aggresive that it does NOT make your skin react, BUT can dammage the aluminium with such sort contact times), but anyway, I think this is indeed a problem of additives to the wash water.
First: Does your house have a water softner (such a thing you poor salt in, like in a dishwasher, just for your whole home)?
Second: Which detergent/fabric softener was used?
Third: How often was usually rinsed and which temperature was used normaly?
Could help to find out what damaged the spider...

 

[frontloaderfan]

fabric softener

I don't think it was so much the aggressive composition of the FS as it was it's waxy coating qualities, which, over time, made it accumulate on the spider. Add to that the fact that the washer, like most modern FL'ers, uses a very small amount of water, plus I think he said he washed in mostly cold water, and you've got a spider that isn't being thoroughly cleansed of FS residue during the next wash cycle, which, in turn, could possibly hold moisture on the cast aluminum, thus accelerating it's decomposition.

It does seem that most of the spider failures I have seen pictures/videos of all have this thick, caked-on residue in common. I recall reading something about the class action lawsuit against Whirlpool in which it was mentioned that WP agreed to change the composition and design of the spider, which would allow it to shed water more thoroughly in order to prevent moisture accumulation, which was suspected to contribute to premature spider failure.
Just my take on this scenario, nothing more.

 

[DADoES]

 
Probably is a coating of mold and smutz atop the corrosion. The Duet I refurbed wasn't that far gone but I replaced the drum anyway due to bits of the spider crumbling off and concern for stability in area of the pulley shaft.

Here's a pic for comparison.

 

[henene4]

Does anyone know if Panasonic or Electrolux (a AEG machine) in europe are using this kind of spider? You kind a scared me know...

 

[ONEWAY88]

spider corrosion

I use the washer on the HOT/COLD setting. We use Tide HE liquid detergent with Febreze sport already in it, we use no fabric softener. No bleach or any other additives.

We do approx. 6 loads of wash per week. The spin cycle is so fast that the clothes are almost dry after the wash cycle. I cannot believe that there is stuff clinging to the spider to corrode it.

Everyone i have shown these pics to have said that this wear is premature. Aluminum should not corrode this quick.

My previous washer was a whirlpool and i had it 18 years before the motor and bearings went....this LG machine is 3 years old and looks older than my old washer.

 

[mrb627]

Closed Door?

Are you closing the door between wash cycles trapping moisture in the tub?

I wonder if excess moisture could be causing the premature corrosion.

Otherwise, I would attribute the failure to cheap build quality that I noticed on both my LG washer and dryer and sold them on Craigslist before the one year warranty was up.

Malcolm

 

[cfz2882]

bad materials?

looks like aluminum alloy used(quite possibly just melted scrap aluminum)was unsuited to use around wash water-possibly too much magnesium in it or just porous...

 

[washer111]

Would first like to point out that although softened water does contain trace amounts of salt, it is not nearly enough to cause this disastrous level of corrosion in such a short period of time. Most consumers would probably weigh up having corroded pipes with soft water, or crusty pipes and hard water. If my pipes were going to rust like that, I wouldn't think of using a softener. Fortunately, this problem really only occurs with Lead pipes, or Coppper pipes that are already severely degraded when switched to softened water. If you have lead pipes and this is happening, I would recommend getting a plumber in to inspect the problem and visiting your Physician, who could help with Lead-poisoning issues. 

 

Getting back on topic, I notice that you use H-E Washing Liquid. At least around here (on this forum), that stuff generally gets a bit of a bad rap when used frequently in machines due to the horrid residual substances it leaves behind - namely "snot" (Thick sludge, like outdated fabric softener) as well as staining in various parts of the machine. The cleaning ability of these liquids is also not good. 

Since you use the washer on Hot, do you know if the machine is getting truly hot water when it runs, or is there a very long pipe run between it and the water heater than prevents the machine from getting good, hot water with the mediocre amount of water the washer probably uses? If there is a longer pipe run, then I would blame this issue on Cold (or Luke-Warm) water-washing combined with H-E Liquid not completely dissolving or being flushed away. 

 

The best practice to avoiding this costly problem is to (at least monthly), ensure you run the tap nearest the washer until it is HOT, use POWDERED detergent and wash some old rags on the "HOT" setting, longest cycle with some washer-cleaner powder added for good measure, and perhaps Chlorine-Bleach. The better cleaning ability of the powder will ensure that the rubbish left behind from the liquid is flushed away, and adding the towels ensures the outer-drum of the washer is cleaned to some extent. 

 

[gansky1]

...and there are millions of these out there

The metal alloy spider looks just like a corroded pump body on a sixty year old washer made of similar metal, though the pump body was likely a better quality alloy.  I think our friend in SD above is probably on the right track.  While additives can contribute to buildup and corrosion, it starts with the quality of the metal.  Look at the WP spider that was at least twice as old as the LG's, if not more, and see the difference.  Other than a light coating of schmutz on the spider, there looks to be very little serious structural compromise.

 

I know of a 3 year old Samsung washer this exact same thing happened to, the drum actually wore a hole in the outer tub causing a steady leak.  While the repair tech was testing the machine, the drum separated from the spider completely and caused a huge racket, subsequently causing a motor failure when it stalled.  The extended warranty company replaced the machine, with a model of their choosing - BOL.   

 

Even with the cost of shipping, it is cheaper to melt down scrap than to mine and fabricate new metals and a global multi-billion dollar industry has evolved to satisfy Asia and India's appetites for "raw" materials.   Mao Zi Dong dreamed of a steel furnace in every village, and now there basically is.  South Korea and China lead the world in metal recycling and everything from junk cars to christmas lights are a valuable commodity.  As with many other cottage industries, there is very little regulation and control over how these things are processed and the result can be horrifying.  Once the metals are extracted, you can imagine the lack of control that goes into production of new metal products, corners cut to meet demand often results in substandard products.

 

[jetcone]

I'm betting Red got it right

poorly recycled aluminum in Asia. LG can't be using Materials Science to build these machines- just melt it, slap it together, and sell it in a wealthy marketplace.

 

 

But washer111 has a very good point about liquids they do leave residue chemicals by their very compounding. 

 

Stamped SS as Gansky pointed out to me would be better or they could have even anodized this part and gotten maybe 10 years out of it. Very CHEAP - nice and glitzy up front to attract the eye but don't look for quality down inside- slam it together and get it out the door and the money in the bank.

The problem is American manufacturers are being taught that American consumers are not as quality conscious with their spending dollar anymore from these examples.

Alliance is building to MilSpec because the Gov't is their biggest customer, not true of GE or WP.

For me it not only has to be US Made it has to be Quality US Made.

The Japanese had Quality in the 1970's, but today in Japan consumers won't buy SONY products because they aren't made in Japan anymore and so considered shoddy.

 

[combo52]

Corroded Aluminum Washer Parts

Almost every automatic washer built over the last 70 years has contained major structural aluminum parts and there have always been corrosion failures at various times.

In this case I would have to believe that the biggest contributor to this very early failure is the lack of using bleach probably combined with other bad laundry habits.

If this washer was used commercially there would be almost NO corrosion on the spider, homeowners that keep using the same procedures and laundry products come up with some of the most horrific messes that you can imagine.

I had mentioned in another thread that we had installed 8 new SQ TL washers in a condominium laundry last Wednesday. On Saturday an employ and I dissected the 8 10 yo KM DD washers for good parts before sending them to the crusher. And we have all seen nasty pictures of DD washers full of black and brown scum at the top of the plastic outer tub, Well there was nothing in any of these 8 DD washers that were used commercially.

The lesson, change products often, DO NOT Skimp on the amount of detergents, use LCB often, use HOT water, and of course leave doors and DISPENSER Drawers open on FL washers.