Rattly spin UK AEG washer/dryer

[gletts]

Hi All,

I have an interesting (and annoying!) problem that I though I'd post here to see if anyone has any ideas.

As some will know I have an AEG L14850 washer/dryer, which is now about 4 years old, and gets moderate use (2 of us in the household).

It's started making a very loud "rattle/tapping" sound when it spins at around 800 RPM, which resonates throughout the house - so loud that the neighbours have commented on it! The rattle starts as it speeds up around 800 RPM, but when it speeds up beyond that (to 1400 total), the noise disappears, but as it coasts down it happens again.

I've shared a URL link to a video of an interim spin at around 800 RPM earlier today so you can see what I mean.

I've also noticed that it seems to be unbalanced more than it used to be when spinning - in fact it jumped out a couple of inches from under the worktop the other day like the Hotpoint 95's used to do - so much for spin balance control!!

It's completely flat and level on the floor (I checked), and nothing has changed.

I pulled out the machine a few inches today, to make sure that it wasn't hitting the hoses at the back, but it's not and the noise still happened. It seems to come from inside, on the right hand side as you look at the front.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys!

Graham

http://https//goo.gl/photos/963wVxXuDJZsj7Hk6

 

[henene4]

Isn't this the line that had consequent problems with the shocks?

Anyway, vibration problems like this usually mean either one of the springs detached (which is unlikely as then the drum wouldn't be level any more), the shocks are bad (most likely) or bearings&#92spider are broken.

The shocks are pretty cheap and relatively easy to replace.

 

[twintubdexter]

I'm going to start using that to describe the way I sound when I get out of bed in the morning..."rattly."

 

[richnz]

I hope its not like this

 

[launderess]

Am going though sort of the same thing.

Best case it is your shocks that are going and or perhaps the suspension springs. Worse situaton would be the bearings.

Take the top off the washer and attempt to push down on the drum (carefully) with much force as you can. There should be ample resistance and if there isn't (the tub sinks with little effort), chances are good one or more shocks are going or gone. Another clue would be to check the inside of the glass port-hole. If you see marks/dings (caused by the drum smacking the class), again a good sign shocks are gone.

To test the rear drum bearings grab the inner tub at lower and top (Six and Twelve O'clock) and attempt to shake hard; you should have nil to minimal movement. Also turn the empty tub from the inside. If the inner tub has play up or down/left or right that is sign the rear bearing is going or gone. This and or if the drum makes a growling/grating sound when spun empty by hand.

If the back of your washer comes off do so and have a look. Should you find rusty water trails coming from around the rear bearing and or traces of same around underneath then again that is a sign....

Personally would test/check the bearing first to eliminate it as the source of your problem. Only because if indeed that is the problem it is of no use replacing the shocks even if they have gone or are going. Well shouldn't say of "no" use as persons have used front loaders with failing rear bearings until the thing literally died. This assumes however you probably are going to rubbish the thing after that even.

 

[washboy2005]

My mum has the same machine...

My mum has the exact same model and hers is usually very quiet, but during the spin cycle can make a lot of rattling noise.

They certainly don't build them like they used to, although it doesn't detract from its brilliant performance!

Included is a link to my mum's machine during a noisy spin cycle.

http://https//m.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Qvvhtwia8

 

[aegokocarat]

It may be possible that the concrete weight or dryer duct have come loose.
It does sound pretty bad though!

 

[gletts]

Thanks for all the responses guys, most helpful! I've just discovered that our machine is still under a John Lewis extended warranty - I'd forgotten that AEG refused to honour the 5 year warranty that was advertised with this machine, but as we bought it with that advertised, John Lewis gave us one of theirs instead and its still covered.

So am going to put a warranty call in and will update you once I know more. There doesn't seem to be any play in the drum, and empty it doesn't sound noisy at all, so I don't think it's a bearings problem.

Our machine has definitely got worse in recent weeks - comparing to Washboy2005's video, the noise is the same but it never used to be this bad or frequent. We've had trouble with the drier duct before - a particularly violent spin ripped the drying sensor out of the duct and caused the machine to leak and eventually stop about 2 years ago.

Washboy2005: thanks for that video. I agree with you that the machine is near silent, until it spins, then all hell breaks loose. Not sure I agree with you on the performance though. Ours washes very well, but rinsing is diabolical, particularly on synthetics (easy care) programmes.

I would be interested to know if your mum's does the same as ours with the spin sequence between rinses on easy care programmes, where the pump stops as the drum gets up to spin speed, then everything stops and it starts the next rinse? So - no soapy water from the (ridiculously short) spin is pumped out, and as a consequence rinsing is abysmal. Why AEG programmed it like that is beyond me!

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks,

Graham

 

[washboy2005]

It's been a while since I've used the machine properly, just popping the occasional load on for her etc.

She sticks with cottons, or the quick intensive cycles generally.

Next time I'm down, i'll put a load on easy cares and see how it performs.

(amazing what you can forget in only two years! (when it was also my full time machine!)

Her machine has also had the dryer ducting crack, fail and leak causing the machine to be out of action due to the H20 error code.
She had the whole dryer housing replaced last year, and ever since the drying has been poorer, slower and noisier! No idea why though, if the parts where all new.

Dan.

 

[gletts]

Dan,

Thanks - would be interested to know! Cottons cycles are definitely better with rinsing (more spins between rinses), although we struggle with towels. Using even the tiniest amount of detergent still results in a soapy last rinse water. We do have soft water in Crawley so I suspect that doesn't help, although our previous Zanussi and Bosch washing machines didn't suffer.

A year or so ago we noticed that drying was slower, noisier and generally not as good. The engineer showed me that the belt which drives the fan had stretched (which apparently they are renowned for doing). So although it *sounded* like it was working properly, in actual fact the fan was turning much too slowly.

New belt - and the problem was fixed (although the fan now makes more of a whirring noise than it used to). I wonder if the same thing has happened on your mum's machine? It took the engineer less than 10 minutes to fit the new belt so it can't be a very difficult job.

The dreaded H20 error code was what we had too - similar problem to your mum's although the engineer confirmed that ours had been caused by a violent spin a few washes previous, which had (literally!) ripped the sensor out of the dryer duct. He said the wires were clipped in a way that it made them too short, so a violent spin could cause this to happen. He clipped them differently so it shouldn't happen again.

Cheers,

Graham

 

[henene4]

Rinsing

I tried something a few weeks ago which *might* be worth a try, especially with soft water.

We always have a few packs of table salt near our laundry for winter to remove ice from our door way.
I had a really big load of towels going in the AEG and thought "Hmm, hard water rinses better. I'll throw some salt in!" That was during the first rinse.
Don't know if any difference was made, but the towels were perfectly rinsed.

Just an idea you might want to try out.

 

[washboy2005]

Well, I'm on the final rinse of an Easy-cares 40c cycle, and I can confirm that the rinsing is rather poor. The machine ramps up to speed, and shuts off the pump just after peaking at the allotted speed.

Even the rinsing on the quick intensive cycle is a bit better I think!

Have you tried programming the "super rinse" function on your machine to see if that helps with towels? IIRC, it spins less in the rinse portion but it adds an extra rinse or two... More water changes may help, even if there's less spinning?
Just a thought lol!

Thanks for the point on the dryer belt, I'll see if I can pick one up online and fit it myself. Can't see the point in hassling service force out for something so simple.

Dan

 

[gletts]

Rinsing

Thanks Dan - good to know it's not just our machine then!

It makes me wonder what on earth AEG/Electrolux's programmers were thinking when they programmed it like that - especially as on other cycles, once the spin has finished, the pump comes back on and runs for a good few seconds, which is totally pointless, as all the water has been pumped away by that point.

I washed some white terry cloths from our steam cleaner yesterday, along with some towels and dishcloths, on the Cottons Economy wash 60 degrees. I took a video - link below - which believe it or not is the last rinse! This load took 2 additional rinse cycles (so had, in total, 9 rinses!) to get rid of it. Admittedly I did put some Biotex in, but it only had about 1.5 teaspoons of detergent. To be fair - I think some of the towels had some detergent residue in as they were very "hard", so that probably made it worse - it's not usually quite this bad!

The extra rinse function does add 1 extra rinse, but you are right, it removes the spin after the wash, and also IIRC from after the 1st rinse. With towels - we've found it's better to have the spins than the extra rinse. But with clothes it's the opposite.

For anyone else suffering with this (or similar) AEG machines' poor rinsing - the solution is to only load the machine lightly. If you don't put too much washing in (only about 1/2 to 3/4 of the recommended loadings), then rinsing is OK (other than towels which are always a problem). NB - we also only use 1/4 of the amount of detergent recommended, which I've found is the bare minimum to get things clean, but also rinse out OK.

I'd be interested to hear from any owners of newer AEG washer/dyers, in particular the 9kg model, as to whether they've improved things on the newer ones. More interim spins are definitely needed!

I'll keep you all posted on the rattle sound too once the engineer has come.

http://https//goo.gl/photos/wi6mR1mBJDdXtdZC8