On Tue, 7/15/2025 4:33 AM, jkn wrote:
Hi all
it has been reported to me that our washing machine (Indesit) has started making a graunching-type noise, especially when doing a fast spin. I have not yet heard this myself but I believe the information...
Whilst waiting to hear the noise myself, I started looking at spares for this model available online. However the obvious culprit - main bearings - do not seem to be available from any of the spares retailers (including Indesit).
I'm wondering what this might mean:
- bearings for this model are so generic that no part is available
- some new design that means I have to replace some complete 'assembly'
- some new design that is unrepairable
Thoughts and alternatives welcome
Thanks
J^n
I had a main bearing replacement done by a local appliance store repair department.
They sent a man out, to look at it.
The main bearing for mine, the replacement is a "kit of materials".
It includes the right kind of bearing grease (an improved grease, not
used originally on the machine, a moly grease). There were banging noises
from the basement, as he fitted the kit.
When he diagnosed the washer, it was maybe ten years old. The
"bearing kit" and labour charge, was on the order of 25% of the
value of the washer. I thought about it for a second, and approved
the repair plan. Half an hour of banging noises later, machine
was running and spinning again.
The machine today, is now *thirty five* years old. I expect most
of the fancy grease is gone by now, but it still spins and
I'm not complaining.
A company will only continue to stock materials like that,
if they are moving. No company seems to want to stock anything
in the area of spare parts. And some companies, they don't actually
"make" the item. They "get the item from China", and write some
poor documentation for it, and ship it. If they can't even make
a proper drawing of the back of the machine ("How to get inside"),
then what are the odds their brain-pan can manage a spares
supply scheme.
Only if you were a large company, and made all the parts
domestically, would you expect to find spares. And a bearing kit,
is certainly a high runner for the average bad washer design :-)
The tech who did my repair was right, the new grease lasted
a lot longer than the original grease pack.
And that's why you don't just buy the bearing. The repair kit
contains all the stuff expected to need replacing (whatever
got damaged by the banging noises, presumably).
On my machine, I would expect the bearing kit was "barely available"
at ten years of age, and an attempt to buy a kit today
would reveal it hadn't been made/stocked, in some time.
*******
The longest spares stocking I ever got, was for a
water tap. The cartridge (tap spindle, plus all O-rings),
was still available at the branded-store, after *fifty years*.
The gentleman blew the dust off the item, and bagged
one up for me. No other device I can think of, offered
a repair part at the fifty year timespan.
Generally, at the rate companies change hands and get
bought out, this tends to "trash" the spares supply
chain. As a consumer, you are supposed to enjoy buying
a new washer every ten years. I haven't checked the pricing
recently, but it's likely about as much as a used car :-)
If the machine has multiple-illnesses, maybe a major repair
like this is a signal. But if the machine was well-behaved,
it might well be worth just putting a bearing kit in it.
Paul
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