Zanussi Washing Machine Drum Bearing

[It's fixable...]

Hi All,

Drum bearing has failed on our Zanussi Jetsystem 1200 washing machine (FJS 1225 W model).

I've got the cover panels off and found the drum pulley (which I guess is covering the bearing housing) is fixed with a 6mm hex drive allen screw which is very stubborn and doesn't want to move. I've tried a cetre punch in the head of the screw and welting it with a hammer to shock it free, but no joy.

Just broken an allen key off when using a length of tubing to give more leverage !!!!

I'm obviously going about this the wrong way...

Anyone got any pointers / advice please ????

TIA Jon

[Jonboy_t]

Do you have a mains powered drill and some hex bits? That might give it a little bit of a nudge in the right direction?

[It's fixable...]

Thks for reply.

Went out and bought a 1/2" drive hex bit in the end and used that with a tommy bay and tubing to slacken it off. It was fitted using some sort of threadlocking adhesive that was very good at its job !

However the plot thickens as the (uncovered) bearing is one of two mounted back to back.

Looks like I will have to unbolt and split the drum housing to withdraw the drum and knock out the bearings from inside.

This machine was not designed for maintenance it seems...

Cheers

Jon

[netherfield]

Why make it easy,when you can make it hard.

[The real Apache]

Get yourself a slide hammer.....and when you put it back together make sure the pulley is home all the way, it's a pain in the ass if you don't

[Globs]

It's fixable... said:

This machine was not designed for maintenance it seems...

This is a big problem for many machines these days. Some you have to take the drum out of entirely!
Luckily my old Ocean was made 20 years ago and the bearing is still therefore intact, modern bearings fitted to these things are crap.

[eastlmark]

yes, tub out and strip down... (assuming its not one of the newer welded tub model that dont come apart...) and it wont just e the bearings you need, there is one seal infront of the bearings, the drum shaft (or complete inner drum) and a tub halfs gasket. To tell the truth, its a scrapper. believe me!

[It's fixable...]

I've split the dum and been met with a scene from hell.

The drum shaft is mounted to the drum on a three legged alloy bracket. These legs are all sheared.

Some of the breaks are quite old, judging by the established corrosion marks, and it seems that holes have rotted through the legs anyway.

There was surprisingly little freshly broken material.

The last load of towels spun at 1200 rpm obviously finished it off !!!

No doubt everything is repairable, but at what cost ?

This one seems likely to be beyond economic repair !

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Best regards - Jon

[It's fixable...]

Checked out the spares prices at www.espares.com and all the bits I need come to £134.

So it's a scrapper as advised.

At least the drum will make a nice patio brazier !