I think I just broke my washing machine

chloe081

This is not good.  I was attempting to strip my diapers in my front loader and something is definately amiss.  My spin cycle sounds like a level 8 earthquake .  I've just done 2 power washes, one with baking soda.  Then 3 consecutive rinses.  When I went to do a load of regular laundry the final spin was REALLY noisy and the whole machine started jumping.  Was I not supposed to keep rinsing?  I thought that was ok? 

Carrie7508

I have a top loader so I don't know if this is different, but that happens to my machine when the clothes are off balanced in the drum during the rinse cycle.  Hopefully that's the problem??

chloe081

Carrie7508:

I have a top loader so I don't know if this is different, but that happens to my machine when the clothes are off balanced in the drum during the rinse cycle.  Hopefully that's the problem??

I dont know I've had unbalanced loads before but this made my dog fear for her life.  I'm afraid to do more damage by trying to run it again in case it's something mechanical.

veruca5839

Hmmm, you could have a broken or loose bearing (it's a part of the spinning drum).  This happened to us a year or two ago, and we opted to have the whole drum replaced vs buying a new washer.  Our FL always makes noise when things get unbalanced, but one day when it went into final spin it sounded like a jet engine taking off and like it was going to go through the floor - it was ridiculously loud.  Have you tried running a final spin with an empty drum?  If it still makes the noise there could be something going on with the bearing or drum.  Apparently this can be a common problem with FLs because of the way they spin (side ways) vs a TL, the force and pull can wear down the machinery over time. 

chloe081

Yep that's exactly what it sounded like.  Would you happen to remember the cost of reparing the drum?  My macine is by no means old but of course is no longer under warrenty and I'm wondering if I should just get a standard top loader instead since it's so much easier to CD with.

veruca5839

Oh man, hmmmm, I think it was around $300, maybe?  I don't remember exactly.   

aschleser

FWIW - my Maytag centennial we bought in 2009 (fall) was like around $550 new from Sears.  It's got the auto water senser - but has a "very soiled" option that adds more water, adn you can preprogram an extra rinse right into the cycle.

So if you are thinking of replacing, it's not expensive (it's a TL).