Ball bearings

Well , it's knackered bearing time .Our Honda hrv needed a front wheel bearing last week . I could get one from 13 quid to 90 quid I can imagine how long the £13 one would last..so I bought a SKF pattern part , £50 ish . Good name made me buy it over a cheaper one.

Now the 2 year old Hotpoint washing machine drum bearings have failed.. (it's designed to fail )and it's a sealed drum..well it was, but I,ve just sawn it in half to repair it myself !! The bearings are marked Poland 6206Z PPL . Assume NSK , (edit no they're Japanese??) Do you think an SKF or Timken would be a better quaility ?

Edited By Hacksaw on 16/04/2018 23:05:04

Nothing wrong with Japanese bearings. I often use Naachi brand and Koyo brand Japanese bearings with no problems. SKF is my "go to" for critical applications though. Never had a problem with them. Likewise, Timken (now owned by and rebranded as Koyo) are my "go-to" for critical taper rollers and needle rollers used in Harley engines.

It's false economy to use cheap and nasty bearings as you end up doing the job twice and bearings are not that expensive -- although the new cartridge insert type wheel bearing packages are! But for the washing machine, buy SKF or similar and be done with it. Should not be too expensive.

I had a hotpoint a long time ago. Bearings were undersized for the duty. The AEG replacement machine is still going (fairly) strong after nearly 25 years. Hotpoint are not my favourite by a long way.

I think you will find that, in the case of washing machines, it will be the failure of the mechanical seal/seat that has allowed soapy water into the bearings .

A few hours of that on fast spin will do the damage.

Last time I put new bearings into a washing machine it worked very well. After a couple of days a loud noise started from the bearing area. Strip down again , the drum and mountings were broken, stress fractures allover. Bearings still good though. Seems this is common, bearing life = life of the rest of machine.

It should not. There should be a weep hole to allow any water, which might pass the seal, to drain away without affecting the bearings. If no weep hole it is a crass design. It is often the bearings failing, that does the seal in. Chicken and egg situation. 1800 spin speed with a horizontal drum and undersized bearing was what caused the hotpoint to fail.

When things like this happen, should we not be taking the failed household appliances back to the shop and pointing out (loudly and lengthily, if needed) That the Sale of Goods and Services Act indicates that 6 years is a reasonable life for a consumer durable and it's the point of sale's responsibility to put things right?

If you bought it from Curry's you will be wasting your time, they don't think that Sale of Goods Act applies to them. I will never buy anything from them again

It doesn't apply to anyone. It was superseded in 2015 by the sale of goods act.

Legislation.gov.uk:

"There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982."

A few years back I had a hard drive recorder fail at age 4 months. I took it back to Curry's clutching a printed copy of the Sale of Goods Act, and after making such a fuss that the Manager came out, they honoured their legal obligations. In full.

Regards,

Richard.

Ahah , the inner bearing is NSK and Made in England ..and it's contaminated with horsehair and mud..The expander (or contractor spring ,I suppose ) spring ring bit on the back of the seal has disappeared ,so there would have been no sealing

This is what happens when partners and offspring wash horse rugs , horse boots and trainers covered in mud..in a domestic appliance .. (Could explain why my pants give me itchy bollocks after washing..!)

I did find £3.22 in the drum however , but they're the old round £ coins

New SFK bearings and seal are on their way £25

I have had to recover the wire from a bra in a neighbours washing machine, was making a bit of a click as it went round but as I am only 61 corsets are out of my experience😉

Mike

We have purchased several sets of bearings from Arc, some for machine use, some for light duties in telescope mounts, no problems..

**LINK**

Regarding Curry’s, I can only say what happened to me.

My two year old Samsung fridge freezer started forming ice sheets at the bottom of the freezer.

Curry’s repair people came round the next day and fitted a new defrost element which unfortunately did not solve the problem.

They made a further three visits and fitted new parts to no avail and then have me a voucher for the cost of a new machine at today’s price, which was considerably more than I paid originally, plus refunded the remainder of the 5 year guarantee.

I was pleasantly surprised as I had read plenty of negative comments in the past, but the repair guys said that Curry’s had made big efforts to improve there service recently.

Ah , just to say it IS possible to saw the outer drum in two , after drilling (20 odd ) 3mm holes across the flange , change the bearings and reseal it with 20 odd 3mm nuts and screws, and PU sealant (Tigerseal) .

30 washes and not a drip...but I did have concerns when i bolted that lump of concrete to the bit i glued on !! Happy to leave the machine on and go out ...

2 fingers to Hotpoint... £22 for bearings and seal , 6 quid for sealant