Hotpoint Aquarius W960 - Occasional Squeak
Hey guys,
I've just signed up in desperation of some help so I will apologise in advance for coming here looking for something straight of but after reading parts of the forum I think someone here could hold the answer I need. I've also read through the Troubleshooting guide and nothing there fits with my problem.
I had the bearings replaced under warranty before it expired. The machine came back with an occasional squeaking noise going into and coming out of a spin. The engineer thought it could be the shocks and replaced them too but the noise remained. So the insurer wrote the machine off and paid me a reduced amount to keep it. It's a bit of a long story which I won't bore you with as it has little bearing (excuse the pun) on my current issue.
Here is a link to a short video showing what I mean: [image deleted]
I've located what I believe to be the issue. Here is a picture of the back of the drum: [image deleted] As you can see there is damage to the inside of the rear panel. When the machine is coming out of and into a spin there is excessive movement of the drum and the machine shakes a little causing the spindle in the picture to hit the back panel.
Here is evidence of that:
The machine is flat on the floor and doesn't move about but yet there is excessive movement of the machine due to the excessive movement of the drum it appears.
What else should I look at replacing to stop this noise, the springs? Can anyone offer me any suggestions?
Thanks in advance
Solution Summary
AI-generated from this discussion
This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.
Hotpoint Aquarius W960 squeak traced to drive belt position
- The problem
- Hotpoint Aquarius W960 had an intermittent squeaking noise as the drum went into and out of spin. The owner initially suspected excessive drum movement after previous bearing and shock absorber work, and had seen marks on the rear panel.
- Likely cause
- Confirmed cause was the drive belt sitting too far rearward on the motor pulley grooves, so it intermittently rubbed on the back panel. Earlier suggestions about load imbalance, levelling or suspension were diagnostic possibilities but were not confirmed as the cause.
- What fixed it
- The belt was loosened and refitted further forward on the motor pulley until it no longer rubbed the back panel. The owner reported the correct position was three grooves in from the furthest rearward groove; too far forward caused the belt to rub the drum.
- Checks to try
- Observed that the noise happened on every wash, though sometimes louder than others
- Rear panel showed rubbing marks
- Considered whether load imbalance could be contributing
- Checked the machine was solid and level on the floor
- Owner traced the noise source by trial and error to the belt rubbing the back panel
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Drive belt
Safety: Do not bypass any safety devices. Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer if belt alignment cannot be corrected safely.
5 Answers
The first video shows that the load is quite out of balance. It looks like there might not be enough laundry in to be able to distribute it evenly around the drum or a large sheet could be tangled. Most washing machines will jump about and thump the sides and back if the load is unbalanced. Therefore the first thing is to make sure that it isn't just doing it when the load isn't balanced properly.
If it does this noise every time even with a nice smooth load it is unusual. If there are no top tub springs holding the main drum central then the suspension legs are responsible for holding it central. There shouldn't really be any back and front movement. All movement of the outer drum during spin and wash should be from side to side.
Make absolutely sure that the washing machine is level front to back and not slightly leaning backwards. Other than that if the suspension has already been replaced I can't think of anything to suggest. It's possible that they didn't replace all of the suspension damper legs.
The drum shouldn't catch the back panel unless the tub is leaning backwards for some reason. Check how close the drum pulley wheel is to the back panel with the washing machine empty. Then put a full load of laundry inside and let it fill up with water. Then see if the drum leans backwards under the pressure and closes the gap are not. If the suspension is okay then the drum should just drop down slightly and should not lean backwards.
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Hi Andy,
Thanks for your detailed reply.
The noise happens in every wash but sometimes is less than others. Even when I pull the machine out and ensure it is solid on the ground this still occurs. Oddly it wasn't like tis before the bearings were replaced regardless of whether the load was balanced or not so I am assuming somethings has been disrupted or not fitted correctly.
There is excessive movement of the drum which is causing the noise so should I look at replacing the springs now?
Those top springs are very strong. I've never known them need replacing. If by any chance they look different you could try swapping them around in case they got them the wrong way round when they did the drum bearings. Suspension used to be stronger on one side because when the drum goes into spin there's a lot of force on the side that the drum spins to. Other than that if the drum is held centrally in place and doesn't twist or drop back when water and laundry is inside then technically there shouldn't be any fault. A very crude workaround could be to drill a hole in the back panel which would stop the noise if it's only just touching the panel but you'd need to make sure there wasn't anything like a hose touching the back panel when it's pushed back in place..
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Andy, have an update on the issue as I found the problem after much trial and error.
The squeak was being caused by the belt rubbing against the back panel intermittently. This was due to the belt being installed on the motor cog grooves too far rearward which caused it to rub against the back panel. Loosening the belt and reinstalling it forward a few groves (towards front of the machine) solved the problem. But go too far forward and the belt then rubs against the drum, so you have to find the sweetspot. For me it was 3 grooves in from the furtherest rearward groove.
Thanks for your help though and hope that helps someone.
Thanks for the feedback. It's important to have conclusions on forum questions. That's a good one. Bad design though. The motor grooves should be just the right amount for the grooves in the belt. I suppose that's down to designing to fit lots of different machines.
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