AEG Washer Drier making banging noise and smoke

This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.

AEG washer drier banging on dry cycle with smoke from drum

The problem

A 5-year-old AEG washer drier became progressively louder on the dry cycle over several weeks, then produced some smoke from the drum. With the back removed, brown debris was seen. The belt appeared intact, and the noise remained when the belt was removed and the drum was spun by hand.

Likely cause

Accepted diagnosis was collapsed drum bearings, likely requiring a complete new drum kit. This was presented as the probable cause of the banging noise and debris/smoke.

What fixed it

The accepted advice was that repair would probably require a complete new drum kit and was likely not economical. The original poster decided to order a replacement machine.

Checks to try

• Back removed and brown debris observed
• Drive belt visually checked and found to look fine
• Belt removed and drum spun by hand
• Noise still present with belt removed, suggesting it was not a motor issue