Solved
Samsung

Samsung Ecobubble

NINico
Asked about 6 years ago 1,238 views
0

Hi, can anyone confirm from the attached photos that the drum position on my Samsung Ecobubble is correct or has it slipped somehow. It shredded a seal last week, fitted new seal yesterday but the drum seems to be catching on the new seal. I had to disassemble the whole thing again to take the picture. Help please, thanks.

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.

Samsung Ecobubble shredding door seal due to failed spider arm assembly

The problem
The washing machine shredded the door seal and the drum appeared to be catching on the replacement seal. After repair, a further leak developed from the lower part of the machine.
Likely cause
Confirmed failed spider arm assembly. The original advice also noted that excessive drum lift from a worn bearing, cracked spider or drum damage can cause seal damage; the poster later confirmed the spider arm assembly had disintegrated. The leak was ultimately traced to scoring in the front half of the outer plastic tub caused by a broken metal fragment from the spider arm becoming trapped between the tub and seal.
What fixed it
The poster stripped the machine down and replaced one half of the drum and spider assembly, as the parts were not available separately for that model. The tub seal was also replaced. When a leak remained, the tub was removed and tested with water outside the machine, which showed the tub seal was not leaking. The damaged groove in the front half of the plastic tub was filled with Pratley putty and the machine was reassembled. The poster noted that a new front half of the plastic tub may still be needed if the repair does not last.
Checks to try
  • Checked for vertical play in the drum by lifting at 6 and 12 o'clock
  • Stripped the machine down to inspect the drum and spider assembly
  • Replaced the tub seal
  • Filled the removed tub with water outside the machine to trace the leak
  • Identified a groove scored into the front half of the plastic tub
Parts or tools mentioned
  • one half of the drum and spider assembly
  • tub seal
  • Pratley putty
  • silicone
Confirmed fixedGenerated 20 Aug 2026 · AI summaries can make mistakes — read the full thread below.
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3 Answers

Accepted Answer
0
WH
WhitegoodshelpVerified Engineer
Answered about 6 years ago

You need to hold the drum at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock and try to lift the drum up. If the drum bearing has partially collapsed, or 1 of the drum spiders has developed a crack or has corroded, or if the drum has somehow split somewhere then you should be able to lift the drum up and down on its shaft. Turn the drum slowly a couple of inches around at a time and repeat the test. Sometimes the drum will only lift up at one particular point.

Essentially the drum should not move more than about 1 mm on the drum shaft. If it moves up and down excessively that would explain why it is damaging the door seal and it is probably going to be very expensive to repair. Don't mistake the swaying backwards movement of the outer drum, which is suspended and springs and suspension, for up-and-down movement of the drum on its shaft.

Whitegoods Help — appliance repair expert and forum host.
1
NI
Nico
Answered almost 6 years ago

Hi sorry for the late reply/update but I’ve been waiting for parts. I got to the bottom of my problem after I stripped the washing machine down. The spider arm assembly had disintegrated causing the drum to spin off balance I presume. Anyway, I replaced one half of the drum and spider assembly (as you can’t buy them separately for my model) put it back together and it works perfectly other than a small leak from the bottom of the machine. I replaced the tub seal also but did not use silicone to seal it, I suspect that’s why it’s now leaking. So I’m now going to strip the whole lot down again and re-seal the two halves of the tub with silicone, I’ll let you know what happens.

1
NI
Nico
Answered almost 6 years ago

Well I finally got to the bottom of the leak and my Samsung Ecobubble is fixed. I removed the tub but before I separated the two plastic pieces of the tub my wife had the idea of filling the tub outside in the garden with water. There no leak from the tub seal but there was a leak in the front half of the plastic tub. This was where a piece of metal had broken off the spider arm was jammed between the outer plastic tub and the tub seal and had scored a groove in the front half of the plastic tub. I had noticed this before but I didn’t realise the groove was so deep. Anyway, I filled the groove with Pratley putty let it set, fitted everything back together and there’s no leak now. I don’t know how long this repair will last, the next step is to buy a new plastic front half of the drum, we’ll see.

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