Retaining ring fell out of doorway gasket

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

Bosch WAN door seal retaining ring refitted

The problem

On a 5-year-old Bosch WAN washing machine, the wire retaining ring with an incorporated spring had fallen out from the doorway gasket area, and the user could not see where it should be fitted or whether the machine could be used without it.

Likely cause

The retaining ring had come off the front door seal mounting groove. The follow-up suggests it may not have been seated correctly, or the spring may no longer have been tensioning the ring properly, but spring failure was not confirmed.

What fixed it

The accepted advice was that the ring fits in the thin groove that secures the door seal to the rim of the door frame. The user reported getting it back into position. Further advice stated the spring should pull the ring tight enough that fitting normally requires levering it round with a screwdriver. Exact further repair was not confirmed.

Checks to try

• Confirmed the ring belongs in the thin groove holding the door seal to the door frame rim
• User refitted the ring
• User observed the spring hanging loosely at the bottom
• Advice stated the ring should be tight all round and the spring should hold it firmly

Parts or tools mentioned

• Door seal retaining ring
• Spring
• Screwdriver