Sparks from Miele W1 WKC130
Hi,
The washing machine has visible sparks (and hot metal smell) during spin cycle, appearing to come from the bottom front of the drum. The inner drum is not concentric with the outer drum, varying from <1cm to >2, and there is discolouration on the inner drum where the gap is narrowest. I think it is probably managing to touch the outer drum and rubbing there during the spin?
The inner drum rotates freely and quietly, and there is no up/down play relative to the outer drum so I am thinking it is probably not the bearings. I took the top off, and couldn't see any obvious problems - no disconnected or broken springs. There wasn't much to see...
I guess the question is: is there any plausible cause for this that would be repairable? I can get a Miele service guy to come and have a look, but that will cost at least £150 (I am in Norway) just to get his opinion.
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.
Miele WKC130 sparking from drum area during spin
- The problem
- During spin, the Miele WKC130 produced visible sparks and a hot metal smell, apparently from the bottom front of the drum. The inner drum was reported as off-centre relative to the outer drum, with brownish discolouration and a rough edge on part of the inner drum lip where the gap was smallest.
- Likely cause
- The strongest diagnosis discussed was damage affecting drum alignment, most likely a hairline crack in a drum spider arm or a drum lip distorted by a trapped foreign object. Bearings were considered less likely because the drum rotated freely and quietly and no up/down play was found. The exact cause was not confirmed.
- What fixed it
- Recommended checks were to inspect for localised drum play by pulling and lifting at the 6 o’clock position and repeating all around the drum, and to look for signs of contact damage on the outer drum or door seal. It was also suggested that a foreign object may have entered between the inner and outer drums and distorted the drum lip. No confirmed repair was documented.
- Checks to try
- Checked drum rotation: free and quiet
- Checked for broken or disconnected springs from the top: none seen
- Checked for play around the drum at different positions
- Observed slight front-to-back play but no up/down play
- Inspected outer drum and door seal for visible damage
- Observed brownish discolouration and roughness on part of the inner drum lip
Safety: Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
5 Answers
Try checking all around the drum for play at a specific point that might indicate a crack in one of the 3 drum spider arms.
Pull and lift up at the 6 o’clock position. Then turn the drum and inch or so and repeat until you’ve gone all the way around the drum.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the reply. I wasn't able to feel any play at any position.
David
Hi David. If there’s no play in the drum or bearings it shouldn’t be able to catch on anything. If the drum lip is out of shape by a lot it may have been damaged by an obstruction. But if you can’t see where it’s catching when you turn the drum something must be “giving” and allowing the drum to move during spin and catch on something.
That’s usually something like a hairline crack in one of the drum spiders. If it’s catching on the plastic outer drum you should be able to see damage and burnt plastic where it is catching. It may be at the sides or top.
Is it catching on the door seal maybe?
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Hi Andy,
I see what you mean. I can get a tiny bit of front-to-back play but nothing up/down, and certainly not enough to get contact between the outer and inner drums. Although spinning at 1600rpm with a full load probably exerts more force than I can muster!
The outer drum is metal, and I can't see any damage on it or on the seal. But there is a brownish discolouration around a few inches of the inner drum where is closest to the outer, and the edge feels rough there. I suppose something could have gotten caught there, rubbed and then dislodged? In which case maybe it is still somewhere in there? Is there some way of looking for/finding/removing things caught between the inner and outer drums?
Hi David. Yes, it's possible something got in there and buckled the lip of the drum. However, if you are still getting sparks and friction burning when the drum spins with a full load inside, then the damage is already done, and retrieving an object wouldn't help.
But if the sarks and burning has stopped, it would be worth making sure nothing is inside that could cause serious damage. Check my article out here how to remove an object from inside washing machine
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