Amond touch-up paint?
Hi All! Great forum!..... We have this almond and brown coloured WM51A, had it from new since before the new millenium, and like to hang onto it 'cos the colour matches the kitchen colourscheme, so I've just completed it's 5th drum bearings renewal. Also needed a new porthole door (brown) and I was pleasantly surprised that Hotpoint still had them in stock 👍 also a new door seal - the last one was a pattern one and only lasted 2 years, so this time I sourced a GENUINE Hotpoint one cheaply - think the stockists are trying to get rid of old stocks now. Anyway, with it in bits, I noticed that the front panel, directly below the soap dispenser drawer is beginning to bubble with rust, which I was able to remove with rust remover gel, and I primed the bare metal, but am wondering if HP ever made available touch-up paint for almond, probably an enamel paint. Also replaced the rubbers on the base of the struts - had some spare ones from a wm I cannibalised a while back.
Btw, the last bearing change was only 2 years ago, it seems to be the drum bearing seal fails.... would you advise smearing silicon sealant on the rim to ensure water doesn't get through to the bearing that way or does it get through the shaft hole. The WM gets a lot of hammer... sometimes 3 loads a day, and 7 days a week usually.
Had a useful memory refresher from an old youtube video - the only one I could find that covers the WM model. This guy, selfix UK is worth bookmarking for anyone with an old WM....he also covers the WMF series.
https://youtu.be/NmeD6yc1iGQ?si=p7z_cYjFY_rPllcJ
4 Answers
Hi there. Yes I used to carry touchup paint in case I accidentally chipped customers washing machine. This was a very long time ago when manufacturers were very helpful. I would be quite surprised if it's still available but it could be. Alternatively you would have to try and match it up at somewhere like Halfords or similar who sell spray paint for touching up cars.
Replacing the drum bearings on a Hotpoint washing machine is a very big job, and one I used to despise. I can't imagine myself replacing them five times on the same machine. In fact, to be honest I've never heard of bearings going more than twice on any washing machine. I can only assume that something about the way you are doing it (including the replacement parts) may well account for them not lasting very long. That is, unless it's washing for a family of 10 or 11 🙂
When you replace the drum bearings on one of those washing machines you always need to replace the drum spider too. I was told right back in the early days that Hotpoint said this was necessary, otherwise the bearings would fail again. It would be interesting to know if you always replace the drum spider? I would also never use non-genuine bearing seals. Even the genuine ones are rubbish, so I'll can only imagine that cheaper copies would be even worse. And ultimately the main cause of drum bearings failing is failure of this seal letting water inside..
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You need to remove the weights first
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Yes, with most washing machines you need to remove the entire outer drum to replace drum bearings, that is if it's even possible to replace them as so many have sealed drums now.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Hi! Thanks for that and your advice about the spider too! Only changed the spider the once, a long time ago, since then just the bearings, but funnily enough, this last time I bought the bearings, it wasn't much more money for the whole kit (bearings +spider+mounting kit) so I got that, but only changed the inner bearing + seal, as outer bearing was OK. The rest, as they say, I put 'in stock'
To change the bearings, I took the whole drum out... is that what you did?... The youtube selfix UK guy did it all within the cabinet after removing the outer drum front, (obviously), but I haven't got that much room in the kitchen for that approach, but it IS an effort to lift the drum out with the bottom weight still attached.... as I get older, the weight is getting heavier too!
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