Washing Machine Banging On Spin
Hi all.
We recently bought a new Hoover DYN 8164 washer after 13 years of faultless service from another Hoover.
We're pleased with this washer, but sometimes it has a serious balance problem and I'm convinced it's a design/software fault.
It doesn't happen every time, but occasionally the washer can literally leave the ground and hit the worktop above it.....at which point obviously we turn it off (usually you can tell by listening and catch it beforehand). The reason I think it's a design fault is because during the pre-spin cycles, when the washer is checking for balance before revving up, it never stops rotating to allow the clothes to drop and redistribute. It does slow down, but never enough to allow the clothes to leave the drum. So the washer literally gives itself one chance for a balanced load each time it spins (either the final spin, or those between portions of a programme). Every other washer I've seen slows down so the clothes fall, some even reverse to re-arrange the clothes for another attempt.
If we turn it off, the clothes naturally drop - and then restarting the programme continues as normal and by chance the drum is balanced, purely through chance....this may take a few attempts which naturally isn't ideal.
I'd just like to get a few opinions before I complain......which I'm not looking forward to as it's from one of the big chains and am sure they'll just think I've not adjusted the feet properly (which incidentally would make no difference as this is one serious balance problem and the thing would take off regardless anyway!). I'd feel a bit of a wally ringing up and saying my washer's got a design fault, but that's what I'm convinced of. Surely something like this couldn't get out of the factory gates?
Washer's only a couple of months old - obviously needs sorting as it's destroying itself, or trying to.
Regards,
Mike.
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.
Hoover DYN 8164 bangs violently on spin with occasional severe out-of-balance loads
- The problem
- A Hoover DYN 8164, only a few months old, sometimes goes badly out of balance on spin and can lift and hit the worktop. The owner believes it does not sufficiently redistribute the load during pre-spin checks and has to stop and restart it to get the load to settle by chance.
- Likely cause
- The accepted reply says the machine is definitely spinning with an unbalanced load when it should normally prevent or abort spin. The strongest explanation given is load-related imbalance, especially under-loading or washing one or two heavy absorbent items with lighter items. A fault with the machine was considered possible but not confirmed.
- What fixed it
- First review loading habits: avoid very small loads and avoid mixing a few heavy absorbent items with much lighter items. Try larger, more suitable loads and see if the behaviour improves. If the problem still occurs with a legitimate normal load, the retailer/manufacturer should be asked to inspect it, ideally with the problematic load available or with video evidence. The exact repair was not confirmed.
- Checks to try
- Observed that the machine sometimes lifts and bangs into the worktop on spin
- Owner stops and restarts the programme, after which it may spin normally
- Accepted reply identified the behaviour as a typical symptom of an unbalanced load
- Suggested checking whether loads are too small or contain heavy items mixed with lighter items
Safety: If the machine continues to jump violently, stop using it and arrange inspection. Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
1 Answer
<p>Modern washing machines have out of balance protection so they are not supposed to spin out of balanced loads. The start off very slowly and ramp up the speed smoothly which should distribute the clothes evenly. Stopping and letting the laundry fall to the bottom is a common tactic in that each time it's done the laundry is likely to fit round the drum in a slightly different way when the speed increases. Therefore it can work if the out of balance system isn't happy with the balance it can keep dropping them to the bottom of the drum and hoping they will fall slightly better next time.<br />
<br />
I can't say for certain if this model employs such tactics but the better quality washing machines are likely to have more sophisticated out of balance systems. It's possible the washer is faulty in some way but it could just be that it can't distribute them ideally because the loads are too small, or a mix of just one or two heavy absorbent items and much lighter items. This is issue is worse with large drum capacity washing machines, which need more laundry in than normal to be efficient and to balance the loads properly. I have an article on Washerhelp, which explains the issue in detail - <a href="http://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/washing-machine-jumps-and-bangs-on-spin/">Bangs on spin? How do I avoid out of balance loads in my washing machine?</a></p>
<p>Strictly speaking the washing machine should not go into a spin if it hasn't balanced the laundry properly. The fact that your washing machine violently jumps up show the load is not balanced (it's a typical symptom of an under-loaded washing machine). If anything the washer should be timing out and simply not spinning as described here - <a href="http://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/washing-machine-wont-spin-just-one-item-or-very-small-loads/">Washing machine won't spin just one item or very small loads</a></p>
<p>I would read both my articles very carefully and see if you can improve the situation by adding more laundry or changing loads if you are placing some heavy items in with light ones combined with small loads. If this isn't the issue you need to call them out to look at it, leaving a load available (that you are confident is a legitimate load) to show what happens, or at least filming the problem and showing the load that was washed on the film.</p>
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Your Answer
Sign in to share your expertise and post an answer.
Related Questions
Hotpoint F7 E2 Fault
0 answers • 1 reply
My Bosch washing machine is stuck on 33 minutes remaining
1 answer • 1 reply
Bosch washing machine door lock accidentally triggered with the door open – how I reset it
0 answers • 2 replies
Cant identify the correct replacement carbon brushea
0 answers • 2 replies
LG washing machine making intermittent noise — video link included
1 answer • 4 replies