How should a washing machine drum rotate by hand?

Rotating the drum of a washing machine is one of the main tasks of a household appliance, thanks to which the laundry inside the tub becomes clean. Therefore, nothing should interfere with its movement, and it itself must pass easily and smoothly. Also, the drum should rotate freely if it is turned by hand in a position when the unit is not operating. Violation of this process may be a sign of a breakdown or imminent failure of other components of the equipment.

How hard does a working drum spin?

You can determine the serviceability of the washing machine and the condition of the bearings driving the drum by twisting the metal container with your hands. To do this, when the household appliances are not working, you should open the hatch and use two fingers to activate the drum. You need to twist with two fingers, as close as possible to the rubber cuff located near the door.

The drum should rotate by hand completely freely for machines equipped with an inverter motor, and with average effort for devices with a belt drive. Also, inverter washing machines can make a slight hum.

If the drum does not give in when rotating or considerable effort is required to drive it, it is worth considering a deeper check of the condition of the bearings.

When conducting the test, you need to pay attention to the sounds made by the drum. So, the norm is only a slight hum, characteristic of more modern household appliances. The following should cause alarm:

• loud noise;
• metallic clang;
• creak;
• grinding.

Another important point is the amplitude with which the rotation occurs. In a working washing machine it is uniform, without jumps. During movement, the metal does not catch anything, the drum does not stop or stop anything. If such phenomena are present, additional tests should be carried out and the condition of the internal parts of the device should be checked, and operation of the equipment should be stopped for a while.

Problems that can be checked by rotating the drum

A washing machine repairman will be able to determine by the nature of the movement of the drum which part has failed or is close to breaking. So, by turning it clockwise and counterclockwise, shaking it from side to side, the specialist will determine the presence of foreign objects between the tank and the drum, corrosion of the heating element, and other malfunctions. After all, if something that can jam its rotation falls into the holes of the drum, the heating element will simply burn out.

If a similar situation occurs while the washing machine is operating, then at best, a short circuit occurs, at worst, a fire. However, most often the wedge occurs during spinning, when the heating element has already stopped working, so such dangerous consequences are rare. So owners of household appliances are limited to partial disassembly of the household appliance to replace the heating element and remove foreign objects from the tank.

By spinning the drum, you can evaluate the condition of the bearings. However, in order for the test results to be correct, a number of other actions will need to be performed. So, you need to remove the back wall of the washing machine body and conduct a visual inspection of the back wall of the tank. Particular attention is paid to the area of ​​the nut that secures the pulley. The wall of the tank near the nut, under the pulley, should not have rusty or oily streaks. If such phenomena exist, the integrity of the oil seal and the bearings themselves should be assessed.

It is better to entrust this procedure to a specialist. If necessary, he will immediately replace parts whose service life has expired. It should be noted that such maintenance is expensive, and if upon inspection it turns out that the bushing is also damaged, repair costs will increase several times.

Rotating the drum allows you to determine the correct location of the drive belt. The fact that it has jumped out of its place will be indicated by the absence of even a slight effort to set the drum in motion. Therefore, you should not neglect such a simple test to assess the operating condition of the washing machine: if you have doubts about the correctness and ease of rotation of the drum, it is better to play it safe and call a specialist. Or conduct a more in-depth inspection yourself, if you have the necessary knowledge and skills for this.

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