• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
  • Several Regions have held meetups already, but others are being planned or are evaluating the interest. The Calgary Area Meetup is set for Saturday July 12th at 10am. The signup thread is here! Arbutus has also explored interest in a Fraser Valley meetup but it seems members either missed his thread or had other plans. Let him know if you are interested in a meetup later in the year by posting here! Slowpoke is trying to pull together an Ottawa area meetup later this summer. No date has been selected yet, so let him know if you are interested here! We are not aware of any other meetups being planned this year. If you are interested in doing something in your area, let everyone know and make it happen! Meetups are a great way to make new machining friends and get hands on help in your area. Don’t be shy, sign up and come, or plan your own meetup!

Fixing washing machine shocks

Janger

Janger

(John)
Vendor
Premium Member
My ~15 year old LG washer is moving around on the floor and makes alarming thumps when spinning. and not washing especially well. It seems the shocks (3 of em) are not doing their job anymore. I've got some on order and while I wait the washer is OOO and the peeps are dismayed. So I got busy taking one shock apart to see how do these things work, and what's wrong with em? They're not gas shocks, instead they are more like friction shocks. The steel shaft is impeded from moving by a foam wrap around strip and "non-grease" or friction causing grease called "damping" grease. odd substance I don't know anything about. Look it up if you're curious. I don't have any damping grease but I do have regular grease and foam tape. So had a go at 'fixing' it. The foam I have is not as dense as the stuff in the shock either. The 'fixed' shock now moves more easily than the shocks which don't work so I'd say that is not going to help. I'm going to try a hobby store to look for denser stiffer foam. I need damping grease - the usual suspects don't carry it - it is on Ali with a two week delivery. Anybody know where I can get this locally (Calgary)? No the company which shall not be named after a river is not an option. (elbows up, inconvenient, slower, more expensive, yup) I need 3 small squirts. Pics follow...

I wonder if gas shocks would work? The replacement LG shocks are expensive at $47 each.

Ali damping grease.
 
Foam tape and shocks. One new on right and old on left.

Testing shocks
New: 4.5kg
Fixed try #1: <1kg
Old shock: 3 kg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7430.jpeg
    IMG_7430.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 18
  • IMG_7429.jpeg
    IMG_7429.jpeg
    1.5 MB · Views: 18
  • IMG_7431.jpeg
    IMG_7431.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 17
Last edited:
I was reading you can make damping grease by mixing fused silica into grease. Aircraft spruce has huge bags for $35 plus ship. I need 25 grams not a sack! Anybody have fused silica?
 
Last edited:
I think I'd try some of the white, shiny foam that comes as packing. Cut some disks and stack them so the shock is somewhere appropriate in its stroke.
 
They make anti-vibration pads for washing machines - $21 and change at Home Despot:

Home Depot Anti Vibration Pads

I have not used anti-vibration pads for a washer myself but if you're going to try getting away from the $200.00+ original shocks then maybe the combination of damping grease and the pads might get better results?
 
Last edited:
We had a washing machine crap out on us a couple months back. I stripped some parts off it before it went to the recycler. Long story longer, I have 4 washing machine shocks settin' in the shop looking for something to do. Want 'em? 0.385" hole diameter, 2 closed c/c length of 6-1/2", 2 closed c/c 6-3/4". Samsung, I think.

Yours for shipping & a 6 pak of a good IPA.
 
Janger said:
I was reading you can make damping grease by mixing fused silica into grease. Aircraft spruce has huge bags for $35 plus ship. I need 25 grams not a sack! Anybody have fused silica?
Click to expand...

Maybe you mean 'fumed' silica? AKA CaboSil or AeroSil. Used to increase viscosity, typically resins from a little bit to a creamy paste. I can check stock from my composites days but I may have already gifted to a friend. Its available at IP&P for $14, maybe elsewhere but they came to mind
1757055158087.png
1757054861950.png
 
Is it a front load washer?

We have had two of them, wherein the spider that supports the drum (overhung bearing arrangement) was failing. It seemed like a soft white metal material that suffered extreme corrosion - then crack/break and allow the drum to wobble, thus be out of balance.
 
Chipper5783 said:
Is it a front load washer?

We have had two of them, wherein the spider that supports the drum (overhung bearing arrangement) was failing. It seemed like a soft white metal material that suffered extreme corrosion - then crack/break and allow the drum to wobble, thus be out of balance.
Click to expand...
Yup, very common failure point: the drum mounting spider.

New and old (drum side)
IMG_3030.jpeg


Old and new (with static balance weights, spindle drive side)
IMG_3031.jpeg

Miele uses the same sintered white metal which turns into dust over time. One could get a replacement from Miele for $1.2k + at the time. There is/was a Ukrainian company selling stainless steel replacement spiders for ~€125.00 + shipping. Problem is the war.

So I ended up making my own spider from SS. Still works well after 2.5 years.

We initially thought that the shocks were gone; it turned out that the spider was failing and causing the severe imbalance. The shocks are just fine.

Machine is 20 years old with no failures of any kind (other than the spider).
 
We had a Kenmore, failed numerous times on and off warranty, several problems in the first five years, what a POS!

Replaced it with a Miele, 20? years ago, works like new, only repair was the door seal, repair guy stated it's about 1/3 through it's expected lifetime hours.
 
Funny story.

Repaired our Maytags after 20 years. Good as new. But during the repair, wife wasn't happy and went shopping. After the repair she decided she wanted to give them to one of our kids, and bought Samsung. I was pissed.

Asked her about reviews and repairs. She looked me square in the eye and said she didn't give a shit. Look how gorgeous they are!

Fk my life sometimes.

She is driving right now. So I need to be careful about talking to myself out loud.......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top