Yike the spider bracket was a mess!

The continuation of the Whirlpool Duet spider bracket problem.  I know many have experienced this and so, this is all old news.  I'm just documenting my bracket disaster.  In this case, we lucked out and the bracket didn't actually snap and clung to cause a catastrophic failure.  It certainly looked as though the bracket dissolved as if acid was poured on it.

Here is where I think the greatest decay weakened the bracket

Prior to this shot, the bracket was caked in mock

Many holes that allows the stainless steel to shows through

So the new basket and bracket arrived and it is installed and laundry is back on schedule.  The new unit looked like an exact match, but without the crud and holes.  Looks like I'll have to revisit the innards next year to clean out thing and maybe use epoxy paint or an aerospace paint to protect it.  Maybe the machine will finally died before the bracket decays, or maybe we will have it for another ten years?

GHW9150 - Whirlpool Duet... Love and Hate and not F11 this time.

For some of you out there, this is a familiar subject.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mysteryonionpatch/471156850/


It has been a long almost ten years since the original repair of the F11 problem.  We've been chugging through laundry and not having issue...major issues.  Now the new issue has just popped up!

The dreaded spider bracket!



In my case it looks more like the decay than an actual crack.  However, there was quite a lot of aluminum debris in the coin trap.  So this was my clue that it was erosion that is happening.  The bracket had thinned enough not to support the weight of a heavy laundry load.  Visual inspections did shown areas of loss of detail to the casting... what could be viewed under all that muck and sludge.  Also worth noting is the smell... Yikes!  As if sewage had backed up into the entire thing.  Examining all critical parts... trap, pump and vents... didn't show any indication of what went on to cause all that.  Originally I opened the trap a week prior when a clacking was heard.  The basket had not been obviously off center then... possibly due to the load helping to move it back center.  The trap had $.55 cents and the flakes that at the time I thought were old soap bits... small enough to think that.  Thinking that must be all... just some loose change... it started up a spin cycle fine.  When the trap was opened again for the major dis-assembly, the flake were much bigger... 1/8 to 3/16 ( 3-5mm?) and about 1/2 a tablespoons worth (14.7ml?).  I'm guessing that the bigger flakes were the result of greater decay of the spider bracket.


The major symptom was the off center running of the basket and under load, the thumping and scraping sound.  The video will illustrate the amount of deflection the basket had from center/true... while empty.

You may be able to see as well the damage to the rim of the front of the tub.  The rim of the basket had, during heavy loads, become so off center that that it rubbed up against the rim and friction gouge the entire surface.

Now I'm just waiting for the new basket to arrive... I'll need some rolls of quarters.