How to lubricate bearings in a washing machine without disassembling the drum
When your washing machine's bearing assembly starts making strange, unusual noises during a wash cycle, it's a sign of impending failure, which can be prevented by not ignoring this warning signal from your "home helper." To prevent this, you need to partially disassemble the machine, remove the bearings, lubricate them, and then reinstall them. However, this is a very time-consuming and difficult process. Therefore, it's best to first try lubricating the washing machine's bearings without disassembling them, saving time and effort. Let's take a closer look at this unusual process.
We fill the inner and outer bearings with grease without dismantling them.
This original method is used by some craftsmen in their work, who lubricate the bearings in this way without disassembling the drum of the automatic washing machine. Its main advantage is that during repair work there is almost no need to interact with the drum and other key components of the washing machine. What to do for this?
Disconnect the appliance from the water supply and power supply.
Move the washing machine away from the wall to gain easy access.
Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove all screws securing the back panel of the device.
Using a TORX key, loosen the bolt that holds the pulley.
Pull the pulley off to gain access to the outer bearing.
Choose a spot directly above the bearing, step back from the edge about 7 millimeters and mark this area with a pencil, pen or marker.
Carefully drill this hole with a 5mm metal drill bit. You need to make a hole in the plastic and in both bearing races.
You can tell that you have started drilling the bearings by the formation of characteristic metal shavings.
Generous amounts of lubricant should be added to the hole that appears.
Using your hands, rotate the drum in different directions approximately 50 times, which will allow all the technical lubricant to be distributed inside the bearing assembly.
Add the product to the hole again, but less than the first time.
Spin the drum manually again.
You should stop after the extraneous sound from the bearings has completely disappeared and the part has been restored.
This non-standard repair method is only suitable in situations where the bearings are not damaged.
What are we going to lubricate it with?
Regardless of whether you lubricate the parts without disassembling the drum or after disassembling it, you will need high-quality grease for the bearing assembly. Because they are all designed for different parts and situations, there are a huge number of them on the market, so it is easy to make the wrong choice. Bearing and seal cleaner must have important qualities.
Water resistance. Bearings are sealed with a seal that actively rotates on the shaft, preventing water from penetrating the unit. This is why the lubricant on the sealing ring must remain for a long time, rather than being washed away by water after a few operating cycles.
Heat resistance. This is important not only because a washing machine can typically heat water up to 90 degrees Celsius, but also because the shaft heats up rapidly during the rapid rotation of the drum, which heats up the bearings and seal along with it. If the product isn't heat-resistant, it will degrade over time, allowing water to enter the bearing assembly.
Non-aggressive. A high-quality, non-aggressive lubricant will prevent the seal from becoming soft or, conversely, too hard and therefore leaking.
Thick. Finally, the detergent should be thick enough to prevent it from leaking during washing.
Do not use various lubricants for cars, such as Azmol or Litol-24, as they are not suitable for use in automatic "home assistants".
When it comes to specific brands and products, it's very difficult to understand them without some background, so we've compiled a short list of lubricants that are frequently used by repair technicians.
AMPLIFON is a waterproof product from Italy, manufactured by MERLONI.
Anderoll is a special lubricant recommended by Indesit. It's available in stores in either 100-gram jars or special syringes, designed for two reconditioning sessions.
LIQUI MOLY "Silicon-Fett" is a silicone-based lubricant from Germany, available in 50-gram tubes. It's not cheap, but it's extremely effective.
Huskey Lube-O-Seal PTFE Grease is another high-quality product with good moisture protection that works well in washing machine bearing assemblies.
Any of the listed products can be safely purchased for home washing machine repair. Buy a reliable lubricant, then simply follow our instructions step by step, or partially disassemble the machine if you don't want to drill anything.
When your washing machine's bearing assembly starts making strange, unusual noises during a wash cycle, it's a sign of impending failure, which can be prevented by not ignoring this warning signal from your "home helper." To prevent this, you need to partially disassemble the machine, remove the bearings, lubricate them, and then reinstall them. However, this is a very time-consuming and difficult process. Therefore, it's best to first try lubricating the washing machine's bearings without disassembling them, saving time and effort. Let's take a closer look at this unusual process.
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