Washing Machine Balance...Walking and Banging...

Top or front loader?

A washing machine (front loader at least) is usually suspended on springs with a damper cylinders. have a look there.

My sister in law forgot to remove all the transport clamps and it was jumping badly.

Have a look at your main shaft and bearings. they may need replacement.

Finally close the door before it walks away.

Top loader...and it just seems to be a poor floor that prevents this thing from being "happy".

The "banging" is the sound of the bowl assembly colliding with the inside of the cabinet. Some machines have a 'self compensating' leveler device coupling two feet together, usually the rear two. Is it siezed? Do you have height adjustable feet? Some machines do, usually just the one tho', to compensate for uneven floors.

You may be also able to check and re-tension the bowl 'suspension' springs. Three, usually. Grab the centre post of the agitator and push it laterally in all directions. Does it move VERY easily so that the bowl strikes the inside of the cabinet? Take off the rear panel (early Hoovers allow the removal of the front panel so you can see the thing working---great) and tension the adjusters so that the centre post is, in fact, in the centre of the machine. Without being there I can not offer you the 'seat of the pants' feel one needs, and I don't know the specific make, but use your logic. Do the adjustments in small increments so that you don't run the risk of overtightening.

And don't turn the thing on with you hands in there. Make sure it's unplugged before beginning the work.

Cheers,

Stu.

Stu,

Although I was troubled with initial dissambly- I have now determined that the machine is in need of adjustment. One tensioner is very lax...another moderately. The tub moves one direction very easily and I am set to correct this. I am simlutaneously adding some 2 by framework and 3/4 plywood decking construction to help get this thing a little more stabilized- thanks to additional comments on that by others.

Aside from swearing my toolbox and that "one" wrench that always seems to be needed and missing- I will conquer this. The washer is relatively new- and I have not found any broken parts yet.

Thanks to all for the tips- from everyone that spent a minute or two for responses...

Hi, GroundedinScience!

Be careful about tightening up the tensioners, as the shimmy in a tightly tensioned drum will carry more efficiently to the body of the machine. Some degree of laxity between the tensioners and the body is a good thing. I would experiment by tensioning to the mean of what's there already.

I've now read descriptions of how to deal with the walking problem in both top loaders and side loaders; and I'm curious as to which type you're dealing with.

Mark

I have a similar problem from time to time and it is usually a result of a very heavy (wet) item that isn't spread out evenly or just too much in the machine. My machine is also on a '88 (1888) floor. A heavy sheet of plywood, or two sheets screwed together, shimmed to level, up off the floor with an edging around it in which the washer sits works for me.

First, fix the floor. If that is not practical, just build a platform for the machine to sit on using 2X4 and plywood. Start with a 2X4 frame on the floor. Essentially you are building a sub floor that will distribute the weight of the washing machine over a larger area. Level the platform with shims and nail or screw it into place.

Next, sheath the 2X4 frame with 3/4" plywood and nail and screw that on.

Mark the feet of the washer where you want it to sit on the plywood. Get 4 furniture coasters that are the cup type and screw each into the plywood where the marks for the feet are.

Lift and place the washer onto the four coasters so that the washer will not walk when activated.

Level the washers using the washer's adjustable feet and test run a load.

Washers can also go out of balance when clothing gathers at one side of the rotating drum. The trick is to evenly distribute it when you first put it in.

However, get the floor fixed first, then see if the washer works correctly and go from there.

Hello GroundedinScience

Some washing machines are designed to auto-balance the load by a shaking action.

This is quite OK, providing the machine is level in both directions, and is on a "non-bouncy" floor.

Your best long-term solution is to remove that faulty floor, re-pile as needed, install new flooring.

Easy fix which I have often used, is to fit a concrete paver of suitable size under the machine, ensure it is level, and level the washing machine so all four feet are placed firmly against the concrete.

The inertia of the concrete slab will allow the washing machine to auto-balance the load, without the walking problem.

Of course you could always go back to an earlier more eco-friendly version

kind Regards....

Dear Worried Husband,

As one of the laundry experts has pointed out (but did not go all the way) the problem is due to : eccentrical forces (mechanical term. nothing to do with the :farcical one). It is only marginally connected to your floor or indeed: its age. What happens is that on commencing the spinning cycle - when the weight is unevenly spread in the washing machine drum - that weight spinning at increased speed has a lot of energy. That energy is the force which displaces the whole machine (and load).Newer machines have electric switches which give impulses or kickstart the spin , this has the effect of reducing the weight of the un-balanced piece or clump of clothing by shedding its water content more rapidly (and limit the very powerful knocks that result in the whole machine " walking" ) . These kick/start are sometime repeated by two or three cycles. The result is very positive . They are absolutely needed for newer machines which now spin at + 1100 rpm.

(No I am not a washing salesman- but having had the same problem my suggestion is as follows) Try a thick (but properly water-proofed) slab of polystyrene foam) .This will aim at absorbing vibration . The main problem is :vibration. It has either to be dissipated or absorbed . The outer edges should have as elesewhere suggested a wooden frame which is itself anchored to your old floor .This is to totally and (finally) stop the vibration induced " walking " of your machine Can you use carriage bolts for the frame that keeps the machine steady ? These should, if possible, be sunk into the under side members of your flooring ? Variations to the above are :

1.A piece of rubber from a used conveyor belt. Itself placed flat on the polystyrene or thick foam underlay. Remember anything that may absorb vibration and as well contain the horizontal movements , is the answer.

Good luck and hope your Wife will stop sending you to the "dog house " to sleep because you are too tired to fix the problem. (Also that you do not have to change your floor-Obviously if it supports : your machine + the clothes + the water = quite passable strenght )

Labot Omnia Vincit

All of these guys that have answered have missed the point- this is what happens: in a frontloader, the bearing goes- resulting in excessive movement of the drum & bang etc- in toploader the base plate if alloy disintegrates- resulting in same- this prob in both cases is brought on by excessive use of soap/detergent/hot water- use cold water & will last far longer(as will your clothes!). Certainly the floor needs to be level to start with. The probs are not helped by manufacturers cutting quality to compete with cheap imports.

Mark,

You're absolutely right. After your comment, I re-read mine and realised that I'd made the cardinal mistake of 'assuming' (that the machine was loaded correctly in the first place). My Mrs. does it all the time. Puts a single bath sheet in with the smalls. In the spin cycles,poor bloody machine flails around some until it attains speed enough to partially overcome the imbalance. It must be said that the thing has soldiered on for the past eight years and I've only had to adjust the bowl springs once on this machine. US built. I've always had the experience that people kill machines.

So, with all of the info thus far, GroundedinScience should now have about enough to go into business repairing washing machines. No?

Cheers,

Stu.

I generally agree -- although I think that the switch for imbalance shut down is on one side, so if the machine is not level, the switch can trip more frequently than it otherwise would.

My vertical spindle washer is old (1985 vintage, I'd guess) and will walk around and bang if the load gets out of kilter. Even if you start with the load apparently well-distributed and make a few mental calculations to compensate for those items that hold a lot of water versus those which hold less, it is easy to end up with the load being out of whack when the spin cycle starts. (I don't know, but suspect you could start the machine with all the clothes on one side, and that during the wash cycle, they would become randomly distributed before the spin cycle starts. I'm sure this would be the case if a butterfly beats its wings in Brazil at the right time.)

My machine has little or no damping, with the whole basket just hanging on rods, so if the floor is flexible and also not well-damped, it can reinforce the oscillation of the washer. It happens that this same washer was installed on a floor (in an earlier house) that had weakened, and fixing the floor reduced the amount of walking and frequency of imbalance trips. Now the washer is on a slab, but still trips occasionally.

I suspect a new washer would help, but mine is only 23 years old, so it seems a shame to get rid of it so soon.

After moving in with my ailing mother-in-law, I noticed her washer doing a combination tango/twist type dance to a rhythmic banging sound. I first checked the flooring and replaced some faulty joists and plywood(the washer was just about ready to visit the crawl space below). The dance/music continued. I pulled the front cover off the washer and found the drum/tub was supported by four rubber bungee type things. One of those was broke, so I ordered four and replaced them all. Now it has a slight shimmy, but it doesn't dance.

I Had this problem with my my top loading Whirlpool Automatic Washining machine. I called mfr's service man and he told me that in vertical spin machine we should load fabric in balanced way. It means that clothes should be loaded so that they encircle the vertical spinner. This way while spinning at high speed the load is well balanced at tumbler does not hit the casing due to unbalanced centrifugal load. I found this noise problem disappeared after proper loading of clothes.

Suresh Sharma.

We just moved into a new house and now find our 9mo old top loader seriously imbalances in spin cycle -- even when empty! After reading above I am going to go check the front/back/side tension of the drum. Thanks to all for the comments!

Hi, Guest!

Judging by some of the comments made in here during the time of the discussion, adjusting the spring tensions around the drum might be a dangerous thing to do, since the balance is pre-set at the factory, and difficult to re-establish once off.

Before going to such extremes, check to see if the machine is on the level before it starts up. If it isn't, then adjust the feet until it is. Even if that is not a 100% fix, you may consider changing the wet load distribution during the spin cycles to effect an artificial balance.

Mark

The washer MUST be level . There are adjustable feet on all washers to ensure that they are situated as level . If the floor under the washer is weak the washer will move around as it enters the spin mode . You have three options .

Ensure the floor under the washer is SOLID and SECURE .

Adjust the washer feet to ensure that the washer is LEVEL in all axis.

Do not overload the washer with too many clothes per load .

Note : Maytag top loading washers of the last ten years had minor spin cycle vibration troubles , they are covered by your warrenty if applicable .?

All said , i would check the floor and machine level .

Go under the house and brace the floor. That is what we did with our 03 house...1903 house that is.

Hello Guest,

I would have thought that a house built in the halcyon days of 1903 would have thicker timber and better bracing than any modern house.

Kind Regards....

Hi, Sparkstation!

Halcyon & well-built or not, 100 or more years would allow the timbers under a [single storey] above-ground home to sag a little. (Guest did say, "...under the house...")

Mark