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Trusty bosch washing machine has sprung a leak. its at least 12 yo and has endured 2 babies so it owes me nothing but if i can fix it for 30p and save the landfill a while I will.
water appeared out the bottom of the machine, not a flood but enough to make a large pool. I ran the drain cycle, unplugged and disconnected and got it out the door and on to the patio, put it on its side and took the base plate off. eeeewww, it must have been leaking a little a good while, the inside of the baseplate is a rusty mess. rest of the machine looks like new inside still. took the pump filter out, its clean. a quick check along the rubber hose from the pump and I can't see a split. there is the odd drip of water around the pump or filter body or hose but not sure if that is the source or has been dripped onto.
I got alerted by the fiancee screaming that the washing machine was off for a walk....a couple of towels made a very uneven load so it set off when it got to spin. could the drum have been moving so much it was stretching the seal and leaked? maybe nothing actually wrong except the user? or maybe needs a new door/drum seal? Although it didn't leak out the front, it was inside.
Given its age I'm not going to bother stripping or spending much on this, but if there is anything else easy to check and fix I'd like to have a look and try as it may be as easy as getting a new one.
What does the hive mind think?
ours tore a door seal. wasn't immediately obvious apart from the wet bit....
bit of a pig to replace but easier the second time around when i put it in the right way round.
just found an espares 'how to find a leak' vid on youtube...the beko in the vid looks stunning like my bosch... but yes I'm off to thoroughly check the door seal now
door seal looks fine and no drips down the inside from by the door. I'll get the back off now...I bt its just a split in a rubber hose but I'm guessing I'll not find it.
nothing obvious. it is spotly in the back too. So I've checked the dispenser drawer...bit mouldy but don't think the leak is there, checked the filter, that's ok. checked what hoses i can see and can't see a problem, checked the door and that seems ok. the drum itself i see is made in 2 halves but I can't find signs of a leak there. I'm flummoxed. Right....time to get the 12 year old Candy out the garage...it was only a year old when i moved house....the bosch was left here. What are the chances of the Candy still working? Not strong i think!
could the drum have been moving so much it was stretching the seal and leaked?
Bet eat there’s a teeny split in the door seal. Or the overflow drain in the seals blocked or doesn’t drain.
New seal I reckon.
If it’s any use I had an old 1400classix and the heating element went pop, so only washing in cold water.. easy to change, spares and vids on YouTube.
Even when the PCP board went pop, I could have bought a new one and fitted it myself, I didn’t I bought a new Bosch machine instead.. but I too had mine for a good few years.
I know the answer, we had this with our older Bosch.
Its the detergent drawer. After a while something in there wears and it leaks down the side, inside the machine through the baseplate onto the floor. It can also be a partially blocked dispenser hose after years of use causing water to flood over the side - you may get away with disassembly and cleaning.
Ahh.. can you give e any more detail kryton?
the water jests on the dispenser are a bit mucky. I'v had them out before for a brush and clean to cure the 'it won't take conditioner' problem. but i think it must be more than that.
Just dug the other machine out...it is an indesit....somewhow got it up the steps and in the door. its currently on a fast cod test cycle. so far so good. I'd prefer to fix the bosch though, its a bigger capacity machine by the look
good lord, I think this old indesit might actually work... just waiting for the spin now.
kryton, so either the waste pipe blocked and dribbling at the pump as a result...(so see if i can disconnect,flush out and refit.) or something worn at the detergent drawer which sounds possibly more 'its borked'?
well the indesit seems to work! didn't expect that after 11 years sat in the garage. I fight the bosch up the steps and into the garage later.... and if its an easy fix then great. if not it can go out for the council to recycle with a fond fairwell, its been an awesome machine. I'd definitely get bosch next time.
Ah sorry I'm not an expert. I too cleaned everything and the problem went away, until the machine went bang. It was 13 years old.
Is it a plastic drum? If so I wouldn't be surprised if it had split, and if so, it will almost certainly fall under the 'beyond economical repair' banner, as the drums are silly money, and a right ballache to change. 🙁
yes its a plastic drum and no there is no way I'm going to fight a new drum into a 12 yo machine. However I'm fairly sure kryton pointed me at the right fault...ish. The indesit is in and running so the pressure is off. I also got the bosch out to the garage safely...getting a washing machine up 3 steps about 8" high on your own is fun. I can now mull it over for a few days...do i keep and fix or just out it. The fault is something at the detergent drawer i think. with the top off and a torch i could see under the plastic funnel like bit beneath the detergent drawer, that goes to the hose and into the drum. there was clear signs of water leaking from that plasticy bit somewhere and running.dripping off the inside of the front case. it doesn't look like its been much more than the od drip, may not be every wash...then i think the drips pool in the base plate and do no more than rust it until a load of washing with towels or the like...uneven spin makes the machine shake loads and slops the puddle of water in the shaped base plate out some of the holes in it. Thinking back I've seen the odd little bit of water on the floor occasionally going back ages...years. i've put it down to the fiancee getting wet stuff out, or wet stuff that has been soaking in the sink beside having dripped as she put it in the machine. Now i reckon some of that has likely been this leak.
I'm not sure its fixable....I'm not sure exactly what is causing the leak. it feels daft to send an otherwise fully functional machine off to the recycling centre for this minor flaw....but it also seems foolish to rik a flood in the utility room if things get worse if i continue to use it....plus the indesit is in now anyway. hmm....might offer it free on freecycle to someone looking for a machine to go out in a shed or something....although last few time using freecycle its been a bit of a pain. hmm
I've got one of these and fixed leeks three times. Twice it was the door but the one you've described is a corroded cold water inlet valve. Easy and cheep to replace.
Ooo ta, I'll take a look.