We have an 8 year old smeg (titter) machine washing machine in msjimmy’s rented out flat. Apparently the bearings are gone and the electrician who looked at it says it’s not worth repairing. Seems a bit sledgehammer / nut to me. Anyone any experience of such things ?

No idea, but I’ve just been looking at new machines as my 15 year old thing sounds like it’s about to explode.

I looked on eSpares as I used them for a replacement grill element for a cooker. There were plenty of bearings and they look cheap enough. I’ll not bother as the massive shower of rust last time I tried to move the washing machine suggests it’s just getting a bit past it.

I’d guess the sparky was being bone idle and “not worth it” is more that it’s something he doesn’t do so it would be a ball ache of a job for him.

Aye that’s what I figured. It’s probably worth more to him in labour to do what seems a cheap job in parts. Or he can swap a new one in double-quick and claim his fee.

I guess it depends on the machine. We had one where the bearing could not be replaced. When the bearing went it was scrap.

If you can get to the bearing OK it should be an easy enough fix.

Plenty of good tutorial vidoes on the web for washing machine repair. I’ve found them very helpful

Considered doing one on our zanussi as parts are cheap, but given how long it would take to strip and rebuild, I opted for a new one. Also, if the bearings are gone, then no doubt something else will be waiting to fail in it

This happened to us, my girlfriend’s Dad is a white goods engineer and he gave the same advice, though admittedly for a crappy Hotpoint. Probably time to look for a replacement!

From stripping washing machines down to turn into wood burners – it is an absolute ballache of a job, nevermind having to them build it back up.

Drum bearings are one of the harder jobs because you need a puller and probably a press too. It’s not worth doing if the wiring loom has been fretting against the case and the insulation is beginning to wear. I threw away my faithful and much-repaired Hoover when I saw that was happening after 17 years of use.

Considered replacing the bearings myself until I googled what was involved. Essentially take the whole machine apart and put it back together again, so yeah no kd see labour costs would render the job not worth the bother

All depends on the type of drum & how it comes apart, I posted something similar a month or so ago, washing machine / work top in the garage to keep the untility free from crud in a new house & bearings went after many years service.
machine is a Gorenje & it really was very easy, drum stays in place just the rear spider / bearing & shaft support to remove, pop the old bearings of the shaft ( new ones acquired free from work) check shaft for wear / damage & if all ok pop the new ones in with a new seal as that’s how they generally end up knackered as the water & detergent wash all the grease out of them as the seal wears out.

I’d try & find out how the bearings come out before scrapping it, good old tinterweb… older machines generally are better built & serviceable, new units nowadays are built / priced to be replaced after so many cycles.

Hope that helps.

It’s a bit odd for the repair man to advise its not worth repairing without giving you some idea of the cost to repair. Does that mean it cannot be repaired? Or that its not worth his while to repair it – in that case it’s your choice and if he doesn’t want the business then someone else might. It could be the case that the drum is designed that they cannot be replaced. They might have been built into the drum such that they cannot be replaced without significant disassembly of the drum which might not be possible.

I tried this once – never again. Had to strip teh machine into pretty much every component part, some seals were non-reusable, had to replacxe some electrics as they wouldnt work after disassembly/reassembly.

Took 2 (long) evenings, skinned knuckles and a lot of cursing and hitting things with hammers.

Lasted about another year then expired completely anyway.

I imagine the labour costs + ‘putting off the customer cos its a ballache’ surplus plus pence for parts approximately equals new machine cost

I took our machine apart before working out that the bearings weren’t replaceable…which does explain why they were hard to source…

We’ve used a good guy a couple of times, ping me a message if you want his number.

I have done bearings on our LG, twice in 12 years.
It is a ‘strip to every last bit’ job, but last time I did it in two hours, total cost £14 new bearings and seals.

I replaced various bits on my Miele, including soldering some new bits on the motherboard. That thing is built to last and to be serviced. I was impressed at how easy it was to service.
I heard SMEG fridges are junk inside. No idea what their washing machines are like. As others have said worth investigating. But if you are paying someone to do it for you, rather than doing it yourself it may not be economical.

I replaced the bearings in our newish LG machine. About 4 hours labour and £30 for parts. I’m a sparky and have worked on industrial washing machines/dryers in the past and it was still a pita!
Where do you live?

If it is a buy to let, the cost of a new washing machine or the cost of someone repairing can be offset against the income in order to reduce your Mrs tax bill, unfortunately your time cannot. I would buy a new one and spend your time biking.