Big bang from washing machine....now sounds like it's full of bricks. Any ideas?

[CointreauVersial]

As above; washing machine was just starting the spin cycle when there was a big bang. It made it to the end of the program, but with a LOT of clattering and banging. When I opened the door the seal was all twisted and the drum seems to be off-centre.

I presume some bracket has broken...question is, is it worth fixing? Machine is about 15 years old, so it owes us nothing.

Sounds buggered and would be beyond economic repair

Buy a new one, modern ones are quieter and more efficient :)

Sounds like the belt has gone, you can replace these yourself if there isnt too much damage, but it can be a pig of a job as the fit is very tight - did this to my 15 year old machine and it lived on!

Every time any washing machine I've ever had has had a problem it has always been the bearings. So I'm going to go way out on a limb and diagnose it as a bearings issue. But then I've never had a big bang thing happen - and after 15 years it's probably paid its dues.

Bearings would be my guess too.
Want to diagnose my tumble drier?

It sounds like a belt or something has snapped. I wouldn't bother getting it repaired.
Theres some good bargains out there now. I replaced ours last year, we'd had it for five years. Got a Candy 8kg load. It's fab.

Hmm....belt or bearings, then. It was a heavy load of towels which did for it.

Trouble is, the call-out for an engineer plus the repair will easily be £100, and I'm not sure it's worth it for such an old machine.

Actually - it won't be the belt! I've had that before, and the drum stops turning.

Ours did something similar and it turned out to be one of the stabilising springs had snapped! There's a bloody great lump of concrete in the bottom of a washing machine to stop it jumping all over the place when it's spinning who knew? and the spring sort of attached to that - if you pull out the machine and take the back off it you should be able to see if something like that has happened.

Our machine was so old we couldn't get replacement parts so had to get a new one.

Dh took the drum out of the old one and we now use it on the patio as a fire pit!!

Whojamaflip - that sounds plausible too. It really did make a whopping bang.

Not sure we need a new fire pit, though.

Washing machines aren't very complex. If you take the back off it should be fairly obvious what's gone wrong.

I agree it doesn't sound like the belt unless the drum spins freely without resistance (you can usually tell if you try to spin it). Stabilising spring is a good call. Bearings would make the funny noise but I don't think a busted bearing would cause the drum to be off-centre like that.

It's knackered. Send it to its final resting place.

I do like the sound of a fire pit though

I do admire it going for 15 years. I can't get more than 3 out of any of mine.

Gamerchick - we seem to get through dishwashers and kettles on an annual basis, but this is only the second washing machine I've ever owned, and I'm 50, with 3 DCs.

When something similar happened to ours, it was because the breeze block had come loose (it sits on top of the drum, to dampen the vibration, and had made a dent on the side of the casing). It was very quick and easy to fix.

Suggest you check the sides of your machine for any tell-tale indentations.

Nothing to lose by taking the back off and having a look. Ours did exactly the same thing, some nuts/bolts/screws had sheared off and the belt kept it going round even though the drum was no longer attached, hence the noise. It all comes down to whether you can be bothered to fix it/pay to have it fixed and whether you can afford to replace it.

Off track but we took our old W/M apart (not to repair , but we had ti move it to the skip)

It looked a bu**er to repair in there, and yes there was a big concrete block.
I wanted to keep the glass door (no idea why, bowl to soak my feet in maybe) ?
Never thought about fire pits.

If its an old machine, you get it repaired, something else will go.

You weren't washing a load of bricks by any chance then?

No, just towels. Big ones. Obviously the machine was unbalanced when it started to spin....kaboom.

I had the same, took the back off and the drum holder (technical term) had rusted through. You are unlikely to get any parts.
For £399 of your finest english pounds, you get this which got 80% score from Which.

For £399 of your finest english pounds, you get this which got 80% score from Which

I bought this machine last month after putting our aged Bosch out to pasture. Love it, love it, love it - I thought our old machine was cleaning the clothes fairly well, but compared to how they are now, it wasn't.

Oh dear Cointreau. Unfortunately sounds like your washing machine is beyond economical repair. At this age I think it might be time to put it out to pasture. Would recommend a lovely new one from Bosch.

Big bang?
Is your washing machine a portal to another universe😆

peaceout. A universe where there are no overflowing laundry baskets, possibly?

Anyway, I threw in the towel (geddit??). After a good look at my poor machine (I can't even close the door because the drum is so sideways) and considering your comments I decided it really wasn't worth fixing and went to Currys to buy a new washer dryer. I bought another Zanussi; if it lasts as long as its predecessor, I'll be happy. Thanks all.