Washing machine woes

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quickymart

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#281357 13-Feb-2021 13:07

I just moved into a new property and have moved all my furniture over. I have a front loading Samsung washing machine, purchased new from Noel Leeming in around October 2018.

I was doing a load of washing this morning and noticed that some of the rubber sealant inside (stopping the water from leaking out the door) has started crumbling and is basically disappearing.

I spoke to Samsung and they're going to see about sending someone out to look at it and determine what needs to happen next, but I was surprised when she asked me if I wanted to pay the cost of repairs, as the machine was "outside their 2 year warranty period". I would think a washing machine should last a lot longer than 2 years!

Also of note - I've noticed since moving here the water tastes kinda funny - is there any chance there's something in the water that could be causing the rubber sealant to disappear, or is it purely an unrelated coincidence?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/feedback :)

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#2655638 13-Feb-2021 13:20

Where are you and where did you move from?

Jase2985

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#2655654 13-Feb-2021 14:15

no way the seal should perish that quickly unless you were doing washing multiple times a day every day (high usage)

Fred99

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#2655657 13-Feb-2021 14:21

Seems bad that should be happening. I'd send them a note reminding them of their obligations under the CGA, and ask them to fix it unless they can prove you caused the seal to fail prematurely. Side issue - I'd never buy a Samsung appliance. Their crappy design causing top loaders catching fire a few years ago, followed by a half-@rsed attempt contacting / notifying customers wasn't acceptable - in my opinion.

Edit. You should be chasing Noel Learning first.

quickymart

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#2655735 13-Feb-2021 17:15

I've moved within the North Shore. I've moved house twice since getting it - the first time it was moved not long after being purchased (the locks weren't put in place then). However it worked perfectly fine for over 2 years at the last address. On my most recent move it was locked but I've only noticed this happening recently, and the drum may be out of whack.

Note that I only use it maybe 1-2 times weekly - definitely not daily/heavy use.

A friend who works for Noel Leeming told me they would probably just end up referring me to Samsung anyway, who have already created a case to investigate further.

andrewNZ

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#2655737 13-Feb-2021 17:26

They definitely can't just refer you to the manufacturer. If you choose to chase up Noel Leeming, they MUST deal with Samsung themselves if that's what you want.

richms

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#2655744 13-Feb-2021 17:45

Does it get sunlight on the machine at any point during the day? Friends one was crumbling (not sure if samsung or something else) and they basically fobbed them off with that as the reason.

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quickymart

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#2655791 13-Feb-2021 19:38

Nope, it's locked up in a closet/cupboard that is closed 98% of the time.

I'm just concerned they may say, "oh you moved house with this thing, therefore it must have been damaged in the move, so we won't cover it". Then I'm screwed.

andrewNZ

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#2655847 13-Feb-2021 22:03

Moving it improperly can cause damage. Things like bent metal work, stretched springs, and maybe torn rubber door seals.

What you've discribed sounds like perishing rubber or sealant (sealant isn't usually used though). Rubber does not perish because you moved the machine wrong.

I'd like to see some pictures of it if you get a chance.

I used to repair washing machines for a living. It was 20 years ago, but things haven't changed a lot.

neb

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#2655848 13-Feb-2021 22:03

If you can't get any joy from Samsung and you're a Consumer subscriber, write to them. Their formula response for this is "We agree that a whiteware item costing $X should last more than two years. We have reminded Samsung of their obligations under the CGA and they have agreed to remedy the issue". This comes up quite a bit in their letters section.

quickymart

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#2655884 14-Feb-2021 07:32

andrewNZ: Moving it improperly can cause damage. Things like bent metal work, stretched springs, and maybe torn rubber door seals.

What you've discribed sounds like perishing rubber or sealant (sealant isn't usually used though). Rubber does not perish because you moved the machine wrong.

I'd like to see some pictures of it if you get a chance.

I used to repair washing machines for a living. It was 20 years ago, but things haven't changed a lot.

Note that I have used it at least three times since moving here last month, and it was fine on all those other instances. I was only made aware of this issue yesterday.

The first pic is of the machine, the second two are inside the door, and you can see it deteriorating - a large part has broken off already, and that's sitting inside the door.

compound

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#2655908 14-Feb-2021 09:18

That doesn't look like perishing. It looks like a bra wire or something similar has caught in the rotating drum and melted the rubber seal by friction wear.

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Bung

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#2655911 14-Feb-2021 09:25

compound:
That doesn't look like perishing. It looks like a bra wire or something similar has caught in the rotating drum and melted the rubber seal by friction wear.

It would have been something fairly large to be stuck in the same place in the drum for several rotations.

compound

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#2655921 14-Feb-2021 09:41

As someone who serviced this stuff for many years I saw all sorts of things caught in drums and Bra wires were common to poke through the drum drain holes and cause all sorts of damage including melting plastic outer drums, cutting them in half.

Perishing would occur on the lip edges of the seals, normally the outer front door lip first. Can be from sunlight but usually assisted or caused by chemicals.

networkn

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#2655929 14-Feb-2021 09:56

Hard to tell from those photos, however I agree at a glance that perishing isn't my first assessment. OP will be able to tell more obviously, but it looks like it could have been caused by physical damage potentially as well.

Last time we had appliance looked at under warranty, they still went through and insisted we agree that if they went onsite and it wasn't a warranty issue we had to pay. I think Ables, take payment up front and credit it back if it's covered under warranty. We contacted the manafacturer who agreed to suspend it, but one time, we didn't bother, it was covered under warranty and Ables credited us within 2 days.

quickymart

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#2655948 14-Feb-2021 10:45

I was told by the rep at Samsung that my machine was (just) out of the manufacturer's warranty, but I would hope the CGA would still apply here.

I also had it pointed out that the drum spins a bit wonky now - but I thought it did at the last place and it all seemed to work fine for over 2 years.

Anyway, Samsung will call me next week to arrange a time to come and look at it, hopefully as soon as possible.

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