tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post6687668904179987301..comments2012-01-22T10:55:09.600-05:00Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11377679284360826383noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-88048205372189651122012-01-22T10:55:09.600-05:002012-01-22T10:55:09.600-05:00Our electrolux failed due to the spider corrosion problem after five years of service. I would have been OK with it if the replacement spider were available outside of Europe! $200 craigslist machines for us from now on. Sorry, white goods industry, we are done with you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-69359726925132533112012-01-22T01:04:52.050-05:002012-01-22T01:04:52.050-05:00Bravo to the previous comment.<br /><br />I&#39;m about to deal with customer service this week over the same issue. Wish me luck.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-26116545284237001572012-01-06T01:02:12.633-05:002012-01-06T01:02:12.633-05:001. Spider is ABSOLUTELY part of the drum.<br /><br />2. The drum (spider, drum, shaft) all have a lifetime warranty.<br /><br />3. Why are people hear outraged and buying new appliances?? Total &#39;victim&#39; mentality. It is all warranted.,<br /><br />4. I called sears, bitched about paying for a visit. The supervisor gave me a $65 discount- the initial visit was $75. Minus 65, so 10. The ordered $1400 worth of parts (drum, both tubs). I got the parts, called and cancelled the return service visit<br /><br />I repeat- the drum ( spindle, spider and all) has a lifetime warranty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-2903015410497940932011-12-27T12:03:50.077-05:002011-12-27T12:03:50.077-05:00Just pulled my Elite HE3 apart to find the same issue with the &quot;spider&quot;. Was hoping I could bring it to a service center to show them it is broken vs scheduling a tech (&amp; paying them) to come out and verify the part is broken.<br /><br />Service center said sorry, they don&#39;t handle warranties. She also gave me a head&#39;s up that while the stainless drum has a lifetime warranty, they don&#39;t consider the spider as part of the drum. This is despite the fact that they do not offer the spider as a separate part - you can only get it as part of the complete drum ($329).<br /><br />So, to roll the dice on paying a tech to come out in hopes of getting them to warranty the part that might technically not be covered...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-82701511111525138742011-12-06T19:18:56.144-05:002011-12-06T19:18:56.144-05:00I wish there was a way for the Better Business Bureau to get involved, where these companies are forced to make product recalls on some of these faulty parts ( like the Spider) and they should dispatch there technicians to where these washers are installed and fix them. We dole out the bucks to purchase these high efficiency equipment, there should be some peace of mind. I am now looking to purchase a pair, but so disgusted with the products out there. Thanks Guys for opening my eyes...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-84205463845495820272011-06-05T14:47:07.620-04:002011-06-05T14:47:07.620-04:00I&#39;m not going to go through how to take your Whirlpool Duet apart as there are many resources to do that. What I want to tell you is how to take the spider arm off the stainless steel drum.<br /><br />Our Whirlpool Duet was only two years old and the spider arm broke in three different places. Whirlpool agreed to send us a new spider arm and a new plastic rear tub as we wanted a new bearing. The Spider Arm was part of the stainless steel drum. This seems ridiculous as I only needed the spider arm. I can tell you how to take the spider arm off the drum but when you do this, make sure that you mark which arm goes where as the drum may be balanced but I don&#39;t think so.<br /><br />I am going to get our spider arm anodized and power coated as I thought it would be more resilient to the chemicals in the washing machine. I think that it is a really bad idea to have this part made out of aluminum. I don&#39;t think it is the dissimilar metals that are causing the problem but rather the cathode galvanic corrosion that happens to anything that is aluminum when subjected to certain soaps and bleach. I don&#39;t think Whirlpool wants you to use bleach and that&#39;s why our Duet doesn&#39;t have a bleach dispenser. Bleach is apparently really bad on aluminum.<br /><br /> <br /><br />So when I first took off the six screws on the basket, the spider arm still wouldn&#39;t come off. I ended taking up the old spider arm to see why. There are dimples where the screws go into the aluminum and you have to gently pry the arm away from the drum with a screwdriver and at the same time you have to take a larger screwdriver to pry the arm away from the drum. I originally thought the arm was somehow fastened to the drum through the shaft but that isn&#39;t so, at least not on our Duet.<br /><br />We are going to get the arm anodized and power coated. They even let you decide on what color you want to use for the power coating. I hope this is going to help but I recognize that this arm should be made out of stainless steel. I think most other machines also have aluminum spider arms and they fail as easily as the Whirlpool Duet. It is like one engineer made a bad decision to use aluminum and all the manufacturers did the same thing. Stupid is as Stupid does I think is the quote.<br /><br />Hope this information helps you with your Spider Arm. I almost would prefer a Black Widow Spider to this thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-81126491838706554112010-10-24T12:41:18.005-04:002010-10-24T12:41:18.005-04:00My Whirlpool duet just died - sounded like a spaceship taking off for several months but after finding out how much it costs to repair, I decided to continue using until it failed and it finally did. Only 6 years old. Large pieces of plastic looking material came off into the clothes on its last cycle. I really liked that washer while it lasted. Is there anyone who makes a front load without using the aluminum spider?Victoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131023440899115013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-27915238549553915682010-08-28T12:48:05.591-04:002010-08-28T12:48:05.591-04:00My Bauknecht (European Whirlpool) washer drum became noisy and the drum started to rattle. When I took it off I found the spider attachments to the drum being loose. The spider arms are not bolted but sort of &quot;riveted&quot; and I wonder how it looked when new? Was there some kind of a rubber spacer that used as a shock absorber or the rivets simply crawled under the stress of time and thermal cycles.<br /><br />How should it be repaired for durability. The spider itself does not look corroded at all. The machine is 5 years old.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-46069159878719412222010-06-21T09:24:21.887-04:002010-06-21T09:24:21.887-04:00Speed Queen have told me, in writing, that their spiders are made of an aluminium alloy, with a forged steel shaft.<br />Meile have not responded to my query.<br />I have not found a machine readily available in North America that does not use an aluminium spider. Staber use stainless steel for their &#39;axles&#39; but they are not, to my mind, a front loader.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-87166769232745032732010-03-23T00:51:22.457-04:002010-03-23T00:51:22.457-04:00I&#39;m pretty sure all manufacturers except Meile and Speed Queen use the aluminum spider. Sad. That&#39;s called planned obsolescence. What a shame! I mean, it&#39;s an OBVIOUS defect!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-1727894460060758702010-02-15T12:15:05.716-05:002010-02-15T12:15:05.716-05:00I have a GE washer and dryer and I&#39;m here to tell you they are pieces of crap. The washer need a front door gasket seal after owning it a year. I have replaced it again and I am about to replace it as of today. I have replace the heating elements in the dryer twice since i had it. I don&#39;t appreciate my appliances breaking down after having it for a short period of time. I really hate to say it, but our american company are no longer the engineering force they once was. Everything is like a fast food restaurant quanity, but no quality. Products like this could but the reason why people buy other countries products. I paid over 1800.00 for a washer and dryer and within three years another 1000.00 trying to keep them running. what a world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-29531144629811820812009-12-12T16:46:06.516-05:002009-12-12T16:46:06.516-05:00I have a six year old kenmore that I took apart and found 2 of the arms of the spider assembly completely broken. To buy the part it would cost around 200, forget that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-55338242993176337172009-11-18T16:45:23.149-05:002009-11-18T16:45:23.149-05:00What amazes me is that Frigidaire still gets high dependability from those clowns at Consumer reports! After so many years you&#39;d think they&#39;d have figured out that quality is far more than the bells and whistles or performance when new.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-66403811779663904282009-11-16T09:55:49.560-05:002009-11-16T09:55:49.560-05:00Having just disassembled my GE Model WSXH208A1WW to find the same crappy design flaw I have to wonder why there is no class action law suit here? My washing machine actually sits in a vacation home and gets very little usage perhaps 50 loads per year! Add insult to injury in that GE could offer a replacement spider assembly made from stainless steel at a reasonable cost as the repair parts outrageous costs make replacement the only sensible solution.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-89178678734846284842009-10-27T00:50:37.105-04:002009-10-27T00:50:37.105-04:00Is anyone but us looking at these questions? Why am I not reading about this in the NY Times? Where is the Better Business Bureau? I am on my third year of doing battle over a Sears Oasis washer and dryer and I am sick of being made to feel like a sucker. These manufactured breakdowns that everyone is experiencing from every appliance company reminds me of the arrogant and unreliable way American cars used to be. I want a Japanese washer! Where is Toyota when you really need it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-21659326794102263852009-10-11T21:39:06.566-04:002009-10-11T21:39:06.566-04:00I believe you are on the right track but if it is galvanic corrosion I do not believe it is between the stainless steel drum and the aluminium spider but between the steel shaft in the spider and the aluminium of the spider. Galvanic corrosion will be the most severe where the two metals are in contact and as you can see in the photograph the ends of the spiders spokes are relatively undamaged.<br />I believe the damage is largely chemical corrosion. Aluminium is normally corroded when immersed in an aqueous solution with a pH below about 4.0 and above about 8.0 (nitric acid is an exception).<br />A lot of detergents have a pH above 8.0.<br /><br />All I can suggest is to review the contents labels of any laundry detergents and aids you use and then go the the internet and look up their respective Material Safety Data Sheet (e.g. sodium hypochlorite [NaOCl) otherwise known as &#39;bleach&#39;) and find out what has a pH above 8.0 and what they are not compatible with. Some will just say &#39;metals&#39; others will list the metals. Then alter your laundry habits accordingly. Not I would think a highly popular solution.<br /><br />Strangely, within the last couple of weeks, I passed the query re aluminium corrosion to Frigidaire and received a relpy from Electrolux saying that had passed the question onto their design engineers. The very people who would have specified aluminium in the first place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349948438771019643.post-67660944814390195642009-09-29T12:24:10.261-04:002009-09-29T12:24:10.261-04:00I have a 3 year old GE - model wcvh6260fww - with the same problem.<br /><br />Jim (whitejj99@hotmail.com)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com