Bosch Washer Front Door seal. Success story.

[Radio Fixer]

Replaced this due to slight leakage: machine is 10 years old but excellent condition as used only a couple of times a week.

Bought the new seal from eSpares that have a video of how to do it.  All easy until the last bit of putting on a steel wire ring with a very very strong spring in it.  This secures the outer part that is lipped over the front of the washer.  After several attempts decided it was impossible as others had found.  Perhaps Bosch have a special tool?  As a temporary fix I 'daisy chained' tie wraps around it.

Later I found a video from Aus where the chap, who sounded South African, used a metal hook tool with a handle, through the spring eyelet, to pull it on for the last bit.  Bought the tool but still couldnt do it  

So finally, deciding that when the door is closed it compresses the seal to the front anyway I changed the spring to something lighter.  Unfortunately the only one I had was much lighter but it works.

So far, several washes later there are no leaks  

Gary

[boater sam]

You put the last bit to go over the lip at the bottom, loop  a nylon cord through it and stand in the loop.
Done thousands, they can be Bas***ds.

[Radio Fixer]

Wouldnt have thought of the cord and foot pressure. By hand the spring is so strong the cord would just slice into it.

But the hook tool is supposed to make it possible but it just pulled out the eyelet that the spring is attached to.  So I had to take off the ring and reshape and clench it but still no good.  The hook tool is too large a diameter to go thru the spring eye.

Anyway so far so good.

I wondered why they used such a strong spring? and could only think it was to put DIY guys off doing their own repairs .  Its purpose must be to stop the seal pulling off if the door is left shut for long periods and the two 'stick' together.

thanks (may try the cord / foot method if I get leaks) Gary

[`FRANK.C]

Hi Garry

Well done on getting it on.

When fitting this sort of door seal. I would place the spring at the 9 o clock position. If I hadn't anything that would fit into the spring eyelet so I could pull down on it. I would use a pliers to grip it and pull down on the spring while at the same time use a well used (rounded edges from use) flat blade screwdriver to carefully leaver the last part of the wire into place.

There can be a huge variation on the spring strengths on these wires. Some are so weak that they can be easily fitted by hand without the need for any tools. Others as you have found out can be right pigs.
The spring strength seams to vary according to how well the lip grips the seal. I think the most lightly time the seal may come off is while the machine is been loaded. The clothes might drag on the seal and pull it off.

Frank

[Mark Hennessy]

I did the one in my Bosch last year. The original seal only lasted 21 years. Rubbish!

Sadly, it's getting really noisy now - I'm guessing motor bearing at this point, but it's hard to be sure. Given that there's a lot of rust to the bodywork, I'm probably at the point where I should replace it, but no idea with what. I somehow doubt we'd get 20+ years from anything available today...

It's had a hard life, but apart from the door seal I think the only repairs were new brushes and a new door latch (because the NTC element had gone high). When we lived in Norfolk we had a couple of instances of sludge in the waterways in the soap tray, which meant the fabric softener wasn't taken down - but an easy fix. Not a bad ROI overall.

Just recently I measured the noise it makes on spin, as that's a key specification given in the specs and our machine is in the kitchen/diner. Even with the noisy bearing, it's just over 70dBA, which is what the quieter machines manage. And I wouldn't mind betting they measure in a carpeted room with some other treatment to "massage" the figure, so our hard tiled floor and surfaces would be doing the opposite. But then, my 20 year old car measured the same as the replacement (at the same speed and same stretch of the M5!), but the noise is different and slightly less intrusive, so the raw number is not the full picture by any means.

Changing the seal was a lot easier than I expected - I don't remember the outer wire+spring being a problem, but it was probably one of the trickier parts.

Last time I changed a door seal was in 1992. The repair shop selling me the seal did their best to persuade me not to try as that particular machine (can't remember what it was) was apparently one of the hardest to do. That, of course, made me all the more determined to try - plus we were students with no cash! It took all afternoon, but I got there in the end. The machine had been destroyed by being taken to the student house in a borrowed trailer with no transit bolts (not my idea!). It didn't wash very well, so I took the top off and discovered the concrete block had smashed up the pressure switch. I replaced that and the machine started filling up to the right levels, but the seal was torn by the journey so it leaked water all over the place. But as it was outside in a lean-to, we ignored it until the pump objected to the constant dousing by catching fire (then extinguishing itself, of course!). No RCD in that house - there was quite a bang and a lot of smoke. Luckily, the repair shop also had a set of transit bolts, and at the end of the year it safely came home with me and did another 10 years in another house with no issues.

Fixing white goods is generally easy, or doable at least, and very satisfying, but I don't enjoy the pressure. If we had space, I'd keep spares. We have spares of just about everything else, after all...

[Radio Fixer]

If it was me it would be another Bosch Mark. Brand loyalty. After all 20 years is remarkable.

Most of the videos show the spring at 9 o clock which is alongside the door hinge. Impossible to pull the spring with pliers as anything small enough to get in just wouldn't grip it and stretch it. The hook tool was a good idea but the seal still kept popping off somewhere or the wire band eye opened.

thanks Gary

[Nick]

...Fixing white goods is generally easy, or doable at least, and very satisfying, but I don't enjoy the pressure. If we had space, I'd keep spares. We have spares of just about everything else, after all...

There's a law of diminishing returns on fridges and freezers - there comes a point where, despite personal pride and determination to fix stuff, the sensible and most ecologically correct option is to have it recycled, especially if the compressor has died.

Where fridges and freezers are concerned, new ones are generally far more efficient than those belonging to pre-history, so are greener, plus they don't have ozone-depleting refrigerant.

I'm happy to replace controllers, front panels, buttons, lights etc. (eBay is full of suitable spares), but there is a line you should not cross!

[Murphyv310]

Our last Bosch lasted 15 years and it was used every day with sometimes 2 washes. Having one still at home in its later years and two prior to that and the third getting theirs done before he could afford yet another took its toll.
I of course replaced it with another Bosch and it too is well made and virtually identical re drum, motor and pump, electronics though are different.