washing machine leaving black marks

[fleebee]

Anyone have any ideas as to why my machine is leaving terrible black marks all over the items, I clean out regularly on a hot wash with soda crystals......

[Philtaz]

What colour is the rubber on the door seal of the machine? If it's black it may be at the point of perishing and may need replacing.

[andrew1707]

Or there may some mould hiding under the door seal

[fleebee]

the seal is light grey and I do clean around the seal, I do have a D & G cover but not sure whether they would cover this sort of thing.....

[ChuckFickens]

It's normally an indication that the bearing oils seals have failed. it's normally followed very soon afterwards by the machine making a hell of a racket when it spins as the water leaks into the bearings and causes them to fail too.

[daisya]

Ditto Chuck, happened to my last one, oil over the clothes and noisy enough to make the house shake (well...almost lol).

[gingejbee]

Got to agree with Chuck. Mould from doorseal etc isn't going to be visible on clothes.

[Old_Geezer]

So... is that a problem that can be tackled, a stitch in time and all that, or is it on an inevitable path to an imminent new machine ?

[chas2008]

it can get on the clothes from the door seal when dragging them out over it , some seals are sort of doubled over on themselves so it allows the black gunge to develop on the inside which isnt immediately obvious. Also the softener/powder draw can get real manky, we take ours out at least once a month and give it a good clean.......

[gingejbee]

chas: the OP has already stated that the door seals are cleaned and (even if they weren't) mould from them would not leave "terrible black marks all over the items" imo.

[alavahalf]

Old_Geezer
" So... is that a problem that can be tackled, a stitch in time and all that, or is it on an inevitable path to an imminent new machine ? "

It depends on the machine. Some can have their bearings replaced others cant.

The drum bearing went on my machine 6 months ago. As the bearing was moulded into the drum, it meant replacing the drum at £140 (supply only).
The obvious choice was to replace the whole thing with a new machine for £215.
By the time I sold all the other working parts stripped from the old washing machine on ebay (motor, pcb,pump,door etc), I had another £70 to put towards the new machine.

[ChuckFickens]

Are they really moulding the bearings into the drums now?!?! that's pretty crap!

That said, unless you are prepared to do the work yourself replacing bearings is a big enough job that it writes off a lot of machines. (and it's not an easy job for somebody with no knowledge of how to totally strip a washing machine apart)

I guess technically the oil seals could be replaced on their own, but by the time the machine has been stripped to the point of getting to them it would be stupid not to replace the bearings at the same time.

[alavahalf]

I was just unlucky in the fact that my machine had a moulded drum. Other similar models from the same manufacturer could have their bearings replaced for around £30 (supply only).

[ChuckFickens]

Yeah bearing kits are pretty cheap, but you'd be looking at £100 absolute minimum for doing the work (and that would be really cheap labour)

[atalanta]

I had that once - it turned out there was bad mould on the side of the drum you can't see. The plumber said if the usual things don't work, nothing will. I had to replace the machine.

[ChuckFickens]

↑ translation....

The guy didn't want the job so fobbed you off with a (stupid) excuse.