William J Fountain , CO April 15, 2017 Appliance: Samsung Washer WF218ANW/XAA-0000 Spider arm assembly broke in wf218anw samsung front load washer First indication something was wrong when the washing drum starting to violently bang against the inside of the washer while in spin cycle. Then, when I opened the washer door, a misty smoke came from the inside. With the video from Appliance Parts Pros, disassembly of the washer was no problem. First, I replaced the four shocks on the washer drum. But, after a test run, determined that it was spider arm assembly. Again, the series of instructions made getting to the part fairly easy. The few things I would advise on is first that the 19mm nut in the back of the washer drum will be extremely difficult to take off. The video instructions say to use a small screwdriver to secure the drum from spinning in the back. But, unless you position the screwdriver exactly right, you run the risk of damaging the plastic housing of the motor. Second, once you replaced the assembly and have the whole thing put back together, run the machine on a rinse and spin cycle. There may be some residue or build up in the drum that may be washed away during the first cycle or two. Be prepared the drain the water pump after the first test run to manually clean out anything the pump cannot handle. When the cycle switches from rinse to spin, just watch the water level in the drum to see if the water is being pumped out. The washer will try to drain a few times. If the water level does not go down, drain the water pump and check for a clog. Other than that, just make sure to follow the sequence of events to disassemble and reassemble the washer. Read More... 44 People found this story helpful Do-It-Yourself Rating: Repair Time Estimate: 2+ hours Tools: Nut Drivers, Screwdrivers, Socket Set
Lawrence W Reston , VA September 19, 2017 Appliance: Samsung Washer WF419AAW/XAA-0004 Excessive noise during spin cycle for samsung washer At the time of repair this machine had been in service for 7 years supporting a family of 5. For the past year or two there was increasing slapping/banging during ramp up of the spin cycle. The smell of the machine had progressively gotten worse as well. After watching videos on the site I suspected the spider/tub flange was failing. I also ordered new dampers, bearing seal, and tub seal since I figured the time had come to replace the suspension. Followed the awesome video for replacing the spider and it was pretty straightforward. My model (2009) has different weights but otherwise the step-by-step is well documented. I used muffin pans to keep track of all the various screws and bolts and tagged each to the video to keep track of the various parts. Matt makes it look really easy, but it took me closer to 4 hours to break it down and then reassemble -- I'm a reasonably handy person but this isn't what I do for a living. When I opened the outer tub I discovered the source of the odor was caked on detergent. In fact, the spider was actually in good shape despite the many years of service. I am sure the caked on sludge was not helping the balance of the spin. Since I had the new part I figured I would replace it and hope for many more good years. It also meant I didn't need to clean the old one! This proved to be the hard part. Five of the six spider bolts snapped off -- which is good. The sixth wouldn't budge. This is where a more skilled person would drill out the bolt or take some other approach. I tried but ultimately resorted to brute force. This wasted a couple hours. I also gave the tub a good washing before reassembling. Don't forget to remove the half-dollar sized bearing washer from the old spider. Matt mentions it quickly but I forgot and had to dis-assemble the tub and then reassemble (wasted time). I also swapped out the dampers while the tub was removed. The hardest part of this job was extracting the tub from the washer. Matt does it by himself, but my unit has an extra weight on the side of the tub which I could not get a wrench on to remove. This made the tub really heavy and required two men to extract. I have to commend the online support team who quickly addressed a question I had when putting the machine back together. They also furnished a service manual upon request. First rate support. I replaced all four dampers. One appeared to actually have failed but figured they had to be getting near end of service. The machine is back together and good as new. I couple things we plan to do to avoid the smell problem 1) put the HE pod in the washer BEFORE the clothes and 2) make use of the extra rinse cycle whenever we can remember to set it to help rinse the machine. While I still have some slapping/banging it is noticeably better now and I know nothing is actually wrong. I think maybe some work on leveling the machine may improve the problem so I will try that next. I seem to be about 1/8" out of level. Read More... 13 People found this story helpful Do-It-Yourself Rating: Repair Time Estimate: 2+ hours Tools: Pliers, Screwdrivers, Socket Set
Bill S Aurora , IL April 04, 2020 Appliance: Samsung Washer WF218ANW/XAA-0000 My Samsung front load washer (model wf218anw/xaa) went out of balance real bad we heard a bang smelled a burning rubber smell and thought it was a belt till we discovered it does not have a belt I went online to see how to replace the belt in my washer using my model number as a search. After some research, I found that this model does not have a belt. It's driven by something called a stater and a spider arm assembly. I watched a video on my exact model repairing the spider assembly which was posted through appliancepartspros.com. I'm not sure why I chose this video, but so happy I did...dumb luck I guess! Once I took the back of the machine off, one of the first steps was to remove the locking bolt. This was my first hurdle. The model in the video had a nut, mine had a bolt. (So the model was very close, but not exact) When I tried to remove the bolt, it would not budge. I called a technician on this website looking for some suggestions. She was great and gave me some troubleshooting tips on how to check to see if the spider arm was broken without having to remove it, but unfortunately couldn't help me get the bolt out. She did offer that the schematic she was looking at couldn't show if maybe it was reversed threaded, and that gave me something to think about. While I had the back open, I noticed a shock had come apart, and given the difficulty of removing the bolt, I fixed the shock and hoped that was my culprit. After running a light load I still had a serious wobble in the drum, plus the drum was rubbing against the rubber door boot pretty bad. We called it a day, I watched the video again, and the next day we decided to see if we could see anything else, so we began again. This time I tried to remove the bolt going reverse, and actually got it to move a little, then after working it back and forth for a while, I was able to get it out. It was not reverse threaded. I had sprayed a little PB Blaster on the bolt the day before and maybe letting it sit overnight wound up helping. After getting the bolt out, we were able to remove the drum by following the video step by step. The video steps were great! Once the drum was out, we separated it, removed the tub, and the spider arm assembly. As I suspected, one of the spider arms was broken. Along with the arm, the inside of the tub and outside of the drum was coated with crud. After talking again to a technician, she told me that as a result of either too much detergent, the wrong detergent, or too much fabric softener. I was able to get it all cleaned with my garden hose and a scrub brush. It was nasty! While I had it apart, we decided to replace the tub seal and the rear drum seal. I ordered both seals, the spider arm assembly and some bolts online from Appliancepartspros.com at 3:00 pm central time one day, and they were delivered to my house by 2:00 pm ct the next day. We began the re-assembly that day. Again the videos to do this were easy to follow and spot on. I had a question while installing the rear tub seal but again called a technician and she was able to help me. To ensure the proper fit, she asked me to send her photos, which I did. After confirmation we were good, we put things back together, again following the video step by step. The re-assembly took around 2 hours but If I were to have tackled this job without appliancepartspros.com helping me along the way, I'm sure I would not have been able to get my problem corrected. I used their videos, their phone help, and their online chat. Wait time was always minimal and always outstanding. I can't say how happy I was to be able to get this washer repaired. I may never do it again, but at least did it successfully once. Can't say enough good things about appliancepartspros.com and their support staff. Read More... 10 People found this story helpful Do-It-Yourself Rating: Repair Time Estimate: 2+ hours Tools: Pliers, Screwdrivers, Socket Set
Tom R Quakertown , PA March 23, 2020 Appliance: Model SAMSUNG WF350ANW/XAA 04 Tub was spinning out of balance. loud and violent thumping of washing machine I followed the fantastic video on appliancepartspros.com. My model was slightly different in a few places--the wiring harness on the front lower tub, the wiring strap on the top right of the bulkhead, one of the small hoses on top of the tub, and the tub weights were on the top and bottom, not sides. I was still able to work through it with little difficulty. I was nervous about starting this repair due to the daunting number of steps. I agree with others, it was not terribly hard to do, just lots of parts--I labeled each screw removed with a post it note to get everything back in order. The biggest challenge I had was loosening the stater bolt on the back of the tub. Like the video, I inserted a small screwdriver into the hole to prevent spinning. It quickly bent and snapped some of the plastic on the stater. I ended up using a crossbar used for lugnuts and quickly spun it clockwise, then counter clockwise against it's own force to cause enough torque to loosen the bolt. After completing reassembly yesterday, the first load was a success. The amount of mold gathered behind the spider arm was disgusting, so I was glad to clean that out. My spider arm was indeed broken and snapped in half. I did not change the tub washer, I just used my finger to apply a thin layer of vaseline. I also noticed the top front of my tub had a large crack, presumably from the shaking. As we are all locked in with the pandemic, I can't afford to be without a washer while I buy a new tub, so I put lots of caulk on the crack and will hope that it holds out longer than this pandemic. Read More... Do-It-Yourself Rating: Repair Time Estimate: 2+ hours Tools: Adjustable Wrench, Nut Drivers, Pliers, Screwdrivers, Socket Set, Wrench Set
Jack M Meadowlakes , TX May 08, 2020 Appliance: Model WF350ANR/CAA01 A broken spider on the inner drum I pulled the outer and inner drums out of the washer. I split the outer drum and removed the inner drum so I could access the inner drum. I then removed the six bolts to remove the broken spider from the back of the drum. Be sure to save the very thin washer will be on the shaft attached to the spider. You will need it when you install the new spider on the back of the inner drum. I then removed the seal from the inside of the outer drum and installed the new seal. Use a piece of wood and a hammer to install the new seal but keep the seal level as you gently install the new seal, do not get it crooked or you will damage it. Make sure the seal is in as deep in the hole as it will go. It will be slightly below the surface of the outer drum surface. Then remove and replace the large O ring seal from the outer tub and install the new one. Using six new I installed the new spider to the back of the inner drum. Place the thin washer that you removed from the old spider shaft on the shaft of the new spider. A dab of lithium grease may be needed to make sure the washer stays in place as you install the inner drum and spider into the outer drum. With the new spider installed in the outer tub bolt the two halves of the outer tub together. Make sure the tub heater is in the proper location as you place the two halves of the outer tub together. Make sure the bolts are tight but do not over tighten them. With the inner and outer tubs back together just reverse the process you used to remove the tub assemblies and reinstall it. Your done. A long process but worth the effort. I saved hundreds of dollars by doing the job myself. The washer is running like new again. Read More... Do-It-Yourself Rating: Repair Time Estimate: 1-2 hours Tools: Pliers, Screwdrivers, Socket Set