1

After working fine for 3 years the door on the washing machine (Zanussi Lindo 100) got stuck. I was able to take the machine top off and manually pop it open from behind. It seems that the door has moved over (?) and the closing mechanism is not aligned. So when the door does close it is too far over that the hook stays engaged when opened:

enter image description here door

you can see the black area where the lock is hitting the wrong area lock

I took the door off the machine, and it was able to open and close fine, because it was free to exit from the correct position. So I basically left the screws (red 1) loose so the door has the freedom to move over a bit to exit the lock. The hinge screws (green 2) are very tight and I have not interfered there.

enter image description here

There does not seem to be any leak due to the loosening of the door. But it is not fixed and there must be a way to get the door to open and close properly with the door tight on. How do I move the door over.

Would be to get it to the left a bit from this pic:

enter image description here

Improve this question
3
  • How is your machine leveling doing ?
    – asinine
    Aug 14, 2022 at 6:07
  • had to look that up. Im not doing machine leveling. Seems more industrial than trying to explain a door moving a few of mm
    – Jon
    Aug 14, 2022 at 6:17
  • Is the washer level? Can you see any deformation in the hinge? If you remove the door entirely, can you see any deformation beneath where the hinge mounts? (Feel free to post another picture.) When you put the door back on, can you shift the door left at all and tighten it down while shifted? Or is the hole exactly the size of the bolt? That loosening helps suggests that it's not the exact size of the bolt. How does it travel when loose that helps it?
    – mdfst13
    Aug 14, 2022 at 22:17

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

My suggestion would be to try to shift the door while it is loosely bolted. Then try to tighten the screws while it is shifted. This is somewhere you could use a second person. One person holds the door in the shifted position. One person tightens the screws. Screws through holes like these frequently have some wiggle until tightened (presumably this is what allows you to open the door when loose). If the hinge mount shifted a little, I could see it giving the problem that you describe. So shift it back and retighten.

Note that if this works, you may have to do it again later if it shifts again. Bending the hinge may be more robust but seems riskier.

Improve this answer
1

Looking at the design of the hinge and the door, perhaps what has happened is that the hinge has been bent as the door was forced against the stop.

So I would look to bend the hinge such that the closed position of the door gets moved the 1mm or so needed. Don’t go too far as you might exceed the seal flexibility.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    "I would look to bend the hinge" -- this seems like it could use more. For example, are you bending the hinge by hitting it with a hammer while attached to the washer? (This sounds risky to me.) Unbolting the hinge first? Using pliers? Some other method? I think this requires a bit more explanation. I can easily see this going spectacularly wrong, so it would probably help if you could give more information about what you are actually suggesting.
    – mdfst13
    Aug 14, 2022 at 22:13

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.