How to Balance a Washer That Vibrates Excessively

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Appliance Tec
June 8, 2019
Washer Repair

If your washer has started making loud noises and vibrating excessively during the washer cycle, it can be a sign that something is wrong. However, both these symptoms can also be caused by something much simpler – an out of balance washing machine. Typically, if you have a shaking washing machine, so much so that it may even walk itself out of its spot with the motion, it is more than likely your machine is out of balance. This can be caused by several issues, but each of them easy for a homeowner to fix and may not always be needed for repair.

Redistributing The Washing Machine

If your washing machine only manifests this issue sometimes, then it is most likely a clothing distribution issue. Some items, though they seem equal in weight, are vastly unequal when wet. For example, towels and sheets feel similar when dry, but towels absorb vastly more water and become much heavier. If four towels are sitting on one side of the washer and a set of sheets on the other, it will cause the machine to become unbalanced during the spin cycle.

Furthermore, if you overfill the washer, it doesn’t give much room for the clothing to move around during the wash cycle. It not only results in poorly washed clothing, but it often throws the washer out of balance when it reaches the spin cycle.

The only real fix for this is to stop the washer during the spin cycle and redistribute the clothing for more balance. You may even wish to remove some items for the room. It may be tempting to just let the cycle run, but every time your machine is allowed to run off balance, it is causing wear and even potential damage. Everything needs to work harder when a washing machine runs unbalanced.

Leveling a Washing Machine

If an unbalanced washing machine happens almost every single load of laundry, your issue is not how the clothing is distributed, but rather the level of the machine. If your machine is just slightly off level it can affect how clothing settles and throws a machine out of balance.

However, while you may worry that your floor is not level, it doesn’t mean you have to level it. By placing a level on top of the machine, you can adjust the feet of the washer, not the actual floor, to make the machine level. This means that even if the floor itself is not level, you can compensate by adjusting the machine feet to be just right.

When Nothing Fixes The Issue

If you tried balancing the washer and the level of it checks out, what is causing the noises and vibration of a machine that is not in balance? Well, this is typically what occurs when you ignore an unbalanced washing machine. If you can’t find the more common causes, then it is likely there is some damage to the internal parts already. The screws, bolts, a belt, and shock absorbers that all go into spinning the tub of a washer will come loose or worn down from unbalanced loads or even just really rigorous use of the washer. As such, if you cannot find more obvious causes, then it is time to look to the internal workings that make the washer run. Typically these problems come with other symptoms that can help you pinpoint where to look. A loose belt can come with a burning rubber smell or a loose screw can rattle around, causing distinct noise. Look for these small details when troubleshooting. This will help you know where you need to look to so you can prepare to make a repair.

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