The washing machine is causing a flood whenever we use it. There’s a hole in the seal, I squirted water in it and it came straight out the bottom so I don’t think it’s a drain hole. I’ve watched a few videos online and it looks straightforward. Anyone done this themselves, any tips?
I’ve done a fair few over the years and as long as you have a good clear area to work on and around the machine it is normally pretty straightforward. I have had a couple of retaining springs break on me when doing older machines but I have always had spares on hand so it wasn’t really a problem, but I guess it would delay things if you only had the new rubber when doing the job. The springs that broke on me were very old.
The strip down involves removing the front retaining spring, taking the top off the machine and the control panel before then removing the front to get to the seal and the inner retaining spring. Some people advocate using washing up liquid when fitting the new seal but having tried this once I would never do it again as it makes it almost impossible to hold the seal as you try to work it over the lip and into place on the machine.
My tips would be to keep all the screws in separate little tubs. The ones from water contact areas (inside the powder drawer) are stainless and need to go back there. Make sure you put the seal on the right way up. The drain holes must be at the bottom. Don’t use anything other than water to lubricate the seal, but letting it sit in a bowl of very hot (Not boiling) water does help to fit it more easily. And finally, remember to fit the inner seal spring before re-assembling the machine. (I once did this.)