Hot point WF451 Issue. I want change the door rubber between the door and drum. How do I do this? Also the machine is making a noise on fast spin as if there is something in the drum catching. I have checked the drum and cannot see anything that may be catching, what could this be?

There are two likely scenarios.

1. It isn't an OEM Spare and badly made in China.

2. You did put it on quite right and it isn't fully seated.

Google

make model replace door seal

and look at the video tab.

A silly one to check is are you over filling the drum with clothes? (Yes, I've done that). Wet clothes are significantly heavier than dry ones.
Check the large rubber seal the door fits into. Make sure it is clean, not damaged and fitted correctly.
When the machine is empty and turned Off turn the drum inside by hand. It should turn smoothly with a little bit of resistance.
Look carefully at the drum as it turns to see if the drum itself is damaged. You might need to CAREFULLY run you hand around the inside edge, nearest the big door seal, to feel for damage.
Listen to the noise it makes as you keep turning it. The sound should be a sort of quiet 'hiss' from the bearing turning.
Try pushing the drum up and down. It should swing a short distance backwards and forwards but not up and down.
If these checks are all OK You will need to get an engineer to look at it as there is possibly something trapped or loose inside the main body of the machine.

Hi Robert.
What you describe sound like a distorted drum and/or collapsed bearings. The grinding noise is typical of bearings which are worn out, and the squeaking can come from the drum rubbing on the door seal.
Check if the inner drum is loose and flops up and down. Also spin the drum by hand and see if it's touching the rubber door seal anywhere. If it spins freely but make a growling noise your bearings need to be replaced..
Neither of these situations are good. A serviceman is probably required to know for sure.
Good luck.
Nomess


Check that drum (2nd below) is not rubbing on this door seal



Drum should rotate quietly and smoothly

sounds like bearing have failed or the stainless steel drum has detached from its carrier open the door and try to move the drum up and down there should be no movement at all if there is machine will need to stripped down

if the basket wabbles like crazy, could have a cracked spider that holds the basket

I'm assuming you mean the flexible rubber between the door and the drum. Can it be replaced? The short answer is no! However...
I recently repaired a door rubber with a tear that caused the water to flood onto the floor. Here's how:
Yes, you can open the front to get to the door rubber however the rubber seal is glued to both the door and the inner drum lip.
You may have to tilt the machine on it's back to remove three screws from the underside of the front lip. (I forget if you need to take the water pump cover out as well but it wouldn't hurt to do so.) This allows the front panel (including door) to drop down a quarter inch or so and be eased out a little.
This allows *better* access to the drum rubber. To repair a tear - really the only reason you would want to do this - you need glue and some tape.
The door rubber is silicone and will stick with normal 'super glue'. However, bear in mind that these machines can do a wash up to 95C, which is hot enough to soften superglue.
I found a new version of superglue called Repair Extreme by Pattex that copes with temperatures up to 120C. It sets in about 5 minutes.
The glue needs to be flexible. Do not use epoxy resin.
I gave the glue some form by sticking a 10-15cm piece of duct tape - the silver shiny plastic tape plumbers use, readily available from any hardware and most supermarkets - to the *back* of the drum rubber. It's a tight squeeze to get your hands in there but it can be done.
Take the tension off the drum rubber by moving the front panel roughly back in place.
Then squeeze a generous amount of glue along the tear (about 3cm long on the bottom edge; a typical problem) to completely whet the edges to be joined.
Apply a little pressure to the location of the tear for a few minutes to help the glue hold fast. Leave the glue to set for at least half an hour before reassembly.
If you can source a replacement drum rubber the old one can basically be removed by force. A good cleaning and then a suitable glue could stick a new unit in place. However, if this is required, seriously consider buying a new unit. It is difficult to make a good seal that will not leak and may not be worth the effort in the first place.

I had the same rattling during spin cycle of my Maytag 4000 series front loading washer. Noticed you could gently pull back on the rubber gasket between the tub and where the door seals. There was a quarter resting against the fixed ring the tub spins in. Problem solved. And I have further realized that long hair can build up in this same spot. But if you didn't know to pull back on the gasket you wouldn't see it. Good luck!

I had the same symptoms and almost dismantled the whole machine to locate the root of the cause. The issue was one of the 3 arms of the spider (like a 3 spoked wheel that connects to the rear of the drum and holds it in place and provides the drive shaft to through to the motor at the rear), had snapped after weakening from corrosion due to undissolved washing powder building up in the grooves.
To prevent this, do a hot wash every few weeks to dissolve the powder, don't think your saving the environment by using only cold washes, this should be in every washing machine manual to save the environment from waste from un-economically repairable appliances.
The burning smell was the unbalanced drum leaning heavily on the rubber shroud on the front between the drum and the outer casing. The replacement spider part was only about AU$60-80.

To check if this is the problem you may be able to tell by opening the door, and reaching in from the front with your palm up about a hand distance till you go past the rubber shroud and just touch the stainless steel drum. Grip it gently with your four fingers and pull towards the front (to you) about 1cm or two, with about as much force you would need to open the machine's door. Rotate the drum approx one third of a rotation and repeat, do this 3 times and you should feel one point give more than the others.
If no luck try again in sixths of a rotation, you can gauge the distance by the 3 plastic agitators attached on the inside wall of the drum.

Note: get a price on labour first to replace the spider, as this will be probably more than half way to a new machine, and then the cost of the part, and the call-out fee if you can't get it into a service centre.

What's the point of having a long lasting stainless steel drum when the key part that connects the drum to the motor is a weak cast iron / alloy part.
Ask your local service person what units have quality parts before buying a new machine.

ps: the loud noise is probably the cracked arm rubbing or the unbalanced drum hitting the sides and making the machine jump.

Hope this all helps!

sorry no recalls on fridgidaire front load,,there pretty good units,,the mildew and slugg comes from not using he or low suddsing detergent..now dont move so fast ,,because a new spin basket may not solve your problems with noise..check that back tub bearing while you have it a part..now that unit is fresh and new ,,clean the unit every other month with bleach..hot wash cold rinse,,that will keep suds slug and smell out unit...onthejob