Parts to fix Dishwasher

[ibuildstuff4u]

My brother in law said a plastic part keeps breaking in his dishwasher and you can only get the part by replacing the whole basket which is around $100.  The part that breaks is a hubs for the four rollers on the top basket.  He asked me if I could make a replacement and I made four of them tonight so he can replace all of them and hopefully never have to worry about them again.

Here are some pictures.  I turned them on my CNC lathe and then put them on my manual 9X20 lathe to drill and tap them.  Then made the cuts on my X2 mill.  They are made out of 6061 aluminum and will have stainless steel bolts to hold them in place.

Dale P.

[Joules]

Nice work Dale however, I would be wary of the 6061 corroding in the dishwasher due to the salt used in these machines.  This will lock up the rollers, I had similar experience making an alloy replacement part for an electric kettle lid.  Perhaps Acetal would be a good material as it has low moisture absorption, I have made washing machine parts in Acetal its very similar to Delrin.

[Arbalist]

It's not so much the Salt, dishwasher tablets are caustic. Best materials in these things are plastic or stainless steel.

[SwarfnStuff]

Have to agree with Joules and Arbalist that Aluminium will  suffer from corrosion with the chemicals. However now you have proved the concept go for it in stainless or delrin.
Cheers,
John B

[Fergus OMore]

I've just 'been there'. I also mended the cutlery basket- with a P-tex candle used for down hill ski soles.

So the next problem- for me- was the plastic blades shattering in the Zanussi's 12 years old pump.

I have a 'wallet spanner' which greatly assists the frustration of such matters.

Regards

Norman

[Meldonmech]

Hi

               I agree Delrin or polyacetal is the way to go.  I was shocked when I came to replace the bearings in my washing   machine, and after spending a morning dissembling found the three legged spider had rotted away. At this stage I admitted defeat, and ordered a new one.

                                                      Cheers David

[S. Heslop]

Hi

               I agree Delrin or polyacetal is the way to go.  I was shocked when I came to replace the bearings in my washing   machine, and after spending a morning dissembling found the three legged spider had rotted away. At this stage I admitted defeat, and ordered a new one.

                                                      Cheers David

I've taken apart a few washing machines (for their bearings!) but that part is always real ugly and makes a mess with all the sludge and flakes. I wonder if it's an engineered failure or maybe some sort of galvanic protection for elsewhere. I've never been able to remove the screws holding it to the drum either, using heat, wax, penetrating oils, and everything.

It's also amazing how many missing keys and lost change you find in the coarse waste water filter in a washing machine. I bet that's the first place the scrap men look when they get them.

[Its Me]

ibuildstuff4u, nice work its better than giving them the money, I think we are suppose throw the machine away and buy another one, guess we are still of the wrong thinking, my wife washing machine would not unload took the water pump apart and it was the impeller, Sears said the whole pump had to be bought, 2 week on the order, I made one out of Brass that is all I had, its still in there, its me

[superc]

Yuh that.  I did my own part to destroy the economy of Asia about 13 years ago when the door latch went out on my own el cheapo dishwasher after only 4 years of use.  Taking the door apart I learned the latch guts were some kind of nylon feels like and what feels like a soft zinc part.  So I made a new one of brass scrap with a file.  Since then the door latch works just fine.  Closes with a nice 'snick' and has given no more problem.