Protect Your Washing Machine’s Vital Parts! TechnoFresh – Your Ally Against Spider Corrosion!
Shocking Spiders
The “Spider” is the heavy duty, multi- leg flange that connects the washer drum to the motor shaft.
Apparently a lot of machines are having problems with the spider.
It can pit and corrode and then fail mechanically by cracking.
This is because it is made of aluminum
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Aluminum does not “rust” like iron or some other metals when it oxidizes.
The metal have a coating of oxide that blocks continued oxidation after it gets to a certain thickness.
This is why aluminum can look good for so long especially when exposed to outdoor conditions.
So, you would think that these metals should work well in washing machines.
Well, it works well if you only use detergent and softener in the machine.
These products are buffered to be in the 8.0 – 9.0 pH range
. The machine is designed for these chemicals.
Apparently, if you go outside the normal operating range of the washer too far the aluminum of the spider flange will corrode.
Then it will crack.
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Why am I telling you this?
All the commercial shock treatments have the ability to push the pH into a range where the attack can occur.
Because they don’t always work, some people may be tempted to use more of the shock treatment chemicals than recommended.
This has a possibility of causing the problem. (And, probably did not clean that much better anyway…)
I really would like to assume that the package/tablet sizes are correct to prevent this out of range condition.
But if you use extra, there may be a problem.
Be careful what you are doing.
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TechnoFresh use will have no affect on the spider corrosion problem either way.
Very little is used so it does not change the regular pH of the detergent it is used with.
The pH stays in the 8.0 – 9.0 range as buffered by the detergent formula.
Bonus:
Using TechnoFresh will in fact reduce the number of shocks you need to do every year.
You probably can get by with 3 or 4 shocks a year to remove the build up of detergent. Even though it doesn’t smell..
And if you use the Super Shock formula those will no effect on the spider..
Win – Win
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FYI: The Super Shock treatment we recommend will not cause these problems.
This is because Super Shock uses a lot of a very weak acid (vinegar) instead of a small amount of a very strong chemical (acid or alkali depending on what product you are using).
I chose vinegar, salt and dishwasher detergent because they is safe to use by anyone and is easily available.
I would like to think this idea was clever because i am a retired chemical engineer
I would like to say I planned this, but I did not.
It is just a pleasant side effect of using old school chemicals that have been safely used for a long time.
There is a lot more info on the internets just search for “HE front loader spider.”
Motor shaft seal leak is the most common service call
The main reason for failure of the drum shaft seal is the overuse of bleach to shock the machine.
The machine was not designed to have shocks using a really high concentration of chlorine in hot water many times a year.
You will oxidized the plastic seal and it will crack.
It is a cheap part but there is a lot of labor….
Use the Super Shock instead.
Spider cracks and shaft seal replacement are the two most common washing machine repairs repairs after moldy gasket replacement.
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A last thought
The most common service call is for a machine that will not run, spin or other non-working issue.
If there were too many suds or other operating problems the machine will shut down.
Before you call for service, unplug the machine for 10 minutes.
Then plug back in.
These new machines have computer controls and some error faults just need the ‘puter to be rebooted.
If that doesn’t work …well…carry on!