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How to remove a Fisher and Paykel Smart Drive from a washing machineWhat you need1 Screw driver1 large adjustable spanner 1 normal adjustable spanner 1 old flat head screw driver 1 philips head screw driver. Drill or circular saw How to do itFirst we want to remove the main bits, the Stator and hub. These are the easy and fun bits, just few screws and bolts. Grab the washing machine and turn it upside down or on it's side so you can access the under the . Some have a bottom metal plate on the bottom, held on by a few plastic clasps. Just pop them open with you flat head screw driver and you should see under into the guts. It should look something like below. If it doesn't it may not be a Fisher and Paykel smart drive washing machine. Click for larger image The first thing you notice is the huge large grey disk. This is the hub, a plastic wheel with magnets along the inside. In the center, sticking out, is a white plastic cylinder which is basically a plastic nut, holding the hub on. Hold the hub still and turn the white plastic cylinder round and round with your hands until the hub comes off. Put it in you box of bits to keep.  Click for larger image And under the hub is the stator.It looks like the picture below, a white plastic wheel with lots of copper wires looped over the spokes.  Click for larger image Grab your adjustable spanner and remove the four bolts holding the stator on. Add the four bolts, the stator and the two large metal washers and put the in you box of bits to keep.  Click for larger image Once removed, you should see the shaft sticking out of the bottom (pictured below) and a large nut where the shaft hits the washing machine tub. Undo this with the large adjustable spanner and put the nut into your box of things to keep. 
 Click for larger image That's all we need from underneath at the moment so turn the washing machine back upright and have a look inside. It should look something similar to this:  Click for larger image Remove the cap off the center mixer. You might need a bit of brutt force and an old screw driver to do this.  Click for larger image And looking down the center you will see plastic nut with handles. Reach down (this can be messy) and undo this by hand. 
 Click for larger image Then you should be able to remove the center mixer. At the base will be a plastic cap held on by a few screws which will undo with you philips head screwdriver.  Click for larger image Remove the plastic cap and under it should be a plastic cog which fits on the shaft perfectly. While it is a necessary part, it does come in handy for lots of projects, so put the plastic cog in you 'to keep' box. 
 Click for larger image After that the shaft should come out. In older machines this may be a little still and may require some brute force to remove. Place the shaft in your 'to keep' box.  Click for larger image There are a few option for removing the last (and most difficult) bit, the bearing and bearing holder. The bearings can be popped out but the bearing holder is the crucial bit that holds everything together. You can make your own but it needs to be precise and is hard work. So it's easier to remove the existing on (no matter mow much of a pain it is). It's a pain because it is part of the whole plastic tub that needs to be cut out and it's a difficult job and almost impossible to do neatly. Option 1 with a drill: Get you largest drill bits and drill round the bearing holder. Then get long bit that can cut sideways and keep drilling round and round until the hub is free. A little like this: 
 Click for larger image Option 2 with a circular saw: This a a dangerous one so be carefully. You can cut the base away from the rest of the bucket and,working from both sides, keep dropping the saw round the holder until it is free. Option 3 with a hole cutter: If you have access to a large hole cutter (they are very expensive bits) you can attach them to the drill and cut round the holder. This is the quickest, easiest and cleanest method but the drill bits are very expensive and not worth it unless you are doing lots of these. Either way afterwards you will probably want to clean up the holder with a sander and then add to your 'to keep' box. And that should be it. You should now have all the bits and pieces you need to play with, stator, hub, washers, bolts, bearings and holder, cog and the shaft. Now you just need a project to put it into. |