Situ: second floor laundry room, sheet vinyl floor; newish high end washer and dryer (front loaders); 8 year old house; not visible but I am guessing engineered joists. Stabila said it was level. and it didn’t shake by hand. The balancing feet are hard vinyl.
While I was there, lady asked me to look into it. She ran a load, but I guess it was too small to unbalance the machine. Said when it does shake, sounds like a helicopter landing on the roof.
Anyone been successful in isolating a washer? Send her to a laundry re-education camp???
Thanks
Replies
Ya know those pads for camping? Or better yet, can you get closed cell polyethelene foam like Luka used to insulate his trailer in MD? .
Get a 2" thick pad like that and it will stop the vibration from being transmitted.
I get the pads from discarded packing crates.
My washers are on concrete floors, but have installed a couple of air compressors in rafters of barn, etc. and those foam pads stop them from shaking the structure. Spring loaded motorcycle Shock absorbers would work well also, but lots more pricey to install than a foam pad. .
With a front-loader the principle motion would be up and down, vs the side-to-side motion of side-loaders. I'm guessing about all you can do is add padding, add mass, and spread the load.
The padding needs to be something that can absorb up-and-down motion. Plain foam might work for awhile, but will compress and deteriorate over time. Better would be some sort of industrial damping pad.
Mass could be solid concrete blocks or some poured concrete under the unit. Of course, this will add height, and you have to be careful to not overload the floor, but certainly the floor can handle a couple of hundred pounds. The mass should be below any added damping pad.
Spreading the load may be the simplest. A frame of 2x or 4x material, or a couple of pieces of 3/4 ply glued together under the unit will spread the load out across the entire surface, vs just having it bear on four points. You can drill shallow holes in the surface to match the feet and keep the unit from falling off.
(You'd need the spreader anyway if you try a damping pad.)
Did you remove the packing bolts?
(Don't ask how I know)
bolts or straps.It sounds like he did not do the install on this, but somebody may have failed to read the instructions and taken that shipping lock off.
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Good point. And in some cases the bolts may have been loosened, but not enough.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Send her to a laundry re-education camp???
That may be the key. Our's shakes with medium size loads. Seems like if the load is real small it doesn't matter or if it's a big load the clothes distribute around the drum evenly. But a medium load can get distributed on only half the drum so it shakes.
copper p0rn
We had the same situation, and the only real solution was to move the machine to a concrete floor in the basement. Modern front loaders spin much faster and they put a huge up/down load on the floor system. Pads may lessen the problem but the only real fix is to put it on a floor with zero give.
I inquired through the appliance provider and was told that most of the major brands would supply a "Kit" to reduce vibration, many at no cost. I was in a time crunch and found a very dense rubber material designed for gyms where free weights are used (and dropped). In our case this brought things to an acceptable level. I should probably follow up with the washer manufacturer for future reference. Good luck