Never heard that before: the retaining wire popping off... interesting. Maybe the screw needs to be tightened - properly tightened.

I suggest you poke around servivematters and download a Job Aid for a washer similar to yours (there's no job aid specifically for the HE4t but the WP Duet and the Maytag Epic are essentially the same design).

HTH, Alex

Thanks, Alex;

I found nothing that gives a torque rating for that bellows retainer clamp but I'm not surprised - it's just a cheepo clamp. 3 different repair guys have been out to re-install it and all 3 times it's come off again and they all focused on tightening it securly, knowing this a recurring problem. I re-installed it myself the last time - I just can't do without a washer again for a full week. So for, for a normal wash cycle it's holding.

If you're a service guy, you might be curious about this so I'll give the rest of the story and report back on any findings. 3 things:

1. A guy came out to replace the bellows after a tear, 3 months ago. The new bellows was a firmer rubber because the door now needs to be held shut with my knee before the door lock engages. Maybe the rubber has something to do with the clamp not holding.

2. I think this only happens when I use the "Heavy Duty" cycle, which uses hot water for the wash. Maybe the high water temp expands the clamp enough to give. I have done one load on Whitest Whites and it held. When it does fail, during the Heavy Duty cycle, it has failed within 10 minutes and another time it was after an hour. I don't think I ever used any cycle but normal until after the new bellows was installed.

3. The last guy ordered a new clamp and had it sent to my house, just to have around. He thought the old clamp might be faulty after so much tightening, but it looked fine and he got it secured, (at least till this last failure). He ordered another just in case that was the problem. Last night when I fixed it, I used the new clamp, but the old looked fine to me.

Next service is for May 1 so the night before I'll do a load on Heavy Duty and see what happens.

Sorry for rambling on, but again, thought you might be curious, since you're in the biz.

Bill

Thanks,
Bill

I know I shouldn't have signed-up using that name...

Well, I'm not a service tech nor an engineer. The reason for Whirlpool_trainee is that I was a CO_OP at the German Whirlpool factory ("birthplace" of your washer) for some time back in 2003 - just wanted to know what it is like working there as an engineer, since this was / is something I can imagine myself doing in the future. I was in the Product Engineering & Development Department.

So that's that. Hopefully, you'll get your machine replaced.

Alex

Oh, and happy birthday!

Well I guess I get to join the club of those who have had the boot come off.
I noticed two small holes in the boot a few weeks ago, and set up a service call.
Half a day off work waiting for the repair guy, who took two seconds to look at it and say " I need to order a boot" So much for giving them that information when I placed the call. Second visit scheduled, another half day lost, new boot is installed yesterday. Two loads of laundry last night, and one today... The last load flooded the laundry room, because, you guessed it, the boot came off the tub. The new boot does seem to be stiffer than the old one, but they used a new clamp, so I would think the repair parts have been engineered to work.
Called Sears service, set up another appointment, this time for Saturday morning, I can't afford to keep taking time off from work to wait for the service guy.
I hope this doesn't become a long term issue.

They are coming out this second time to fix the mess they made the first time and they are coming out for free - right?