Frigidaire Affinity Washer Hinge Repair

This is a repair “kit” for the sagging hinge problem.

If you’ve owned a Frigidaire Affinity washing machine for some time (or one of several similar models with various other brand names), you might have developed the same problem—sagging door syndrome. This usually manifests as a a door that does not close properly, or results in a broken striker/lock catch. What happens is that the door sags and the lock catch no longer aligns with the receiving holes. You can lift the door as you close it, but you can also accidentally break the catch by closing out of alignment. At minimum, you will need to order a replacement catch part for ten bucks, or print one of theses:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5099207 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6980045 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:151253 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2641787

Having found FOUR different models of essentially the same broken part told me this is a common problem. A little research on appliance parts and fix forums reveals a theme—sagging door.

Investigating, the root cause becomes clear. The door is heavy given the huge glass bowl/window it carries. The hinge is very poorly designed and cannot accommodate the strain. Over time, it breaks and you have to spend hundreds of dollars to rebuild the door. The main hinge armature is metal (at last mine is)—probably a magnesium alloy. However, the hinge pins attach to the door using plastic bushings which are held in position between the two halves of the the door frame with tiny plastic tabs. This is a terrible design. It only takes a little pressure to break the tabs, and once the bushings are free to move around, it gets worse. Soon, the molded structure around the bushings starts breaking and eventually, the adjacent screw posts crack apart.

It’s bad enough to have a built-in weak point, but plastic itself can become brittle over time. You can replace the hinge armature which is probably not necessary, and you can replace the front face of the door which should fix the problem, but this just restores the tiny tabs which are doomed to fail again.

I decided to spend a day taking measurements, designing 3D prototypes and printing a reinforcement “kit” to rebuild my hinge without buying anything. This upload is my solution.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Prusa

Printer:

MINI+

Rafts:

No

Supports:

Yes

Resolution:

.2

Infill:

20%

Filament: Overture PETG gray Notes:

Only the TOP Hinge Bracket requires supports. I used auto-generated, snug supports which help a short overhang so that it nestles tightly into the top area to hold the hinge bushing.

.20 mm layer height is fine and fast. I used 20% infill with 3 perimeters for strength. Solid is an option, but I find solids can bend, whereas a thicker perimeter and 3D honeycomb infill keeps everything very rigid.

Post-Printing

Clear broken pieces This fix assumes the bushing tabs are broken, but you need to ensure the space is flat where the tabs used to be. Note also the included photos where additional molded infill was broken on my door frame. You need to clear and smooth areas appropriately, but keep those infill walls shown in my photos so that the parts fit snugly into the gaps. Maybe different washers have different door molds. If so, the molded infill lines (which do a poor job of reinforcement in the first place) may not line up with my parts. In any case, this is what worked for my door and maybe it is a good starting place for a remix design if your door is different.

TOP The TOP bracket needs to be printed with supports. There is a minor overhang that wedges tightly into the gap assuming your door frame is like mine. See photo. The design uses the molded infill walls hold the bracket in the proper position. The bracket provides a new tab for the hinge bushing and helps to hug the busing in place. It fits tightly, but I glued mine with CA (super glue). Just avoid getting glue where the bushing goes.

MIDDLE On my door, the middle screw hole tower between the hinge pins had completely snapped free. After clearing the area first, the new post can be glued down such that the hole lines up vertically with the door’s remaining structural infill—like crosshairs. Note that the inside of the door frame is slanted about 6 degress, so the post is built an an angle to the print bed. This is intentional, though hard to see with the buttressed structures I added. It prints from the bottom up, but glues to a sloped base, so this brings the slanted post back upright if that makes sense. Just align the hole like crosshairs and do a dry fit test with the other half of the door if you are worried. You can hold it temporarily in place with blue poster tack.

BOTTOM This is the most important area because when this tab breaks and the bushing moves, the door sags. On my door the hinge pin pushed all the way into the adjacent screw post breaking it. So this bracket provides a tab for the bushing AND a new screw post. Again, the inside surface is sloped, so the post comes off the print bed at a 6 degree angle. Note my picture how I cleared away the broken pieces, but crucially left some of the inner walls of door infill to help hold the bracket in position. Glue this down with lots of CA glue, but avoid adding glue around the new tab area since the busing sits flush against the inside of the frame here. The frame even has a little dip to accommodate the bushing here. Don’t put glue there. Basically, these brackets are designed to be snug and precise, using the existing door infill to best advantage. You can be sloppy with glue around the post areas, but be precise where the bushing sits.

Screws The posts have 4mm holes. They are not threaded. The original screws on my door frame are the kind typically used to self-tap. Actually, they squeeze threads into the receiving holes the first time they go in. Screw them into the holes by hand, not with a power driver. You might also do a test of the screw to make sure they go in tight but smooth. You don’t want to glue this up only to split the new post, or have it separate at layer lines because you were hasty or did not try your screws first. 4mm holes were perfect for my original screws which bit nicely into PETG without splitting or separating, leaving a re-usable thread in the hole.

How I Designed This

This was designed using TinkerCAD, measuring the gaps in the door frame with calipers and building the brackets one little block at a time. It took several iterations, but working parts came rather quickly.

I ended up using medium CA glue to secure the parts inside the door frame, then surrounded the new posts with baking soda and thin CA glue. Baking Soda and super glue make a rock hard solid mass. My hope is that this will hold the hinge bushing and screws better than new.

Conclusion

Maybe you don’t need new posts? You can slice off the post from the bottom bracket and just print what you need. Chances are your door will break differently than mine, but maybe this thing will be enough to get you started and you won’t have to waste an entire day on your repair.

With a replacement striker/lock catch, this door swings nicely, does NOT sag, and can be swung shit without worrying about alignment. The hinge bushings are rock solid and don’t even wiggle, and I am getting a good seal when closed so that we can confidently use the machine again.

Category: Household