Design Flaw in Samsung Front-loading washers
If you are trying to figure out why your Samsung washer is no longer balancing after a few years of use you will find it is not an electronics failure. It is basic chemistry.
The spider drive that turns and agitates the drum inside the Samsung washers are made of aluminum and are attached to a stainless steel drum. If you were to take your washer entirely apart as I did, you will find a highly corroded spider drive mount.
In a washer drum, an alkaline (aluminum) is exposed to a base (detergent) and oxygenation multiple times, and the reaction is enhanced through the friction of washer agitation. This produces corrosion which caused a structural flaw in the spider drive.
As a product designer, I think this should have been foreseen by Samsung and at least fixed in the decade they have been making washers. This chemistry had been observed for hundreds of years and there was a peer-reviewed academic paper about detergents and aluminum published in 1935.
So, if you want to buy a washer that chemistry says will fail in 5–7 years, go for the Samsung front-loading washer but I will not be buying Samsung appliances.
