Yet another Honey-Do: Growling washing machine, Pt 1

[DIYSwede]

Thanks, Moby Duck for chiming in on the acid/ alkali flavors of RTV -
for me just to delve deeper into the type I've got -
it smells of acetal acid, and it will only come into contact with plastics and stainless bolts anyhow.

Thanks to others pitching me forward with silent cheers and discrete appreciations-
guess there's nothing more sweet than seeing another fellow human getting deeper into trouble?
You all read the headline - and already felt the smell of blood - right?

1) Bearings and oil seal has arrived - no problem there. (Uh-oh... Here we go...).

2) Old bearings in the freezer for Stage 1 cooling to -25 deg C since last nite,
tryouts with CO2 extinguisher (Stage 2) down to -70 ish deg C will soon commence.
(Trying a quick "in-and-out" to get the feel of the play when cold, and the time for it setting in).

I can always pull/ whack an old bearing out - with the new ones I'll only have one shot at it!
I unfortunately don't have a 3" mike to check dia before and after freezing...
-Yes, Frank I'll get my Arctic Grade mittens for this job, thank you!
Yup - I'll also start with the smaller bearing as a "worst case", as the bigger will shrink even more.

3) As per some readers' excellent suggestions, I've decided to carve out an "O-ring groove" around the tub's perimeter,
to have something for the RTV seal to stick into when the drum whirrs along at 1600 rpm.
Hence I figured a DIY tip for my soldering iron would do as a DIY "curved hot chisel".
Chucking up a piece of 6 mm brass (former electrical plug pin) taking it down to 4,2 mm:



then drilling a 2,5 mm hole, 1/2" deep, taper the end, file half of it off: a 10 min job, and voila:



Plugged in, waited for a 2 minute warm-up, and off I went (sorry: no pics).
Worked like a charm, "the swarf" curled up nicely and out of the chisel groove.
After about 1/4 of the perimeter (and 5 minutes) the soldering iron finally died,
a quickie resistance check proved that the (sealed) heating element's nichrome wire now is "permanently open".

There's certain times I think some tools fails me when I need them the most, just to spite me - only for the heck of it.

So - Plan B: I can't score another soldering iron 'til tomorrow.
Have to make the bearing tryout tonite.
My hands will be filled (not frozen) up - so no pics there either.

Guess I'll return with Pt 5, whether you want it or not.