All week I was trying to get these three pieces of clothing (two pairs of work pants and a pair of boxers) washed. But, once again, the washing machine got stuck. Gave me those "ld" (long drain) and then those "ob" (off-balance) codes. Normally I would just shut it off and try it again, and that would usually work. But this time it wouldn't drain out of the tub after three tries.
It was at this point I believed I was in trouble. I could deal or avoid many things for five more months until my parents come back. Hell, there are many clothes that I see on the dining room floor that should have been washed weeks ago. But they eventually have to be washed, and facing the prospect of not being able to use the washing machine for five months (or going to, say, my brother's home or, ugh, some laundromat) terrified me. I think that is what spurred me into action.
I started looking online for "ld" and "ob" codes. I then saw sites that I had seen in the past the last time I Googled "washing machine won't drain" or something like that. I decided to go deeper, specifically ways in which to fix it. Luckily all those sites didn't say fixing this stuck washer was difficult or you'd have to call in a repairman. There were many sites devoted to what I thought was the problem, clearing out the washing machine pump. One of them was a really good YouTube video showing you step-by-step how to fix it. Although the model they used was not the one we have downstairs, it gave me the confidence that I could get the machine to work myself.
The pump itself isn't all that complicated, and it turns out that getting to it is also fairly simple. It's connected to two hoses clamped to the pump, and it's held next to the motor that spins the pump by two clips that I can easily remove. With that, I located Father's bucket of disorganized tools, turned off the washer, shut off the water, pulled out the machine and got to work.
Thought I had to open up the control panel, which is found on the back of the dials on top even though all the models I saw online were on the front. But what I needed to get to, the pump, actually was at the bottom. I got a little confused because one of the sites said that to get to the pump on our model, the Kenmore Calypso Elite, I had to go through the front. But a few others rightly said that it was located on the bottom. I was on a roll being able to open up the back plate of the control panel. Also crucial, I had been able to open that with the tools (specifcally pliers) that I found, and none of the bolts and screws broke when I took them out. So, on a Friday night where I wanted to go out for coffee, I decided to drill down and open up the bottom panel in order to fix the washing machine.
I slid out the washer a little more, then tipped it back, allowing the back of it to rest at a 45-degree angle against the wall and the water valves. Kenmore was very wise putting all the screws at the front of the machine; all I had to do was unscrew them (with the pliers -- thank God I didn't need anything else [ETA on Monday the 22nd at midnight that I am wrong about the tool; I used a box wrench, not pliers]) and the panel would flip down because the back of that panel is held in when it's slid into tabs. And voilà, there was the pump.
I didn't even need a screwdriver to unlock the clips, and I shimmied down the clamps with the pliers so I could pull out the two prongs of the pump. When it did, all the water in the tub started draining out. Thank God the floor drain was right to the right of the of the washing machine, and I learned to take off my slippers and put on my waterproof shoes. There was a pool of water, but within minutes the drain was able to take it all in.
Now I just hoped that the pump was salvageable. I sprayed into it, then looked into it. There was ... a bunch of nasty stuff in it, stuff I couldn't dislodge with my finger. So I used the screwdriver to root around it. Out came a rock and then a chip, both made of hard material. Was that it? Those two items lodged itself in the pump, preventing what I guess was the spinny thing inside of the pump to push water from the tub through the drain and out. That's why it wasn't draining, and that's why it got so clogged that water began to leak out through the bottom pan and onto the floor.
I put the pump back in, re-clamped and -clipped it, put the bottom pan back on, screwed everything back into place at the control panel ... then realized that there was still a lot of dripping water on the floor when I disconnected everything. I was satisfied with myself and the work I put in; at the very least I didn't do anything I couldn't undo, no screws broke, and it looked as if I put everything back to where it was (save for re-opening the water valves and plugging it back in). I decided to wait till the next day, after all the water dried.
It was half past midnight. For obsessively starting research on fixing this on the Internet that evening, needing only 2-3 hours to take out, clean and put back the water pump was a hell of an accomplishment.
---
Set-back Saturday. I woke up in the morning and saw that the floor was totally dry. So I slid the washing machine back to where it was and opened up the hot and cold water valves. But both valves started leaking. They weren't leaking before. Dammit!
Had visits to cemeteries and shakedowns to do that day, so I started researching in the late afternoon when I got back from those errands. I was really afraid that I had to spend my Saturday night getting a new washer or something. But the Internet, the entire Internet, told me to first tighten what is called the packing nut. Is that it? I took the pliers to these "nuts," turned them a quarter-turn clockwise, re-opened the valves, and hey, no more drip!
And then I plugged the washing machine back in, threw in the three pieces of clothing that were sitting in dirty water the past five days and tried to wash the whole thing from scratch. I let it do its thing while I brushed my teeth for the first time all week, and when I went back downstairs to the sound of water rushing out. Water was coming out of the pump!!
Ladies and gentlemen, this weekend I was able to fix a washing machine! And I was able to do it without any help from anyone, and without needing to buy anything, and without breaking anything. This weekend these two hands with which I'm typing right now was able to bring back an appliance from the dead. If that isn't the definition of masculinity, I don't know what is.
America, fuck yeah!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment