Laundry Festivities - Part 2

Well, last spring (and about `6 months before that) we had washer and dryer difficulties (see here and here) and ended up replacing them, one at a time.  When the washer went, the delivery guy hooked it up, as usually expected.  But when the dryer went bad just a very few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, and I had a hard time getting one DELIVERED, let alone INSTALLED.  Because of That Knee That Hasn't Cooperated YET, I got the super-festive job of installing the new pigtail (the plate that came with it to keep the pigtail from being rubbed and frayed didn't fit correctly - FUN hammering it into an appropriate shape), while That Boy (I guess I should change that to "That Young Man") took care of the vent duct assembly.

ANYWAY...  After all that hoo-haw getting the dryer and setting it up, one day in late December, after That Young Man used it, he complained that it wasn't drying his clothes.  Long story short, not only was it not drying the clothes, it wouldn't even TRY.  Oh it would turn on and the lights would flash, and you could choose a cycle and all the settings, but when you pushed START, there would be a click, and then nothing more.  It would just sit there and flash its lights at you.  No error code.  No nothing.

So we had an eight-month-old dryer that wouldn't dry with a BIG load of wet clothes sitting in it.  Oh, me.

I called the manufacturer (it was under warranty, thank you) JUST after customer service hours ended.  All righty, then.  So I hauled everything out of the dryer and headed to the laundromat.  There's only one in our city, and, if I understand it, only two in the whole COUNTY!  Good grief.  There used to be another one in our city, but it's been closed for a few years.

Well.

I hadn't used a laundromat in DECADES.  Luckily, I had a roll of quarters I'd been meaning to deposit at the bank, so I grabbed it, the laundry basket of wet clothes, and my knitting bag and headed into the cold, cold world outside.

I was pleasantly surprised.  The last time I'd used a laundromat, it was a pretty seedy place - dirty floors, several machines with yellowed "Out of Order" signs on them, and a lot of questionable characters hanging around.  This was different!  Although not one of the new "hip" laundromats with a coffee bar, mobile charging stations, and counters with stools so you can work on your laptop, it was clean and comfortable, had plenty of machines, the clientele wasn't scary, and I only spent $1.75 on the dryer.  Not bad!  I made some progress on the sock I was knitting, too!  A fun Friday evening at the laundromat.

Anyway, I called the manufacturer the next day, and the guy walked me through a couple of troubleshooting exercises (while his dog barked in the background - working from home).  We got a couple of error codes.  He was going to transfer me to a tech team but it was Saturday, and they don't work on the weekends.  UGH.  

Monday I called yet AGAIN, went through all the rigamarole of being on hold for a half hour, explaining my problem, and telling them I'd already talked to somebody there and I needed to talk to a technician, then being transferred over there.  All this person did was set an appointment with a technician - when did I want it?  Well, ASAP, obviously!  Did I prefer morning or afternoon?  YES!  Whenever!  Just send someone, please!  How about 2 1/2 weeks from now?  What?!?!?!?!?!?  Is that the soonest available date?  Yes.  Well, then fine!

All I can say is that it was a good thing that that load I took to the laundromat was the very last load of dirty clothes - all the hampers were EMPTY.  But try to organize your underwear for 2 1/2 weeks with no laundry service.  OH MY!

We made it through, the technician came to look at it, and fixed it without needing any parts.  SOMEONE (ahem - That Young Man! - cough!) had overloaded the dryer with either too many clothes, or with clothes that were too went and heavy, and the belt had slipped off the drum.  The idler arm pulley was also misaligned with the drive pulley, which made it easier for the belt to come off.  So he realigned the pulley, tightened its screws all the way, put the belt back where it belonged, put the drum back into the cabinet, closed up the panels, tightened all those screws, and voila!  The dryer worked!

...And has been for a couple of weeks, now.  It took a while to get caught back up with the mountains of laundry waiting for me, but as of right now, there's about a half load of whites in the hamper, and that's all.  YAY!

I should have taken a picture of the dryer's innards when the technician had the drum removed from the cabinet.  Now that so much of the control functions are run by electronics, the cabinet was pretty empty.  There just aren't many parts any more, but oh, if that electronic control panel goes bad...OUCH!  It's expensive!  You'd probably be better off just replacing the whole thing.

Hopefully, that's the last of the appliance woes for a while.

Unless the refrigerator...!!!

Laundry Festivities

Laundry is so much FUN.

About 3 1/2 months ago, the washing machine got loud.  Not just louder than normal, but LOUD.  It sounded like a freight train was running through the house.

A year and a half ago, that same machine had gotten loud (read about it here).  Again, LOUD.  But that was a gradual buildup.  This time it was sudden.  Last time, we took out the drum and some motor components and replaced the shaft and seals.  It took ALL DAY, but we got it done.

So it was the same deal this time around, except, to be honest, I don't want to deal with pulling the drum out and all that hoo-haw on an annual basis, so I ordered a new washing machine.  Usually, I buy the matching dryer at the same time, but this time, after over a year of That Knee keeping its owner on long-term disability, we decided to replace only the washer.

So the washer was delivered and installed, and everything was just GRAND.

Until the DRYER started making noise, just a couple of months later.

REALLY?

So, I googled the problem and found the probable cause - a bad idler arm, and possibly the drum rollers.  I didn't want to deal with removing THAT drum, either, so I only ordered an idler arm assembly online.  It arrived just a few days later.  I took the back off the dryer and replaced the assembly - a pretty quick fix.

Except it wasn't fixed.

RATS.

The new laundry twins!

I was fed up with it and decided to just buy a new dryer like I should have done when I bought the washer.  By this time, the coronavirus pandemic was heating up, so I couldn't go into the store.  I got online and ordered a dryer.  It was a Saturday, and according to the website, the dryer would be delivered the following Tuesday.  I received an email confirming the day and time for delivery.

Well.

That Monday, I was notified that because of the coronavirus pandemic, the dryer couldn't be delivered and installed at that time, but PERHAPS they'd be able to JUST deliver it - drop it off at the door, and we'd have to get it inside and hooked up.  They'd let up know.

Long story short, a month later I got a phone call - when would I like to have the dryer dropped off?  I said how soon can you get it here?  So it arrived two days later.  I asked the delivery guy to remove the box for me.  It was the WRONG DRYER.  Not their fault.  I'd somehow clicked on the wrong machine.  Good grief.

I got on the phone and requested to return the wrong one, then got online (AGAIN) to order the right one.  You bet I checked and rechecked that it was the correct machine that time!!!

The right one was delivered, the wrong one was taken away, and my new dryer has been doing a great job for a couple of weeks, so I'm happy!

EPILOGUE

The day the right dryer arrived, I read the whole manual (yes, I'm special that way) and saw an optional accessory - a dryer rack.  It's for drying your athletic shoes or wool sweaters - you know, those things they tell you either not to tumble dry or to dry flat - what a pain.  I'd seen a dryer rack mentioned in the manuals of my two previous dryers and have coveted one for twenty years now - maybe longer.  I'm afraid the stay-at-home orders have taken a toll, because I said to myself, "Why not?"

The dryer rack inside the dryer.

And I did.

I got online (AGAIN - seems I'm spending an inordinate amount of time online these days) and researched and price checked and ordered a dryer rack!  If you've never seen one, it's a platform that you slide inside the dryer, place your items on, choose your settings, and turn on the dryer.  The drum is supposed to rotate while the rack remains stationary.  The rack is pretty big, and when I unboxed it, I thought, "How the heck will THAT ever fit?"  But it did!

I placed the rack inside the drum, turned the dryer on as a test, and, shockingly enough, the drum DOES rotate while the rack does NOT!  Now I'm looking forward to washing something that needs to be laid flat to dry.  What will it be?  Oh, I can hardly wait!

It sure doesn't take much to get me excited, does it?  What a nerd!

The Jet in My Laundry Room (More Adventures in Home Ownership)

That Man walked into the house from working in the garage and asked, “Isn't the washing machine kind of loud? It sounds like bad bearings.”

I had started a load of laundry, and the machine was going through a spin cycle.  I had noticed a few days earlier how loud it seemed, but I wasn’t positive.  I could be imagining it, right?

Well, here’s your sign.

That Man said, “Well, do you want to buy a new washer?”

Oh, no.  I’d REALLY rather not!  But, another unplanned project - oh, joy.

So I powered up the computer and Googled “Whirlpool Cabrio washing machine loud spin cycle.”  I read some articles (most described the sound as a jet getting ready to take off) and watched some YouTube videos and eventually bought a repair kit on eBay.  It included a drive shaft, upper and lower bearings, a seal, adhesive, grease, and installation tools.  They would arrive by the end of the week.

The old drive shaft

The following Sunday, immediately after church, we began.

I pulled up a couple of YouTube videos and we watched guys open up the top of a washing machine.  Not the lid, mind you, but the entire top of the machine.  One guy, in what was supposed to be a training video, working on an obviously new, pristine machine, took a putty knife, slid it into the narrow crevice of the machine top, released the catches (one, two!), and popped the top open - voila!  Like magic!  So easy!  Another guy, obviously working in his garage told us the catches were hard to release, and to not use the standard flexible putty knife, but to use a stiffer putty knife or a flat screwdriver to get at those stubborn catches.

He was right.

The top was eventually opened, the ring around the top of the tub where the detergent, fabic softener, and bleach dispensers are was removed, and the sorta-kinda agitator bump in the bottom of the machine was also removed.

Now all we had to do, according to the training video was to reach under the lip of the tub and lift it out - easy peasy!!!

We worked at that for a couple of hours.  HOURS.  Yes.  Hours.

That Man periodically asked me whether I wouldn't rather just buy a new washing machine.  But by now, we were committed, by gosh!  We are not quitters!  That stupid machine was NOT going to win!

I went to the garage guy’s video.  He said he had trouble getting the tub out.

No!  Surely not!  You’re kidding, right?

But he had a solution, involving a car jack and a piece of 4x4 lumber.  We worked at that for a bit, using the jack from one of our cars, and a scrap piece of 4x4, but got nowhere because of how the jack’s base was shaped.  That Man retrieved a bottle jack from the garage and we tried again.

Oh.  My.  Gosh.

It was like magic!  The jack and 4x4 got the tub released from the drive shaft, and out came the tub, just as easily as the training video showed.  Then we turned the washer on its side so That Man could knock out the drive shaft and bearings.  There was more to it than just that, but by that point of the process, it went pretty smoothly.

One thing about the garage guy’s video - after he got the tub out, he said he could hear water sloshing around, apparently trapped inside the tub walls.  He couldn’t figure out how to drain it, so he intended to DRILL SOME HOLES IN THE TUB to get the water out!  NO! NoNoNoNoNo!  That water is part of how the washer balances the load during spin cycles!  I hope he didn’t do it.  All that work, and then to ruin the machine.

Anyway, back to us.  The reassembly went well until it was time to install the seal.  It wasn’t the same on both sides!  All right, which side goes which way?  I looked at more videos and examined the old seal and drive shaft closely, and figured it out to MY satisfaction.  So I got the dubious honor of greasing and putting adhesive on the seal and installing it.  According to That Man, that’s so if it had been done incorrectly and the washer leaked all over the floor, the fiasco could be blamed on ME!

After getting it all put back together, one of the videos said not to run a load through the washer for 24 hours.  I waited two days.  Oh, the suspense!!!

I ran a short cycle with no clothes to test it out.  It was quieter and no leaks!  But it was just sloshing water around.  I needed a real world test - jeans. So I loaded it up and ran a normal cycle.  I stood there and watched it during the first spin cycle.

It was quiet.  There were no leaks.  It powered through the whole cycle and worked like a champ!

It took us about eight hours to do what is supposedly a four-hour job.  But we did it ourselves, and we saved a ton of dough!  Instead of buying a comparable new washing machine for $700.00 or $800.00 (MSRP of about $1,100.00) on sale at Lowe’s - yes, that’s JUST the washer - I checked, we paid less than $76.00 for the repair kit.  And if we’d had someone come fix it, we still would have probably been charged about $400.00 for the repair.

Yes, our time and effort are worth something, but we learned some things, got the satisfaction of doing it ourselves, and saved $325.00 to $725.00 to boot!

It WAS worth it!