Perhaps the most impactful thing to happen to me this past week was an ongoing ordeal. What I am about to describe took place over several days, from Monday through Thursday, each day after I got home from work.
Our washing machine stopped working in the middle of a cycle. When this happens, the machine’s door automatically locks.
This has happened several times in the past 15 years we have owned this washing machine, and my go-to solution has always worked: I unplug the machine, raise the front part of it onto some blocks of wood, remove the front lower panel, reach up into the inner workings to pull a release cord that unlocks the door, slowly drain all the water from the drum and the pipes with small buckets, carefully remove the soaking wet clothes, clean out the catch in the filter, then put everything back together. If done efficiently, I can do this all in around 45 minutes.
So I did this and reran a wash cycle with the clothes. It didn’t solve the problem. The machine stopped and the door locked again.
I thought that I had not cleaned the filter enough, so did the whole process again (unplug the machine, put it on blocks of wood, remove the panel, pull the cord, drain the water, remove the wet clothes, etc.). I cleaned the filter area some more, and tried to run another cycle.
The machine again stopped in mid cycle, and the door locked. I did the whole process again to drain the water.
I started checking the internet for guidance, watching how-to videos and reading websites. I learned that the drain pipe might be clogged, and that I should clean it out with hot water.
The drain pipe runs from the bottom front area of the machine, clear to the upper back area. To remove the pipe, I first unhooked it from the drain pump, a nearby interior clamp, and the upper rear exterior opening.
I removed the lid of the washing machine so that I could get my hands inside to disconnect the pipe from two remaining interior clamps, one of which was in the lower back part of the machine in a narrow spot and secured with a clamp different from the others. I scraped up my right arm while reaching down there numerous times, finally freeing the pipe from that clamp, and removed it.
I cleaned the drain pipe thoroughly with plenty of hot water. Lots of gooey gunk came out, which led me to believe that I had identified the source of the problem, and that now the water would flow freely. I reattached the drain pipe throughout the machine and ran a load of laundry again.
Again the machine stopped and the door locked. I drained the water again.
I was getting deeply frustrated.
I went back to the internet and on-line videos. I concluded that my next step was to remove and clean out the accordion-like rubber tube that connects the drum (where the clothes are washed) to the drain pump.
I easily removed the tube from the drain pump and the other end from the drum, and cleaned the pump the best I could. I reattached the tube to the pump, securing it with the metal, ring-shaped hose clamp.
Reattaching the other end of the tube to the wider opening under the drum was an entirely different story. The area to work was small. I could scarcely get a hand in there to reattach it. Also my pliers did not open wide enough to grasp and widen the hose clamp. Time after time they kept slipping off.
By this time it was Wednesday. Our dirty clothes heaps were mounting. To buy time, Karin hand-washed some of our clothing in the tub. We talked about scrapping the machine altogether and buying a new one, but that would cost hundreds of dollars.
Sitting there frazzled in front of a semi-dismantled, non-working washing machine, I asked Heavenly Father what to do. I had been praying along the way, but I was now at my wits’ end.
The words, “Don’t worry about it,” entered my mind and heart. I wasn’t fully sure if that meant not to worry about it and give up, or not to worry about it and just keep trying to fix the washer. I decided that I would just keep trying.
I resumed trying to get the hose clamp around the outside edge of the rubber connector so that I could reattach it to the drum.
An idea came: remove the pump. I did this, and realized that I now had significantly more space to get my hands in there to reattach the tube to the drum.
Another idea came: get a bar clamp from the garage. A bar clamp (looks like a measuring caliper ruler) is used for holding wood together after it has been glued. I got the bar clamp and tightened it on the wings of the circular hose clamp. The wings opened enough for me to get the clamp around the tube and reattach it to the drum without much effort. That was an answer to prayer.
I reattached and reassembled everything and tried running the machine again.
The machine stopped and the door locked. I drained the water again.
I read some more online and watched more videos. It appeared that the last potential cause of the problem was the drain pump itself. We ordered a pump online, thinking that if this didn’t work we would get rid of the machine and buy a new one.
The pump arrived Thursday. I attached it, put everything back together, and ran another wash cycle.
It worked! (Or so I thought.)
The machine started leaking water. By this time I was done with being frustrated. I saw that the accordion tube from the drum to the pump had slid off on the pump’s end. After a few more minutes, I was able to reattach it and put everything back together.
We ran numerous loads after that. The washing machine has been working ever since.
I spent a lot of hours and effort to fix our washing machine this past week, and I learned a lot from this experience. Sometimes a job takes longer than you anticipate. Sometimes the first solutions don’t work. It helps to be patient and flexible, and to study things. Getting frustrated is a waste of time and a distraction. Prayer leads to personal revelation. The right tool saves a lot of hassle and time. And it feels so good to persevere at something and finally succeed!
I appreciate and understand our washing machine a lot more now. And I learned a lot in the process.
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